In continuing to follow my interest in animals and animal-human relations in the Southeast Asian past, I was looking around the web site for the Imperial War Museums for information about mules in Burma during World War II.
Mules were used to transport weapons and goods for the Chindits, a British special forces group that entered Burma from India and fought the Japanese, and they are mentioned quite often in the oral interviews on the Imperial War Museums web site of soldiers who served in the Chindit expeditions.
So it looks like one could use what humans have written and said in order to write a history of mules in World War II Burma. What one could not do, however, is to incorporate a “mule voice” for that history.
The reason why this would be impossible is not simply because mules don’t speak human languages, but because the mules that carried weapons and supplies for the Chindits were actually “de-voiced” in India before they headed off to Burma.
A doctor by the name of A. J. Moffett claims to have invented the technique for doing this. In an article that he published in the British Medical Journal in 1983, he recalled the following:
“Sometime in 1942-3 I was the ear and throat specialist to No 14 British General Hospital stationed in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India. I was approached by Colonel Stewart of the Indian Army Veterinary Corps. He had a problem.
“A mule makes a loud braying noise that can be heard for two or three miles. The First Chindit Force – at that time a very hush hush operation – led by Colonel Orde Wingate used mules for transport. This braying of the mules alerted the enemy to the position of the force. Wingate wanted the mules silenced. Could I as a laryngologist suggest what could be done.”
A. J. Moffett goes on in his article to explain that he developed a simple technique for cutting the vocal chords of a mule so that it could no longer make sounds. He did this after the mule had been put to sleep with general anesthetics, and laid on its side.
However, an animal transport officer with the Chindits by the name of Francis William Geoffrey Turner stated in an interview that the Imperial War Museums has digitized that when this technique was actually implemented, veterinarians just used a local anesthetic, and the operation only took about three minutes, during which time the mule remained standing.
Turner then makes some interesting remarks about the consequences of this “de-voicing” of mules. In particular, he argues that this de-vocalization “messed up” the mules because it took away their ability to speak to each other “which in effect therefore had the undesired effect of a mule having to see before he would go as opposed to be able to talk before he went.”
As an example of this, Turner talks about a time when the men and mules that he was with needed to cross the Irrawaddy River at a place where it was about 800 meters wide. It was very difficult to do this, because the men had to force the mules to not turn their heads back when they entered the water, because when the swimming mules looked back and saw other mules on the shore, they automatically wanted to turn back.
He notes that, “The mule you see would [have] liked at that stage to be able to call out to his friend on the other side before he entered the water.”
However, by de-vocalizing the mules, that ability to “talk to each other” was taken away. It was only when mules got far enough out into the water so that they could mules that had already crossed and were on the other side, that they then were able to move forward on their own.
So mules were literally silenced in World War II Burma. At the same time, mules and other animals have also been largely silenced in many of our accounts of the past. In listening to various interviews on the Imperial War Museums site, however, it’s clear that many aspects of the past were experienced together by animals and humans, and that many human experiences in the past are closely interconnected with animals.
I therefore think that it’s time then to “re-vocalize” the animals in history, so that we can gain a fuller understanding of the past.
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The road is long, with many a winding turn
That leads us to who knows where, who knows where
But I’m strong, strong enough to carry him
He ain’t heavy – he’s my brother
So on we go, his welfare is my concern
No burden is he to bare, we’ll get there
For I know he would not encumber me
He ain’t heavy – he’s my brother
If I’m laden at all, I’m laden with sadness
That everyone’s heart isn’t filled with gladness of love for one another
It’s a long long road from which there is no return
While we’re on our way to there, why not share
And the load, it doesn’t weigh me down at all
He ain’t heavy – he’s my brother
He ain’t heavy – he’s my brother, he’s my brother, he’s my brother.
<3
My Father was One of the Men who took care of the pack Mules. He was stationed in Burma. They did everything they could to protect those animals. They feed them and gave them top notch care because their lives depended on the mules. My Dad was a gentle man who loved animals. He was raised on a farm and was used to taking care animals and was good to the mules. Yes the mules were very important to the war effort against Japan. I think My Father had a rough time in the service of Being a mule handler. They dodged bullets and lived in the Jungles.
Thank you very much for sharing this information!!! Yes, it was clear from the interview where I first learned about the mules that the main being interviewed really cared about the mules too. It’s a fascinating but little-known aspect of World War II in Asia. Thank you again for sharing this information about your father.
This was a special Service Army Group all-volunteer group. My Father said they told them it was a mortal mission and very few were expected to live through it. My father was American and was under McGuire. They were sent to a camp to take learn to take care of the mules. The Man in charge told them no matter what keep the mules alive, Your life depends on it. Thye had a song, We are the men in Butan, No one gives a damn about Us not our moms, Not our ???? and not Uncle Sam. He was a shy man and didn’t talk about it much. After he passed I find out how many metals he earned. He was very good at taking care of his feet. He taught All of us children to use LYSOL liquid on Out feet with cotton balls. That cures almost any foot problem. I didn’t know where he got that wisdom until I read about his unit. Then it dawned on me it was his experience of living in the jungle with all kinds of foot problems. He was a great man I will always miss him! I am 65 now. His name was Henry Norman Nordbo.
My father served in Italy during WWII, and in the North Appenines Campaign mules regularly supplied the troops in those mountains. I never heard hm speak of “mule silencing,” but that is not to say it didn’t happen. Now that I’ve learned of the mule operations (no pun intended) in Burma, I wonder if they did the same thing in Northern Italy?