In the British Army, mules weren’t recorded by name - only by a number stamped on the near fore hoof. Yet the soldiers who worked with them every day often gave them names of their own.
📷 Morning sick parade inspection by Capt. J. C. Newhook and S/Sgt. T. H. Trodden. IWM NA 11853
#MuleMonday
How the British and Indian Army prepared their mules for service 🫡
#MuleMonday (click vid for full size)
In an interview about his First World War service, Corporal Harry Forrester of the Royal Field Artillery recalled a mule that refused to cross a bridge while pulling an ammunition limber. The driver beat it for stopping. 1/3
📸IWM Q5940 #MuleMonday
That isn’t romantic myth. It’s a glimpse into how soldiers coped, how bonds formed, and how armies functioned.
If we reduce military animals to nothing more than ‘transport,’ we miss something fundamental about how war was actually experienced.
📸IWM E8802, NA 28172, SE 533 #MuleMonday
There is a saying: 'You can talk to a horse, but you can chat and whisper to a mule', and indeed, many men who served with mules spoke of the uniquely strong relationships they forged with the animals.
📸 Mule 99 & Pte. D. Ravensgraig, Italy, 1944 IWM NA 12495 #MuleMonday
Each Chindit column had approximately 70 mules. 10 carried heavy wireless kit, batteries and comms equipment, while the remaining 60 carried rations, ammo and other essential supplies. A standard load weighed 160lb!
📸 IWM HU 70588 #MuleMonday #Burma
#MuleMonday 🐴 Not sure mules have their own hashtag, but they definitely should! These hardworking animals are pictured assisting the 1st Battalion, South Wales Borderers as they cross the rugged terrain of Waziristan, India, in 1935. A reminder that animals played a vital role in military history.
Faster, faster the tail began to rise and the floor to level off. Five of us jumped up and pushed forward against the Mules’ sterns. Slowly the mules calmed.' 3/3
#MuleMonday
📸 IWM EA 20831
‘There is little question that the mule is considerably more intelligent than the horse once he realises that he is being treated as friend and can trust those who use him’
- an unnamed RA Officer regarding his experience of mules in Mesopotamia during SWW #MuleMonday
📸 IWM NA18292
The British Army continued to encourage the equine-soldier bond during the SWW by making each gunner personally responsible for his mule. Here a gunner of 1st Mountain Bty RA and his mule sharing a special moment whilst on exercise in Scotland, 1942. 🥰 #MuleMonday
📸 IWM H 23679
I’ve not posted much history content in recent months (sorry!). So here’s a #MuleMonday for you, a mule mobile 📱
Troops of the RASC testing a No. 21 wireless set loaded onto one of the mules during an experimental patrol. Fernana, 1 February 1943.
📸 IWM NA 593
Horseback wrestling has its origins among the nomadic peoples of the steppe and is still the national sport of Kyrgyzstan.
Here an Indian transport give it a whirl on mules, at a sports meeting near Salonika in May 1916. #MuleMonday @oispooky.bsky.social
📸 IWM Q 32057
#MuleMonday the US military have been using mules since the 1830s. Though the Marine Corps still using them in small numbers, the Army’s final two mule units were deactivated in 1956 following a ceremony where two mules - Trotter and Hambone - were honoured for their long service.
In 1945 the British Army experimented with the idea of parachuting mules into Burma. The mules were sedated and strapped to a padded wooden platform fitted with statichutes to keep it level - all survived but the scheme never became operational.
#MuleMonday
📷 Journal of Equine Veterinary Science
Mules proved far more resistant to disease, illness & poor animal management than horses during the #FirstWorldWar. Mortality in the field & during transportation was less than half that of horses & they could be kept in good condition on food rations 25% smaller #MuleMonday
📷 IWM Q8531
Mules had to be taught how to swim to cross the rivers and waterways in Burma. This did NOT come naturally to them. When led into the water, many were instead intent on stubbornly walking across the river bed instead and had to be shown to keep their heads above the water. #MuleMonday
📷 IWM SE 1859
It’s Mule Monday 🐴💨
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Cypriot muleteers & their companions played an important role in #WW2 as well as #WW1. Having been stationed along the Maginot line, it is often forgotten that c.500 Cypriots were among those at Dunkirk in 1940, having been forced to abandon their mules during the retreat. #MuleMonday
📷 IWM E8240
An Indian soldier and mule in gas masks, 1940. These equine gas masks covered the nostrils only of the horse/mule as equines do not breathe through their mouths and their eyes are far less sensitive to tear gas etc than humans. #MuleMonday
📷 IWM F 2673
Mules tethered in the abandoned trenches of the Hindenburg Line, 4 October 1918 during the Hundred Days Offensive. Given the circumstances, they look in remarkably good condition - demonstrating how highly valued they were during the #FirstWorldWar.
📷 IWM Q 9610 #MuleMonday
#MuleMonday medical edition. Mules were vital to casualty evacuation and treatment in both Italy and Burma during Second World War due to their natural surefooted-ness and greater cognitive ability when compared to horses - resulting in smoother and more secure transport for patients.
📸IWM NA 12030
Mules played an important role in the Med, North Africa and Burma during #SecondWorldWar, not least because they are far better equipped to deal with heat than horses, thanks to their larger ears, thicker skin and higher tolerance for dehydration.
📸IWM E8246 #MuleMonday #Heatwave #WW2
A mule convoy crossing a stream somewhere in Burma. Crossing in shallow waters was preferred as mule's are not natural swimmers and were instead inclined to try walking across the river bed, with little regard as to how they would breathe! #MuleMonday
📸 IWM HU 87182
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Mules were far less susceptible to the mud borne diseases that plagued horses during the #FirstWorldWar.
Here, mules pulls a sleigh carrying supplies over a muddy area. Somewhere on the Balkan Front, January, 1917.
📷 IWM Q 32722
#MuleMonday
'Horses and Mules weren't used much by the Allies in Second World War' LIES. Bringing back #MuleMonday with this, Supplies of medical equipment being unloaded from the mules on arriving at their destination, somewhere in Italy, April 1944.
📸IWM (NA 13883)
Messy mules Monday!
Exploded all over my feet while wearing my mules.
Who's going to lick them clean?💦💦
#cumshot #mules #mulemonday #cum
#MuleMonday Refugees escaping the Fascist advance towards Málaga. 6-7 Feb 1937. A naval bombardment killed 3-5k civilians. From the book "The crime on the road Málaga-Almeria" by Dr Norman Bethune, who went to Spain to create a blood transfusion unit to aid the Republican soldiers. #SCW
