This article is from ‘The Great War in a Differnet Light’ and was originally published in the 'From All the Fronts' by Donald Mackenzie (1917).
'Dogs in the Trenches'
The dog has long been called "the friend of man", and in this great war it has proved itself to be a friend indeed. Many stories are told of dogs leaving home and tracking their masters to the trenches, and of their wonderful courage under fire. But it is not as a pet alone that the dog has proved itself a "friend", but also as a worker, whether doing red-cross work, sentinel duty, or hauling sledges with supplies over snow - clad hills.
One of the famous French army dogs is "Marquis", which did splendid service carrying dispatches. This faithful animal showed great intelligence, and ran and crept through bullet-swept zones carrying important messages when no human being could venture to do so. More than once Marquis helped whole companies to get out of tight spots by bringing them warnings in time, and it also kept officers in touch with their superiors, when heavy bombardments cut telephone wires, by scampering from point to point with messages.
One morning Marquis was sent out on his last journey with a dispatch in his mouth. The Prussians were attacking heavily at the time. Shell-fire burst above and behind the French trenches, and it was impossible for a soldier to attempt to leave cover. Marquis ran off - going briskly so long as it was under cover. Then he had to cross an open track of country where the bullets pattered down like hailstones. He crept low, and made short rushes from bush to bush, while anxious eyes followed its movements. For a time all went well. Then, when it seemed as if the dog would succeed, it was struck by a bullet and fell on the ground. An officer, who had been watching through his field-glasses, uttered a cry of regret, and began to sorrow for poor Marquis. For a time the dog lay very still. Then he began to come back. Slowly he crept on, suffering pain and very weak from loss of blood. At length, after a great effort, Marquis returned to his master, and, dropping the blood-stained dispatch at his feet, fell over and died. That evening the French soldiers, with bared heads and heavy hearts, buried the faithful dispatch dog, and set up a little monument to mark his grave.
Another famous dog was named Lutz. It won its reputation near Verdun. One dark night a force of Germans were stealing towards a French position all unknown to the sentinels. Lutz, however, scented them and began to growl. "Hush! lie down!" a sentinel said in a low voice, but Lutz only grew more restless and excited. The attention of an officer was drawn to the dog's behaviour, and a warning was issued. The French soldiers were roused from sleep and stood ready to deal with any unexpected danger. Ere long they became aware of the near presence of Germans, and a withering fire broke out from the French trenches. The German surprise attack failed completely because of the warning given by Lutz. A large number of this raiding force were killed at point-blank range, and most of the survivors were taken prisoners.
Dogs like Lutz are trained to act as helpers of sentries. They do not all growl and bark when danger is near, however. Some simply "point" like "pointer dogs" used by sportsmen on the moors. When these wise animals scent the enemy, they thrust their noses forward, stiffen out their backs, and signal with their tails, keeping perfectly silent. One dark night a pointer, named Paul, stood beside a sentry. Suddenly the dog began to sniff and grow restless. Then he pointed stiffly towards a point where he had scented the enemy. An officer was informed that the dog was "pointing". He shrugged his shoulders and said, "The dog can't be trusted." Paul was taken down a trench and led to another sentry post. There he sniffed again and "pointed" in the same direction as formerly. "Now, Paul," the officer said, "we shall put you to the test." He ordered rockets to be sent up. Flares of vivid light cut through the darkness, and three Germans on "listening post" duty were seen crouching on the ground less than twenty yards distant.
Their duty was to spy on the French position and find out whether any preparations were being made for a night attack. This they could do by listening to hear words of command and the movements of soldiers getting ready to creep out in the darkness. If such preparations were being made, it was their duty to creep back and give the alarm. Having been pointed at by Paul, this particular "listening post" party was rounded up by the French, the three men being brought in as prisoners. The officer patted Paul, and calling him "a treasure", said: "I shall see, good dog, that you are mentioned in dispatches."
The dogs that do ambulance work have saved many lives by going out in the darkness over "No-Man's- Land", after an attack had taken place, finding wounded soldiers, and carrying food and stimulants to them. The intelligent way in which these animals behave is very wonderful. When a red-cross dog finds a stricken soldier, it runs back and leads a party towards him. On the outbreak of war the French had only a few dogs trained for ambulance work, but these proved to be so useful that their numbers were speedily added to. In less than two years' time there were nearly 3000 dogs at work, and it is estimated that owing to their help about 10,000 lives have been saved.
