Afghan donkey named Hughes eases burden for Canadian soldiers

[Old Sweat]

It is also claimed that Hughes recommended himself for the Victoria Cross twice during the Boer War. The truth is somewhat different, and he was a brave and audacious commander of scouts in the Karoo campaign. Any chance of getting any award fell to zero when his habit of writing letters to newspapers criticzing his British chain of command came to light; instead he got a premature trip home to resume his duties as Conservative defence critic. (The opportunity to send the defence critic off to the front must have seemed like a gift from heaven to the Grits.)

 

[FoverF]

They sent...
the opposition...
defence critic...
on a military campaign... ?

And he is later described as a 'brave and audacious commander of scouts'  ???

This is just way too far from my frame of reference, I'm not sure how to deal with this.

 

[daftandbarmy]

There probably is a time and place for pack animals. I found the following data on animal loads on p. 134 of The Field Service Pocket Book 1914 reprinted with Amendments 1916:

Pack-animals -         Load (pounds)           
Mules and ponies         160 lb.
Pack-horses                 200 lb.
Camels                        320 to 400 lb.
Bullocks                       200 lb.
Men                              50 lb.
Donkeys                       100 lb.

Don't forget that in some circumstances food and perhaps water for the animals would have to be carried. If anyone is interested in more data, pm me.

I led a platoon from 1PARA on a 'Hearts and Minds' trip through the Jebel Akhdar mountains in northern Oman back in the 80s. We had a 'donkey walloper' section attached from the Jebel Regiment, with four donkeys and about 6 handlers I believe. The donkeys  carried water and some rations for us, and some firewood for the JR troops (their rations were mainly homemade chapattis cooked over a juniper fire and they also ate at local villages).

It was pretty tough slogging, as described in this article

"The Jebel Akhdar is an elevated plateau measuring about
twelve miles from north to south and eighteen miles from
east to west.  Its average elevation is 6500 feet and it is
locked behind sheer cliffs of rock and shale, some rising
10,000 feet above the surrounding plain."
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1985/MJB.htm

Although we were glad to have them along, the donkeys  were a constant pain in the Ass (forgive the pun), seemed quite hard to manage, and were very noisy at times. I also seem to remember that the Omanis insisted that the 'beasts of burden' not be loaded with more than 60-70lbs each, while we soldiers carried more than that.

Regardless, the animals and their handlers were tough as nails and impressed us with their powers of physical endurance and effortless mobility in very rough terrain, at altitiude, and in very hot weather. We certainly wouldn't have been able to stay out for as long as we did without them.

 

[GDawg]

How appropriate! Presumably this donkey is named after Sir Sam Hughes,

WRONG

 

[bannerman]

Haha - ok so does that mean that GDawg knows who the beast is named after?
Why don't you enlighten us?
And if this donkey is not named after Sir Sam Hughes, then it should be!!!

 

[OldSolduer]

Hughes may have been a jacka$$, but he did one thing we should be thankful for: He ensured that the Canadians fought as formations, not pi$$ed away willy nilly by the Brits.

 

[Drummy]

Haha - ok so does that mean that GDawg knows who the beast is named after?
Why don't you enlighten us?
And if this donkey is not named after Sir Sam Hughes, then it should be!!!

Check the first post in this thread to see who the animal was named after

Drummy

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Haha - ok so does that mean that GDawg knows who the beast is named after?
Why don't you enlighten us?
And if this donkey is not named after Sir Sam Hughes, then it should be!!!

If you wish to comment or participate, at least read the thread. It's in the first post.

McCann and fellow sapper Edward Monk, from St. Albert, Alta., were among those who christened the donkey Hughes - after a fellow soldier back home.

Enough of the hijack. We're not talking about Sir Sam Hughes.

Milnet.ca Staff

 

[GDawg]

Yes, I know both Hughes the person, and Hughes the donkey.

 

[bannerman]

Load and clear. Sorry about that, GDawg.

Still, it would have been funny if that ass had been named after Sir Sam.

However, is OldSolduer sure about his post? Was it not Sir Arthur Currie and Sir Edward Kemp who ensured that the Canadian formations were put back together, rather than Hughes?

 

[OldSolduer]

Sam Hughes basically bullied the British hierarchy into letting the Canadians fight as formations rather than being placed in peicemeal into British formations. He was a royal pain in the a$$  to the Brits and was an embrassment to Canada most times.
Read the book "VIMY" by Pierre Berton. Its a great account of that battle.

 

[Blackadder1916]

Yes, I know both Hughes the person, and Hughes the donkey.

This question came to mind when I first read the article.  Is there any similarity between Hughes the person and Hughes the donkey?  Is Hughes the donkey honoured by his name or does he have to live down being linked to Hughes the person?

 

[bannerman]

I can't resist one more post in this irreverent vein.

It just so happens that Saturday Night magazine in 1914 published a cartoon showing a mock-coat-of-arms for Sir Sam Hughes containing an "A-- proper, rampant" alongside "a Whale blowing," and "On a Mushroom, argent, a Cap and Bells, proper..." as illustrated here (click to enlarge):