The Silent Regiment

🐘 The Forgotten Giants of War 🌿

This Remembrance season, I’ve been thinking about the animals who served—and especially those whose stories rarely get told.

Elephants.

Not the first image that comes to mind when we picture the world wars. But they were there. In the mud and the jungle. In Britain, elephants like Lizzie hauled scrap and coal when horses were conscripted. In Burma, they built bridges, launched ships, and carried supplies through terrain too harsh for vehicles. They didn’t wear uniforms. They didn’t choose sides. But they served, and many suffered.

Their strength was quiet. Their loyalty, unquestioned. And yet their stories remain largely unspoken.

So I wrote this:

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The Silent Regiment 

Elephants laboured where engines had failed,  

Camels crossed deserts where men had derailed.  

Cats curled in corners of barracks and ships,  

A flicker of comfort on trembling lips.

And horses—oh, horses—by thousands they fell,  

In wire-strung fields, in artillery’s hell.  

Eyes wide with terror, yet forward they flew,  

Because we had asked them, and they always knew.

No cenotaph carved them, no bugle will play,  

But still they are with us, in memories grey.  

So whisper their names when the poppies are worn—  

The beasts of our battles, the brave and the torn.

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If this moved you, feel free to share. Let’s make space for the quiet heroes too. 🐾 #LestWeForget #SilentRegiment #RemembranceDay #ElephantsOfWar