Among the Vosges mountains large numbers of dogs from Labrador and Alaska have been used to pull sleighs loaded with food or ammunition over trackless wastes, and also to drag small trucks on narrow lines of railway. When snow lies heavily on the ground, and a crust is formed on it by the hard frosts, the dogs can scamper up and down the mountain slopes at great speed. Long teams are yoked to the sledges, and the drivers have exciting enough spins. Sometimes it takes them all their time to keep the animals under control. Running in packs, they often become greatly excited, and scamper at such a rate that there is always the danger of an accident taking place. More than one sledge has been overturned during a wild rush down a steep snowy slope. The dogs follow a leader, who picks out a track by instinct, and occasionally swerves this way and that to avoid a danger spot, such. as a piece of jutting rock, or a deep hollow over which the snow lies thinly. But the bounding animals never swerve if there should happen to be men or mules in front of them. One day a company of French soldiers were crossing a little valley, when a team of carrier dogs swept down the long sloping hill-side and ran pell-mell towards them.
In another minute three or four soldiers found themselves struggling in the snow with foaming and excited dogs tumbling over them. The sledge was overturned, and the driver thrown a dozen yards into a heavy snow-wreath, from which he came out shouting protests, and shaking himself like his dogs to get rid of the sheets of snow that clung about his shoulders and neck. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt. When the sleigh was righted again, and the dogs were got in hand, the driver set his team scampering merrily down the valley. Much more trouble is caused if the dogs should happen to run into a group of pack mules. The mule is never, as a rule, too good-tempered, and if he is tripped up, he bites and kicks so much that it is dangerous to go near him. One evening, just as the sun was setting in a blaze of red over the snow-clad hills, a mule, which was thrown over by a scampering dog team, kicked out so fiercely as it sprawled in the snow that it killed three dogs and injured another half-dozen. The sleigh was loaded with ammunition, but by good luck ran down a sloping bank clear of the animal's hoofs. The dogs' traces had to be cut, and three of them escaped, and scampered away out of sight in a few minutes, but they were found next day to have returned to the camp from which they had set out.
As a rule, these sleigh dogs are somewhat wild. They are greatly given to fighting among them-selves, and if one of them should happen to escape from a kennel, they bark and howl at a great rate, and cannot be silenced until the comrade who has won freedom is caught and taken back again. It takes a skilled driver to deal with them when they grow fierce and excited.
They are, however, very obedient to, and even quite gentle with, those who feed them readily, and, being most intelligent, answer readily to their names. But for these dogs, the problem of sending supplies of food and ammunition through the passes of the Vosges during winter would have been a very difficult one. Often when the light railways were buried in snow and rendered quite useless, and teams of pack mules were hardly able to make their way through the wreaths, the northern dogs scampered along, hauling the sleighs and keeping the soldiers well supplied with all they required.
Showing posts with label Dogs in the war. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dogs in the war. Show all posts
Monday, March 28, 2011
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Is a Dachshund a German Dog?
Still on the subject of Dogs and the First World War, here are two letters that appeared in the Eastbourne Gazette dated 20th February 1918. It seems that quite a storm had arisen over the origin of dachshund breed.
Both letters remain anonymous, but I like the second as it displays the general mistrust of anything remotely German!
Is a Dachshund a German Dog?
Sir,
I learn from the letter of your correspondent, W.A. Jackson, that I a pure bred dachshund am not a German dog. Mr, (Mrs. or Miss) Jackson, in answering the letter of “A Lover of Dogs” says that your correspondent spoke “most ignorantly” about the dachshund. He (or she) goes on to assert that dachshunds “are English; were bred in England, being taught to turn the old-fashioned spit, which accounts for the somewhat strange formation of feet! “This Sir, is “all my eye and Betty Martin.”
True, W.A. Jackson, by his (or her) own confession, is the owner of only a mongrel; and that, perhaps, excuses him (or her) from knowing so little of the breed called dachshunds. I will, therefore, briefly give him (or her) their true history.
