Goodbye, Old Man' Painting depicting a British soldier comforting his dying horse on a road, 1916.

Goodbye, Old Man' Painting depicting a British soldier comforting his dying horse on a road, 1916.

In Flanders fields where poppies grow,

A soldier's heart, a tale of woe.

His steed, once brave, now still and cold,

A bond of trust, a story told.

Through trenches deep and mud so thick,

They charged as one, both fierce and quick.

But war's cruel hand, it struck them down,

In blood-soaked fields, on battle's crown.

With eyes so wet, he knelt and wept,

For loyal friend whose silence kept.

A final breath, a solemn vow,

To honor brave, though broken now.

In war's cruel grasp, where shadows loom,

A soldier mourns his noble plume.

Yet in his heart, that bond shall stay,

A light in dark, to guide his way.

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This painting by Italian artist Fortunino Matania was commissioned by the Blue Cross animal charity fund in 1916 to raise money for horses on active service in the British Army during the First World War.

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Approximately 8 million horses were killed in the First World War, transporting guns, ammunition, resources and troops - dying to artillery strikes and exhaustion most of the time. A minority of horses were also killed as cavalry horses, charging into enemy barbed wire, rifle- and machine-gun fire.