Episode 3 (Emmerdale 1918)

In the third episode of Emmerdale 1918 Zoe Henry, better known as village vet Rhona Goskirk, heads off on the trail of a local Yorkshire vet.

Plot
Zoe Henry is invited to the Army Remount Barracks to discover the identity of her villager. She meets Major Drew Tootall. He tells her about ''Joseph Abson, a 55-year-old veterinary surgeon who signed up to The Army Veterinary Corps in 1914. He had already reached the life expectancy of a male in that time, but decided to leave his wife and son to care for the horses on the front line. He was one of over 1,000 officer serving as veterinary surgeons in the War.''

''Before the war, animals were a huge part of Joseph's life, running a practice with his nephew Percy. Joseph's family were well known locally and were heavily relied on by farmers to keep their horses and livestock safe and well. His skills were needed as the horses needed to move supplies, guns and ammunition, as well as transporting the wounded to hospital. ''

Zoe meets vet Graham Barlow, where he speaks about vet's in the early twentieth century.

"They had a huge amount of expertise, because they were looking after these horses as they powered the farm and as they powered the army for the First World War."

Zoe then gets to experience the job of a real Yorkshire vet as she watches Graham get up close and personal with the rear end of a cow. This makes her realise how important, even more so 100 years ago, vets are in the farming industry.

Zoe returns to see Major Tootall, to learn about Joseph and his veterinary team on the Western Front. ''At the start of the war, the army only had 25,000 horses. By the end of the war, they had bought over 500,000. Horses were important in the First World War, so it was made sure that care and commitment were provided for them.'' Zoe watches as Drew and his team operate on a lame horse. By looking through his diary, Zoe reads that ''Joseph was instrumental in setting up some of the first advanced dressing and triage stations for the horses. He was passionate about their care and organised how they were fed and charted their recovery. Nearly 2 million horses were saved during the First World War due to the pioneering work of vets like Joseph.''

Zoe then meets Claire Harvey and Jennifer Day, Joseph's great-great and great nieces, respectively. Claire told Zoe that she was also a vet, and was surprised to learn her ancestor was one too. They show her a photograph of Joseph and his prayer book that he carried with him during the War. ''On his return from war, Joseph was made treasurer of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, as well as the president of the Veterinary Medical Association. ''

Zoe was baffled to discover how little his family knew of his time on the Western Front and wanted to understand how Joseph changed so dramatically after the war. Although few surgeons recorded their time at war, their success rate spoke volumes. ''The British Army hospitals in France received 552,000 injured horses during those four years. Three quarters of those horses returned to their duties.''

Zoe travels to meet military historian, Graham Winton. He tells her that ''Joseph was a highly experienced vet, which the army was short of. During the War, he had a phenomenal workload and helped to establish new ways of looking after injured horses, offering a more hygienic way of treating animals than ever before. From a small practice to overseeing hundreds of veterinary surgeons, he was promoted to Major, in charge of over 5,000 horses. These would've been required for artillery units, transport and ambulances. He was awarded with two mentions in dispatches for bringing back wounded horses during the Battle of Loos in 1915. He was also awarded the DSO, the Distinguished Service Order, in 1916. Joseph was dedicated to his horses and his job during the War.''

Zoe visits the Horse Trust, where military horses are sent after retirement. Zoe wishes to lead an ex-army horse in the upcoming Armistice parade, so Mark Evison helps her prepare with his horse, Yeti. They dress Yeti, whilst cleaning the hooves and combing his mane. She enjoys the task, and anticipated the centenary celebration.