They shoot horses, don’t they – but not if disguised

‘Using a silver nitrate solution, zebra stripes and leopard spots were painted on horses,’ says Bruce Vivash Jones. Photograph: Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images

While the disguising of animals in general has to be seen as deplorable (Fake penguins and other zoo deceptions, G2, 4 October), there was once a possibly unique exception. When the 1914 war started, the British forces in Kenya suddenly found their border with German Tanganyika (now Tanzania) had become a frontline. The British mounted troops had many grey horses, which proved to be easy targets for German snipers. Major Robert Stordy, the senior veterinary officer, devised a method to camouflage the horses. Using a silver nitrate solution, he painted zebra stripes and leopard spots on the animals, with considerable success. Stordy, a Scotsman, was awarded DSO and later CBE for his services in the war.
Bruce Vivash Jones
Cirencester, Gloucestershire

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