On the eve of Remembrance Day/Veterans Day I am reposting this to remember horses lost not in battle but to terrorism while they served their country.
When my friend Winston is on guard duty at Horse Guards, he will leave the Knightsbridge Barracks with the other Cavalry Blacks at 10:30 am. They walk through Hyde Park, past Buckingham Palace, up the Mall and turn into the Horse Guards Parade for the Changing of the Horse Guards. On July 20, 1982 the 16 horses of the Blues and Royals and their soldiers never made it to the Horse Guards Parade.
At 10:40 am, as they were walking along South Carriage Drive in Hyde Park, a nail bomb, composed of 25 lbs of gelignite and four and six inch nails ,that had been placed in a parked car, was remotely detonated. The explosion was devastating. Three soldiers were killed outright and a third died of his wounds in hospital three days later. In total seven horses were killed and 8 were severely injured. The IRA (Irish Republican Army)…
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I remember it and found it very upsetting. Sefton, one of the surviving horses, was afterward “Horse of the Year”. He lived to be 30. He was featured in a TV programme at the time I remember watching.
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I never heard about this Anne, thanks for covering it. So very sad. Thank goodness the conflict was eventually resolved. Sadly the troubles in our world continue
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It was a terrible bombing. Since I was living in London at the time it had a tremendous impact on me And as you say the troubles in our world continue and it seems that now in many places they are worse resulting in more deaths and hardships.
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