Harrogate Herald - 8th December 1915

Private Sweeney, of the Army Service Corps, is in the Grove House Hospital with rheumatism. He was out at the Dardanelles as driver, and his experiences there of horses and mules is interesting. He favours mules as being more capable of hard work. So long as they were well fed and looked after, mules would keep going, with intervals, practically day and night, but horses, especially in that climate, gave up easily. Sweeney has qualifications, however, about the excellence of mules. Some of the mules display wicked tempers and lash out with their heels on the least provocation, and often without provocation at all. He has known a man killed by the kick of one of these mules, whilst it is not an uncommon thing to carry the imprint of a mule's heel on your body. It is, however, all in a day's work of a soldier, and taken in good part. They learn by experience, and a mule is an effective teacher.