The name “dachshund” is adopted from the German, signifying “badger-dog.” The dachshund has been common in Germany for many years, but was unknown in England until introduced from Germany by the Prince Consort towards the middle of the nineteenth century i.e. after the days when the spit was generally used for roasting in this country. Moreover, the dachshund is largely used in Germany for hunting, and is especially favoured by the Kaiser for covert shooting.
I, as a German of high birth, consider it an insult to be informed by W.A. Jackson that members of my family were once employed to turn the spit! True, the old English dog formerly known as the “Turn-spit” is a poor cousin of mine; but that fact has nothing to do with my crooked feet. They were caused in years long past by rickets!
No, Sir, I am a German and am proud of it. Auf wiedersehen! Bow-wow!
Yours,
A DACHSHUND,
Eastbourne.
Sir,
Your correspondent is right about the dachshund not being German in origin. They were, however, adopted by Germany to its own uses (a not unusual thing) and being now German dogs to all intents and purposes are naturally looked on as such.
Yours truly,
“Another lover of Dogs.”
Both letters remain anonymous, but I like the second as it displays the general mistrust of anything remotely German!
Is a Dachshund a German Dog?
Sir,
I learn from the letter of your correspondent, W.A. Jackson, that I a pure bred dachshund am not a German dog. Mr, (Mrs. or Miss) Jackson, in answering the letter of “A Lover of Dogs” says that your correspondent spoke “most ignorantly” about the dachshund. He (or she) goes on to assert that dachshunds “are English; were bred in England, being taught to turn the old-fashioned spit, which accounts for the somewhat strange formation of feet! “This Sir, is “all my eye and Betty Martin.”
True, W.A. Jackson, by his (or her) own confession, is the owner of only a mongrel; and that, perhaps, excuses him (or her) from knowing so little of the breed called dachshunds. I will, therefore, briefly give him (or her) their true history.
The name “dachshund” is adopted from the German, signifying “badger-dog.” The dachshund has been common in Germany for many years, but was unknown in England until introduced from Germany by the Prince Consort towards the middle of the nineteenth century i.e. after the days when the spit was generally used for roasting in this country. Moreover, the dachshund is largely used in Germany for hunting, and is especially favoured by the Kaiser for covert shooting.
I, as a German of high birth, consider it an insult to be informed by W.A. Jackson that members of my family were once employed to turn the spit! True, the old English dog formerly known as the “Turn-spit” is a poor cousin of mine; but that fact has nothing to do with my crooked feet. They were caused in years long past by rickets!
No, Sir, I am a German and am proud of it. Auf wiedersehen! Bow-wow!
Yours,
A DACHSHUND,
Eastbourne.
Sir,
Your correspondent is right about the dachshund not being German in origin. They were, however, adopted by Germany to its own uses (a not unusual thing) and being now German dogs to all intents and purposes are naturally looked on as such.
Yours truly,
“Another lover of Dogs.”
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Dogs in the First World War.
This article was published during the war in the ‘War Illustrated.’ It is interesting how the publishers sold the public the idea of the usefulness of dogs helping the soldiers in the trenches.
In a previous article ‘Messenger Dogs’ it was noted how the Australians tried unsuccessfully to use dogs to carry messages. Perhaps other units had better luck!!
III - HOW DOGS BECOME GOOD SOLDIERS
The training of intelligent animals like these is carried on in five different ways, for various uses.
1. As Ambulance Dogs. The animal seeks for wounded men lost on the battle-field; he searches in holes, ruins, and excavations, and hunts over wooded places or coverts, where the wounded man might lie unnoticed by his comrades or the stretcher-bearer. The dog is especially useful at this work in the night-time, when he can often by his scent discover fallen men who would otherwise be passed over, for at night-time ambulance-men often have to work in the dark, as lights would attract the enemy's fire. Having found a wounded man still alive, the dog brings his master (or the ambulance-man to whom he is attached) some article belonging to the sufferer. This object tells the master, "I have found someone - search!"
Usually the object brought is the fallen man’s képi (or nowadays his helmet), and the trainers teach the dog to find the man's headgear, but if this is missing some other object must be brought. It is a fatiguing operation for the animal, as he has to return with closed mouth. The ambulance-man who receives the article at once puts the animal on a leash, and is immediately led to his wounded comrade. The leash is about two yards long, so that the movements of the animal shall be hindered as little as possible.
