Sandy’s story stands as a quiet but powerful reminder of the service and sacrifice shared not only by Australian and New Zealand soldiers, but also by the animals who accompanied them to war.
Sandy belonged to Major General Sir William Bridges and was one of the 6,100 horses that embarked for Gallipoli. Yet, like so many plans shaped by the realities of war, very few of these animals were put ashore. Lieutenant General Sir William Birdwood determined there was neither room nor requirement for horses at ANZAC Cove. Major General Bridges was killed at Gallipoli, one of the many senior officers to lose their lives during the campaign.
On 5 May, Birdwood sought approval to return the horses to Alexandria, Egypt, sparing them the hardships of a battlefield ill-suited to mounted service. From 1 August 1915, Sandy came under the care of Captain Leslie Whitfield of the Australian Army Veterinary Corps in Egypt. Sandy remained there until March 1916, when both he and Whitfield were transferred to France as the war shifted to the Western Front.
Even as the conflict dragged on, Sandy’s connection to Australia was not forgotten. In October 1917, Senator George Pearce, the Minister for Defence, called for Sandy to be returned home for pasture at Duntroon. In May 1918, Sandy was moved from the Australian Veterinary Hospital at Calais to the Remount Depot at Swaythling in England. He was accompanied by Private Archibald Jordon, who had been at the hospital since April 1917 and had been classed as permanently unfit for further active service — another reminder of the lasting personal cost of war.
After three months of veterinary observation, Sandy was declared free of disease. In September 1918, with the war entering its final months, he was boarded on the freighter Booral, sailing from Liverpool and arriving in Melbourne in November. Sandy was then turned out to graze at the Central Remount Depot at Maribyrnong, Victoria, returning at last to Australian soil.
Sandy spent the remainder of his life at the Remount Depot. Although he was originally intended to go to Duntroon, his increasing blindness and declining health led to the decision for him to be put down in May 1923, described at the time as “a humane action.” His head and neck were mounted and became part of the Memorial’s collection. Displayed for many years, Sandy remains absent from exhibition today due to deterioration through age.
In May 2023, a life-size bronze statue of Sandy was unveiled in Tallangatta, Victoria — his birthplace. The statue serves as a lasting tribute to Sandy and to the thousands of horses whose service underpinned Australia and New Zealand’s wartime efforts.
On ANZAC Day, Sandy’s story reminds us that remembrance extends beyond the men and women who served, to all those — human and animal alike — who bore the burden of war with loyalty and endurance.
