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Story: First World War

Great War Stories: Bess, war horse

Video file

Many New Zealand horses were used by the mounted rifles in the campaign against the Ottoman forces in Sinai and Palestine from 1916 to 1918. One of those horses was Colonel Powles’s mount, Bess. This Great War Story, which screened in August 2014, describes her war experience.

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Courtesy of Archives New Zealand – Te Rua Mahara o te Kawanatanga and Alexander Turnbull Library

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How to cite this page

Ian McGibbon, First World War – Gallipoli and the war against Turkey, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/46405/great-war-stories-bess-war-horse (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Ian McGibbon, published 23 October 2014.