| More About WW2 US & German Mounted Horse Cavalry! 
WW2 US Cavalry On Border Patrol, Occupied Germany 1945 At the outbreak of World War II the Wehrmacht was still in a reorganising phase and in 1940, at the beginning of the Blitzkrieg against France, the French army still had more tanks than the Wehrmacht. On the other hand the Wehrmacht had many more horses. However this was not necessarily a disadvantage. The Dutch and French were well informed about the German intentions and destroyed many bridges in the attempt to stop or delay the German advance. They also installed a large number of anti-tank obstacles. While this kind of obstacle was designed to stop armoured vehicles, they could easily be passed by the cavalry units with no delay. On June 9th, 1940, a battalion of French armoured fighting vehicles was sent against the 1st German Cavalry Division to stop its advance. From 30 tanks, 28 were destroyed in the battle. A very different scenario to the attacks of Polish units against German tanks just a few months before. One year later the 1st Cavalry Division took part in the Operation Barbarossa, the war against the Soviet Union. Despite impressive successes at the beginning of the operation the Division was also driven to its limits: the horses, already exhausted from the burning sun of southern France and by the journey of thousands of miles through Western Europe, seemed barely able to go any further into the Russian wilderness. On October 10th 1941, The German higher command (Oberkommando) decided to mechanise the 1st Cavalry Division. The symbol of the newly formed 24th Panzer-Division became a jumping horseman. Even the most passionate horsemen were not against this, disgusted by all the suffering the horses had to endure. Many soldiers hoped to see their horses on a way back home, for a peaceful life on farms. Their hopes were dashed. Only some of the steeds of high ranking officers were sent back to Germany. The rest of the horses had to serve in the army to pull the artillery and transport assets. Even after this point in time the Wehrmacht still had a large number of riders, but not as cavalry units. However only one year later, in 1942, new cavalry units were formed: the units were the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reiter Regiment under the command of the Army Cavalry Command (Oberst Holste). A great part of this last renaissance of the German cavalry was due to Freiherr von Boeselager, a cavalry man by heart who called himself a "riding Infantryman". But the set-up of cavalry units was hindered by the lack of good horses. The best horses the Wehrmacht ever had, were those from the former 1st Cavalry Division. But these were now sweating by pulling old, dirty wagons somewhere in the mud of Russia. So everything else remaining on four legs had to be saddled: little fat ponies, old heavy farming horses and horses captured from the enemy. The question remains if it was really a good idea to give up the 1st Cavalry Division, only to rebuild a lesser one, one year later. While in the Philippines, the last American cavalry horses finalised their career between rice and curry in the soldier's stomachs. In the USA, the Shore Patrol Sucessfully used Horses while Patrolling US Beaches. Horses remained vital at the Eastern Front for Russian and for German troops. In the rainy season tanks and trucks were trapped on muddy roads. In Winter their motors failed as a result of frozen engines. Only the horse-drawn vehicles had a chance to make their way. Adolf Hitler, who never cared much for the cavalry was persuaded by the successes of German and also Russian cavalry units in 1944 that this might be one of the "miracle-weapons" he always looked for. Therefore he ordered the formation of new cavalry units. But at this time in the war, it was impossible to get enough well trained men and horses. The command remained incomplete. Nevertheless, these new units were able to delay the advance of the Soviet Army for a short time as the Heeresgruppe Mitte was overrun by the Soviets. These delaying tactics took a heavy toll in the lives of experienced cavalrymen and horses. The first German Cavalry, after their last glorious ride of 11 January, 1944, mainly consisted of Dismounted Cavalry, the sick and walking wounded. The horses that also remained were sickly and near death or scragly old farm animals. While there was some limited success of German cavalry units in the east, the German horse-drawn convoys were smashed by the bombs of the American "flying fortresses" and low flying attack aircraft on the Western Front in 1944/45. On May 8th 1945 the last German Cavalry, the 1st Cavalry Corps surrendered to the British Army. The Germans soldiers and their horses were treated well in the POW camp, but one day, the British ordered the slaughter of the horses and to feed the meat to the inmates. To avoid this, the Germans had the idea to organise a tournament with empty ammunition-boxes as obstacles for the horses. The British, passionate sportsmen, could not resist to watch this event every evening, forgetting what they had in mind. So the British Divisional-Commander collaborated with the Germans to get the necessary papers for taking the horses with them into the American Zone. There, the Americans could be persuaded that the German soldiers would need their horses for farming and to rebuild Germany in the future. 
1940 2nd US Cavalry Patrol Along The Mexico/Arizona Border | |
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