Guelph Museums | Military Lecture

Horses and mules were essential to the ability of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces to operate in the First World War. Equines hauled supplies, ammunition, artillery, as well as acted as cavalry. Working alongside each other across the Western Front, soldiers developed relationships with their equine charges. Emily Oakes’ presentation will examine how the soldier-horse relationship functioned in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces and its effects on the soldiers, such as J.E.B. Seely or John McCrae, who wrote about their bonds with their horses.

“We Both Survived”: The Soldier-Horse Relationship in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces During the First World War takes place Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 7 pm. The lecture premieres both in-person at the Civic Museum, and online via the Museum’s Facebook livestream. The recorded conversation will be available on Facebook, YouTube, and our Museum Everywhere Portal after the event. To attend the conversation in-person, registration is required through Eventbrite.

 

Emily Oakes is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her research focusses on the historical relationships between humans and horses in Canadian society. She is also interested in Canadian military history, having written her MA major research paper on the soldier-horse relationship in the First World War. Emily is Archives Manager at the Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada.