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7A 131 13 VETERINARIAN If I failed in my attempt to lee to the West, being reunited with Vlado Horvatić was undoubtedly the next best alternative. My admiration and friendship for him were profound, and I looked forward to spending time with this extraordinary man and assisting him in his work. Vlado was not only head of the marvena bolnica (animal hospital) but also Chief Veterinarian of the entire 8th Partisan “Assault” Division (the title “Assault” was awarded as a collective decoration to units that had distinguishedthemselvesinbattle ,anevenhigheraccoladebeing“Proletarian”). The 8th Division, which belonged to the 4th Corps, consisted of some ive thousand combatants (men and women) as well as eight hundred horses and mules. The division also possessed a few run-down and unreliable trucks, but the animals were the primary means of transportation and of moving heavy equipment; as such they were of vital importance. I grudgingly came to admit to myself that the oicer who had held me back from the pilot training course (inadvertently saving my life) was probably right: the Partisans did desperately need anyone with even the slightest notions of veterinary medicine. Although my scanty knowledge came only from observing Vlado at work a year and a half earlier, he, with typical impudence (and sense of humour), appointed me his deputy and, shortly afterwards, second-in-command at the animal hospital. His justiication for this decision was that I, unlike most other Partisans in the Animal Hospital Unit, could read and write. The stream of injured or ill animals to the hospital was constant, and I was immediately plunged into frenetic activity. We were desperately short of medicines, instruments, and medical reference books, and the hospital itself consisted merely of a cluster of huts and wooden shacks, butVlado’stalentsandcommonsenseenabledhimtoachieveastonishing 81118 001-226.pdf_out 6/17/114:15 PM K 131 FI 132 13 VETERINARIAN results. Apart from sewing up wounds and applying plenty of camphor and other disinfectants, his main course of action was to ensure that the horses and mules were kept clean and properly fed and that they were allowed to rest and convalesce for as long as possible. Vlado’s motto was: “Coat clean, hoofs dry.” I was amazed to see how many weak, sickly, and even moribund animals recovered under the proper conditions of hygiene and nutrition, permitting us eventually to send most of them back to their units. Although I was at irst quite scared of horses and mules, inding myself on the receiving end of a number of hard and painful kicks while trying to treat them, I gradually developed a fondness for them. They were highly prized beasts in the Partisan world, and I counted myself lucky when I was issued with a mare myself (I was even luckier that she happened to be very tame and docile). I had almost no experience horseback riding, and as there were no saddles or stirrups available, I— and the considerate animal—had to make do with a blanket and ropes. At various diferent times, between ten and forty Partisans were attached to the hospital, to help with cleaning and general maintenance and to man the various activities we organized, such as a blacksmith ’s shop for horseshoes and a workshop that made horse brushes from horsehair. There was also an area where horses and mules that were too severely injured or ill to be treated were shot, to be transformed into sausages. Most of our Partisan assistants were hard-bitten combat veterans, many of whom had already killed at least one enemy soldier or would have done so given half the chance, but when it came to putting a bullet through the head of an injured horse or mule to release it from its misery, they simply could not bring themselves to pull the trigger. It was usually Vlado or I who had to carry out this unpleasant duty. I could not imagine that within a few months I would be forced to take Vlado’s place, but as I was considering the possibility of studying medicine after the war, I tried to participate as fully as I could in everything he did and I listened attentively to his explanations. I often accompanied him on his periodic visits to the various units in our area, during which he inspected the conditions in which animals were being kept and gave instructions for changes or improvements. I also helped him organize a special course at the animal hospital for veterinary assistants...

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