Mules carry guns where tanks can't go
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Title (Dublin Core)
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Mules carry guns where tanks can't go
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Article Title and/or Image Caption (Dublin Core)
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Title: Mules carry guns where tanks can't go
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extracted text (Extract Text)
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Ties have plenty of speed and fire
power when the going is good, but they
don't have the legs and feet which they
would need to work their way into mountain-
ous or jungle country, where every tree and
rock is a potential tank trap. So the Army
is busily building up pack-artillery outfits to
carry its guns into otherwise inaccessible
spots.
Mules have been found to be the best ani-
mals for this work. They are used for haul-
ing guns, ammunition, and supplies, and also
as riding animals. Only a few horses are
used; some for mounts for officers, the
others as bell mares. The latter animals,
each wearing a bell with an individual tone,
are assigned to groups of mules. Through
training the mules learn to recognize the
tone of the bell of their group, and they
follow the bell mare, which is led.
Training mules and men for pack-artillery
work takes months of hard work, because
both must be ietter-perfect in
their jobs. Mules must learn to
stand still when being loaded and
to follow the bell mare. Men
must be taught the intricacies of
loading a mule properly so the
load won't chafe or fall off. (Some
mules know when a load is not
properly adjusted, and won't move
until it is fixed.) The men must
learn how to unload, assemble,
and fire the 75-mm. howitzer,
which is the pack artillery’s prin-
cipal weapon, so they can do it
blindfolded, on top of a rock pile,
or in the middle of a swamp.
In the end the Army has in its
pack artillery a good old-fash-
ioned team of men and mules,
with modern war equipment, that
can do the job in the most difficult
situations. (CONTINUED)
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Language (Dublin Core)
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Eng
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Date Issued (Dublin Core)
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1941-11
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pages (Bibliographic Ontology)
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112-113
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Rights (Dublin Core)
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Public domain
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Archived by (Dublin Core)
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Sami Akbiyik
Popular Science Monthly, v. 139, n. 5, 1941
