Category: Mule Lines

Inspired by Muffin, the Salonika Campaign Society’s adopted mule, these posts relate to animals in the campaign.

Martina the Mule – TV Star!

Mules don’t feature on television very often, so what a joy it was to see Martina in Gary Lineker: My Grandad’s War on BBC1 on Monday 11th. A lovely Italian mule, Martina – in an all too brief appearance – explained to Gary (yes, that Gary Lineker)  the important role mules played in supply and casualty evacuation on the mountainous front line of the Italian campaign during the Second World War. In the programme, Gary followed the route of his late grandfather from Salerno to Monte Cassino to understand his experiences as a member of the Royal Army Medical Corps and why British troops in Italy came to be known as ‘D-Day Dodgers’.

It’s impossible not to see parallels with the Macedonian campaign: a Mediterranean front with challenging terrain and climate, overshadowed by the main fighting in north-west Europe and considered a ‘cushy number’ by those not there; of course, the Italian campaign was a far bloodier business. The programme will be available on the BBC iPlayer for the next month or so and you can read about it here.

INVASION OF ITALY : EIGHTH ARMY - Original wartime caption: To defeat the demolition menace, the 8th Army have once againresorted to the mule. These pictures show an RASC pack transport company trekking through the mountains with stores and ammunition for our foward patrols. The mules are able to avoid normal diversions and travel by way of the tortuous mountain paths.Original wartime caption: To defeat the demolition menace, the 8th Army have once again resorted to the mule. These pictures show an RASC pack transport company trekking through the mountains with stores and ammunition for our forward patrols. The mules are able to avoid normal diversions and travel by way of the tortuous mountain paths. INVASION OF ITALY : EIGHTH ARMY – Original wartime caption: To defeat the demolition menace, the 8th Army have once againresorted to the mule. These pictures show an RASC pack transport company trekking through the mountains with stores and ammunition for our forward patrols. The mules are able to avoid normal diversions and travel by way of the tortuous mountain paths.© IWM (NA 6748)

This is one of an impressive collection of photos in the excellent IWM online collection showing mules in Italy (search: mules Italy). Searching ‘mules Salonika’ will find photos of British military mules from a generation earlier.

Don’t miss Alfred Munnings at the National Army Museum, London

If you can get to the National Army Museum in Chelsea before 3 March, then I heartily recommend the exhibition of First World war paintings by Sir Alfred Munnings, one of Britain’s most celebrated equine artists, who attended the Norwich Art School.

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Mule Lines : British military mules in the spotlight

I am pleased to announce the publication of a book which describes and honours the service of the military mule. It could be said that mules have had walk-, or trot-on roles in many volumes of military history, but I believe this is the first book in which the British military mule has taken centre stage without having to share the limelight with horses and camels! Continue reading “Mule Lines : British military mules in the spotlight”

Mule Lines : latest news on Muffin

Photograph of Muffin, Adoption Star of the Redwings Horse Sanctuary, and adopted mule of the Salonika Campaign Society.If you are a regular visitor to this web site, or you read our excellent journal, The New Mosquito, you will know that at the start of the centenary we ‘adopted’ Muffin, a rescued mule at a Norfolk horse sanctuary. This is in recognition of the vital role played by mules in the campaign, by keeping the troops supplied and evacuating casualties. We have received this news about Muffin from Redwings Horse Sanctuary …

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Mule Lines : Working Mules

Photograph of Muffin, Adoption Star of the Redwings Horse Sanctuary, and adopted mule of the Salonika Campaign Society.We talk quite a lot about mules in Salonika (or is it just me?), but I wonder how many of us have actually seen mules at work. There are mules in the UK – there is a British Mule Society after all – but until I met our adopted mule, Muffin, last year, I’m not sure that I had ever knowingly seen one. Whilst Muffin has worked hard for Redwings Horse Sanctuary for nearly thirty, it’s been in a fundraising and public relations, rather than a draught or pack role! Continue reading “Mule Lines : Working Mules”