Even Highly Mechanized Armies Still Lived Beside Horses and Mules

Motorization did not erase animal labor; it merely changed where and how armies pretended not to notice it.

The image of WWII as fully mechanized obscures the endurance of animal transport. Horses and mules hauled loads where fuel was scarce, roads failed, or terrain argued with engines. This was true in varying degrees across many armies and theaters. The detail matters because it prevents an overly tidy narrative of technological replacement. The modern and the old lived together. A convoy could share a road with a wagon, and both might be equally necessary before dusk.