INTERVIEW
WARRIOR:
By Peter White
A horse born on the Island more
than 100 years ago has recently
emerged as the central figure in
one of the most incredible tales of
bravery and unity throughout the
whole of the First World War.
Yet the heroics of Warrior, a
bay thoroughbred, ridden by his
owner General Jack Seeley, might
have been lost forever but for the
release earlier this year of Steven
Spielberg’s latest film ‘War Horse’.
But whereas Spielberg’s equine
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hero's exploits are fictional, those
of Warrior are true, and truly
amazing, in every aspect.
Warrior was born in Yafford in
1908, and after the War ended he
returned to the Island, and even
took part in a point-to-point race
here before passing away at the
grand old age of 33. Upon his
death he had an unprecedented
obituary in The Times newspaper
which exclaimed: ‘The Horse the
Germans Could Not Kill’.
It was in August, 1914 that Jack
and Warrior arrived in France,
and for the next four years the
pair cheated death time and again
before leading one of the last
ever cavalry charges, against the
Germans near Amiens, in March,
1918. By then they said “the bullet
has not been made that could
finish Warrior”
Warrior and Jack were together in
many famous battles, including the
Somme and Ypres. The first time