Riding into War: The Memoir of a Horse Transport Driver, 1916–1919

Tim Cook is the World War I historian at the Canadian War Museum. He is
the author of No Place to Run: The Canadian Corps and Gas Warfare in the
First World War.

World War I killed millions. Empires were destroyed. Communism was born
out of ashes of revolution. The world was forever changed. In this war
of steel and storm, where artillery and machine guns ruled the
battlefield, armies of millions faced off against each other in four
years of attritional warfare. It is sometimes forgotten, however, that
these massive armies needed to be continually fed, clothed, and armed,
that the war would have been lost without food, water, and ammunition.
Although railways moved millions of pounds of supplies to railheads, it
was light rail, wagons, trucks, and especially horses and mules that
carried the mountainous stockpiles to the front.

Riding into War is the memoir of James Johnston, a horse transport
driver who enlisted at 18 years of age. Although there are dozens of
Canadian memoirs from those who served in the infantry, medical corps,
artillery, and most services, this is one of the few accounts detailing
the work of the logistical corps. Night after night Johnston trudged
along the muddy rear areas, enduring shell fire and overwhelming
exhaustion to supply the Canadian Corps. At a strength of over 100,000
men, the corps consumed tons of food and more than 600,000 litres of
water each day. Johnston survived the worst battles on the Western
Front, believing that his trusted mounts “took care” of him. He
recounts the horrible sights of battle as well as the mundane events of
life behind the lines—both of which are essential to understanding the
experience of war. Riding into War is an excellent eyewitness account
and would be a fine addition to any library.