GEOFF HARVEY
Forgotten Heroes
Acrylic on canvas
97 x 158cm
My painting was created to honor the vital roles the Australian Waler horses performed during WW1.
According to Army veterinary records there were 161,821 horses exported to assist in the many campaigns of this war.
These trusty steeds did everything expected of them and more. Their bravery on the battlefields was legendary and their loyalty unsurpassed. Because of these qualities they earn a worldwide reputation as the “horse without an equal.”
So special and deep was the bond between rider and horse that many of the soldiers were traumatized by the realization that their faithful “mate” was not coming home with them. By the end of the war in 1918 those horses that survived the battlefields and the cull stayed in Egypt, France and India where they faced an uncertain future. No official records were kept of these brave horses.
My painting “Forgotten Heroes” acknowledges these noble animals and gives them the recognition they so justly deserve.
Less we forget – the original Australian stock horse – the Waler.