If dogs were utilized in this service long during wartime, their value would be incalculable; and their use is all the greater when fighting takes place over an extended area. The situation of the wounded man overlooked or abandoned on the battle-field is a truly horrible one; he has to wait in the forlorn hope that he will be found, for the army has gone on, and the more victorious it is the farther it will push ahead. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1 more than twelve thousand men were thus lost to the French alone, while in the Russo-Japanese War the Japanese lost over five thousand in this manner, showing that the methods then used for the exploration of the battle-fields were inadequate. In that war three dogs sent by a military dog society found twenty-three wounded men who had been abandoned after the battle of Cha-ho. In the Boer War the collie dogs taken out by the men, it is said, saved hundreds of wounded men who would never have been found by the ambulance-workers in the difficult country where fighting mostly took place.
2. As Trench Dogs or Sentinels. The sentry or trench dog is trained to stay in the trench itself or in a small "listening-post" made for him, either on the edge of the trench, outside it, or at a little distance away. There he remains on the qui vive, ready to signal the least suspicion of a noise or the presence of the enemy. In this work both his eyes and his scent help him. He is kept on the leash, and he gives the signal of danger by a slight growl, without barking, which would give the alarm. The greatest difficulty in the training of dogs for this work has been to rid them of the habit of barking, but this has been overcome with care and patience. The training of dogs for this class of work can be - and has been-carried to great lengths. A man crawling on patrol work takes a dog with him, also in a crouching position, on a leash. A little tug at the leash causes the dog to rise, to retire, or to change its direction, and a properly-trained animal will answer to the leash as satisfactorily as a horse does to the reins. Such a dog is of immense help at night, when he can be taken quite close to the enemy.
3. As Patrols or Scouts. The dog accompanies the human scout in his reconnaissance, and helps in finding advance posts or sentinels, and locating small groups of the enemy.
4. As Couriers or Messengers. The animal acts as a messenger, carrying written orders or information, and is used according to circumstances. He can carry messages between groups in the rear and fighting formations in the front - for example, between the artillery and the infantry, and vice versa; between two fighting forces, such as battalions, companies, or sections; between the headquarters and the various positions of the army; or between the main body and detached posts, such as patrols, scouts, etc. Taken along by a patrol or scouting party, he can be sent back to the main body with a message fixed to his collar. The note having been removed and read, a reply can be attached to his collar, and the dog sent back to the original body of men, even if they have changed their position, since he finds them again by his scent. A dog is not only much quicker in carrying these very special qualities, so that only a very few animals have been found capable of the work. It consists in sending him after a patrol en route with a message, or even in finding a lost patrol or scouting party and bringing it back to its base. It will readily be understood that an exceptional scent is required in a dog to do work of this sort.
In the two last-named classes of work dogs can pass swiftly backwards and forwards through brisk firing and run much less risk than a man.
IV - DOGS ARE HEROES UNDER FIRE
There are several societies in Paris which choose suitable dogs in order to make soldiers of them. The "Central Society for the Development of the Breeds of Dogs" gave three thousand dogs to the French army last August. After they have been tested, an operation which takes about three weeks, they are sent to special stations in the rear of the armies to be trained, and five or six days are all that are necessary for the training of animals for the simpler kinds of work. For more difficult tasks the training is naturally a longer business. When dogs are to be trained as communication agents the in- struction may take several weeks. They are taught to go from one master to another, first by a call, then by a whistle, then simply at a mere gesture. Distances are gradually increased, obstacles are placed in the way, the animal's goal becomes invisible, and so on. Much patience is required in this kind of work; and it is found that the best results are obtained by kindness and giving rewards for good work accomplished. The animals are taught to recognize only two masters, and to obey them alone. Outsiders are not allowed to pet or feed them. When they understand that they have to obey only one or two men, they have to learn to follow one or both of them when marching in a column of infantry, to recognize them when in a group, and so on. They are taught to endure the sound of gun-firing or explosions quite close to them. Above all, they are strictly trained never to pick up articles on their journey and to refuse delicacies offered them by strangers.
