CHAPTER VIII 



Base Remount Depots in France — II 



AT the mouth of a famous estuary is a second base remount depot which 

 we will call "B." Here, too, is extremely well ordered and organized 

 accommodation for 3,000 animals. Often there are more, and it must be said 

 to the credit of this depot that they have had a great deal to do, for they 

 receive more animals from overseas than any other depot. It is their function, 

 too, to receive the cured animals from neighbouring veterinary hospitals and 

 to send trainloads to the front, and one cannot doubt, therefore, that their 

 day's work is crowded in every sense. Its marked activity will be better 

 understood when it is stated that at the time of writing nearly 200,000 animals 

 had been received and issued. 



Next there is the base depot, called " C " for the purposes of this narra- 

 tive. It is certainly not the least interesting and well arranged of the quintet, 

 and as an example of what a unit of its kind should be it is hard to beat. Its 

 existence may be said to date from January 29, 1915, when the 17th Remount 

 Squadron arrived from Woolwich. At first the selected site was four miles 

 from the well-known port at which the horses disembarked, but the disadvan- 

 tages soon became apparent, and accordingly about two months later a move 

 was made to the present admirable location. It, too, stands on high land, 

 and as the horses are well sheltered from keen winds they " do " remarkably 

 well, as is shown by the low figure of sickness. What causes horses and 

 mules on active service to go wrong quicker than anything else — to contract 

 mud-borne diseases, debility, and general loss of mobility — are bad standings 

 and no shelter from piercing winds. Give them the shelter of any primitively 

 rigged screen and some dry ground to stand on and they will endure rain and 

 cold and other unpleasant weather. If they cannot have some comfort at 

 the base depots they will have small chance " higher up." I need hardly 

 say that consideration of the kind is most certainly forthcoming ; indeed, in 

 this respect the horse is better cared for than in England before shipment 

 overseas. 



This " C " base depot has a strength of six squadrons, five adjoining 

 each other, and the sixth a couple of miles away and under the command of 

 an officer who bears the name of one who was very famous indeed in polo. He 

 is essentially a horse-master, and it is his business, assisted by his small staff, 

 to receive those animals from convalescent horse depots and get them fit for 



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