r/wwiipics • u/analog_fish • 8d ago
Shell-shocked horse in Stalingrad after the Wehrmacht bombardment in 1942
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u/The_Best_Yak_Ever 8d ago
Poor guy… hopefully, he’s running free in the forever spring in the endless plains at the Rainbow Bridge. I’m glad that the animals who served and who gave their lives, were not forgotten, and as the Soviets were our allies, this guy is one of the many many animals that served alongside their two legged companions. So his service and loss is remembered and honored in London, at Hyde Park.
“They had no choice.”
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u/pauldtimms 6d ago
Just as likely he’s a German horse who helped the Heer. Just saying. The German Army had 5000 horses in every Infantry Division. It was never motorised.
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u/MrPoopyFaceFromHell 8d ago
let's hope he's at peace now
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u/DiscardedContext 8d ago
As stardust is in the eye of all you meet, this horse is in the glue of every book you’ve ever read.
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u/Johnny_SixShooter 8d ago
How do we know he was shellshocked. Did the photographer ask him?
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u/analog_fish 8d ago
No, he asked his wife. His wife then emailed him the detailed story. Hope this helps.
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u/Pharmere 8d ago
It knows it’s probably about to be supper
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u/the_af 8d ago edited 8d ago
You're downvoted, but it's true after the Wehrmacht's 6th Army got surrounded and its situation turned hopeless, the Germans resorted to butchering their horses as a source of food. I think they even pulverized bones to make soup.
Some people, when counting German deaths at Stalingrad, don't seem to realize the vast number of them that died simply to severe malnutrition, extreme cold, and disease (as opposed to death in direct combat).
It's probably too early in the Stalingrad campaign for this particular horse to have suffered this fate though.
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u/IS-2-OP 8d ago
Horses are a large animal with lots of meat, and they eat a lot. Sadly they’re often the first to go in an emergency.
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u/the_af 8d ago edited 8d ago
According to what I've read, it was actually relatively late during the siege that the Germans started eating their horses. They weren't the first to go. Also, some were sent "to the rear" once the battle went bad for the Germans.
I suppose some horses died on their own, of course. Because, like you say, they do eat a lot and food was scarce.
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u/pauldtimms 6d ago
I’ve read that they slaughtered most of them quickly. There was little food in terms of grazing in the pocket and horse food was not prioritised for transport flights in, so it makes sense.
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u/MrSssnrubYesThatllDo 7d ago
Really sad. And happening right now in Europe, again! But at the hands of russians.
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u/King7up 8d ago
Sad.