Hooves@War: Australian Farrier John Jolly Died at Gallipoli

If you happen to be in Canberra, the capital of Australia, on November 3, 2014, look at the Australian War Memorial. It's the Australian equivalent of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Projected on it will be the name of John Joshua Jolly.




John was a young farrier from Walhalla, Victoria who enlisted on September 16, 1914 to join the 8th Light Horse Regiment. By February, he was at sea,

Hooves@War: On this day in 1914, Farrier Charles Burchell of South Australia enlisted

Today, the Hoof Blog's Hooves@War series moves back to Australia, where a  small note about a farrier's enlistment for World War I led me to research more about him and his horseman father. Meet the Burchells of South Australia.



Corporal Charles Burkin Burchell was Shoeing Smith in the 3rd Brigade, Ammunition Column, Field Artillery, Military District 4 of the First Australian Imperial

Hooves@War: Wilfred Blackband Was Such a Good Farrier, He Never Went to War

Did Wilfred Warren Blackband go to war or not? Read his story and then you can decide.


He is the first British farrier of World War I in this series, but not the last. And he’s not the only teenage boy whose story you'll read here.



There’s something about Wilfred Warren Blackband that reminds me of the young wizards of horseshoeing who come along today: brilliant hands with laser-sharp

Hooves@War: 100 Years Ago Today, a Farrier Enlisted in Western Australia

Welcome to the first in a series of articles to bring to life some of the lost names and faces of real people who served the hoofcare needs of horses during World War I, which began 100 years ago this month.

The Australian government has been documenting the service of farriers during that war, and made a few biographical statistics available, as have sources in the United States and