dekenai wrote:I havent much info on the AEF Vet Corps, but the Australian and British Vet Corps treated approx 2.5m horses in WW1. The Corps were formed after the disgraceful treatment and deaths of so many horses in the Boer War.
On this subject It should be noted, more than noted, heralded on high that no single person did more to further the better treatment of British horses than Sir Frederick Smith RCVS. He devoted his life to it. After serving as a veterinary surgeon in the Boer War, where he was appalled at the poor condition and treatment of the animals, he wrote an influential book about galls and saddling problems. He then became a prime mover in the formation of the RVAC. He served as it's founding General Director until just after the turn of the 19th century. Only 14 years later, the beginning of WWI, the Brits could arguably lay claim to having the best tended horses of the world's armies, a remarkable victory of passion over inertia in peacetime.