One million horses were taken to France from Britain and only 62,000 were brought back..

Dorothy Brooke was in Egypt in 1930 and started her mission to rescue from indescribable conditions, what remained of the 1914/1915 Army horses which 16 years previously has been ‘sold’ into bondage in Egypt..

She famously wrote many letters to the British press that raised the funds to purchase 5,000 horses and which started this amazing charity in 1934, a charity that still remains true to Dorothy’s aims today…

Quote from Richard Waygood MBE (Ambassador of the Brooke)

“On this Remembrance Day, we here at the Brooke would like to remember those horses that served throughout the First World War, only to be left behind in Egypt, never to see their homeland of Great Britain again. After untold amounts of suffering, the pain of these horses was first recognised by Dorothy Brooke who set up a charity to rescue and rehabilitate these half dead animals. Today, we would like to pay tribute to our humble beginnings, to Dorothy and her horses, and pause for a moment to remember those equines that are still caught up in suffering and conflict around the world today”

A Soldier’s Kiss’:

Only a dying horse! pull off the gear,
And slip the needless bit from frothing jaws,
Drag it aside there, leaving the road way clear,
The battery thunders on with scarce a pause.
Prone by the shell-swept highway there it lies
With quivering limbs, as fast the life-tide fails,
Dark films are closing o’er the faithful eyes
That mutely plead for aid where none avails.

Onward the battery rolls, but one there speeds
Needlessly of comrades voice or bursting shell,
Back to the wounded friend who lonely bleeds
Beside the stony highway where he fell.

Only a dying horse! he swiftly kneels,
Lifts the limp head and hears the shivering sigh
Kisses his friend, while down his cheek there steals
Sweet pity’s tear, “Goodbye old man, Goodbye”.

No honours wait him, medal, badge or star,
Though scarce could war a kindlier deed unfold;
He bears within his breast, more precious far
Beyond the gift of kings, a heart of gold.

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