Whose horse was it?

After the First World War my father, as RAMC Medical Officer with the 1/5 KORL, took part in the Victory Parade in Brussels in January 1919. He was riding a white/grey horse at the rear of the regiment as it (along with the whole Division) marched through the streets of Brussels and past the Royal Palace.

He used to tell people how every time he went past a (military) band his horse reared up and walked on its hind legs; there were lots of bands along the route so this happened a lot of times.

Soon afterwards word reached my father that the King of the Belgians, who had been taking the salute, and the other VIPs had been most impressed with his horsemanship: saluting with his right hand and holding the reins in his left as the horse pranced on the slippery cobbles in front of the Palace.

When recounting the anecdote my father used to then reveal that back at the regimental depot he was told by the sergeant i/c horses that his horse was one of the (performing) horses that the army had commandeered from Bertram Mills Circus.

My investigations today, however, make his version a little incorrect for, although Bertram Mills was an expert on horses, and even knew John Ringling of Ringling Brothers Circus fame, Mills was actually in the undertaking business and confusingly did not start up his own circus until after the war - the result of a wager!

Mills though also served in the RAMC, thus I wonder if the horse was actually one that Bertram Mills’ himself had been using while in the RAMC and to which he had been teaching tricks, and which was then assigned to my father: i.e. what he was told after the parade was actually the far more specific: “That used to be Bertram Mills’ horse”.

I also wonder what Bertram Mills was doing in the RAMC especially as his biographical details say that he rose to the rank of Captain too. It could well be that due to his knowledge of horses the Army put him in a job where that would be useful.

Clearly if it was a circus horse, then it must have come from another circus. (eg Wilkins) and my father simply remembered it incorrectly.

Click here for Betram Mills biography.