Specially-trained dogs only are chosen for this work, and they are mostly sheep-dogs or collies or animals whose business it was in civil life to be guardians or watchers, and always on the alert. These are all the easier to train for the special work - somewhat of the same order - which they are set to do in war.
When the question of transport through the mountain snow had become a matter of urgent importance, the French authorities conceived the idea of using dog-drawn sleighs for carrying supplies. Some hundred "huskies' - a cross between the Eskimo dog and the wolf -and other trained dogs from Alaska, North-Western Canada, and Labrador were brought over by Lieutenant René Haas, a Frenchman who had spent fourteen years in Alaska. Mr. Warner Allen, the representative of the British Press with the French armies, describing the work of these dogs, says the snow in the neighbourhood of the Schlucht Pass was deep enough until almost the end of April for the dogs to render yeoman service. "They were able," he says, "to draw heavy loads over almost inaccessible country, and to supplement to a valuable extent the wheeled transport. But their utility has not ceased with the disappearance of the snow. They are now being harnessed to trucks on small two-foot-gauge light railways, which run everywhere behind the Front, and they are capable of drawing the heaviest load up the steepest gradient. Eleven dogs, with a couple of men, can haul a ton up some of the most precipitous slopes in the mountains, and I was assured that two teams of seven dogs each could do the work of five horses in this difficult country, with a very great economy of men."
This correspondent adds that the best of these imported breeds of dogs is the Alaskan, as "his courage never fails, ani he will work until he drops, though he is perhaps the weakest of them. They are all shaggy dogs, with prick ears and bushy tails, their colour ranging from black to white, between greys and browns. Their chest development, so necessary for hauling, is remarkable. They are mainly fed on rice, horse-flesh, and waste military biscuits, and this fare appears to suit them admirably, as they are always in splendid condition, and disease is practically unknown. The experiment of transporting these do as to France has shown that they can be of real service in mountainous country, and represent a real economy."
Dogs that are specially adapted or have been trained for hunting or sporting purposes are of little use in war, as they have acquired habits incompatible with the work now demanded of them, Certain breeds, such as the Great Dane, and others of limited intelligence, are of no value at all. Some of these have the habit of rushing forward at the slightest alarm, which is of more danger than advantage to the soldiers to whom they might belong.
V - DOGS AS LOYAL COMRADES - FELLOW-WORKERS
The "dog soldier," like his master on special missions, has to see and hear without being seen or heard. It is amusing, but nevertheless true, that the dogs of smugglers and poachers, as well as those of coastguardsmen, have been found to be most useful animals in the army. A well-trained dog, acting with a sentinel or scouting party may be the means of preserving numbers of lives by saving them from unpleasant surprises,
The use of dogs in warfare was, of course, not invented in the present war, though their utility had been systematized and given more scientific scope than was ever the case before. In no previous campaign have men understood the full use that could be made of these highly-intelligent creatures.
It was the Belgians who first turned their attention to the subject of employing dogs more extensively. Everybody who has visited Belgium knows the use that is made of dogs for traction purposes all over the country. Nearly all the peasants who bring agricultural or dairy produce to market employ dogs to draw their small carts, sometimes harnessing whole teams to heavy loads. The dog is also greatly used in Belgium for sport, and from the sporting dog to the police dog is but a step. The dog in war - as sentinel, courier, scout, or ambulance worker - followed, and was the idea of Professor Reul, of the Veterinary School of Cureghem, and two journalists named Van der Snick and Sodenkampf. In 1885-6 the 11 first dogs trained to some of these purposes were shown at a dog show at Ostend, and shortly afterwards societies were started at Brussels, Liége, Lierre, Ghent and other places, not merely for the training of dogs, but to improve the breeds. Lieutenant van der Putte, of the Belgian army, started the Société du Chien Sanitaire for the express purpose of training dogs for ambulance work and soon afterwards similar societies were organized in Paris and Berlin.
It was quite natural that the Belgians should also think of using these draught-dogs for small machine-guns, thus providing an inexpensive but efficient light artillery. The Germans wished to imitate them, but it is related that when they tried to buy dogs from the Belgians, as they had no indigenous animals suited to the purpose, the Belgians refused to sell. In other ways, however the Germans were at the beginning of the war well provided with dogs for various purposes, including the ambulance service.
Since then the use of dogs in the German army has assumed considerable proportions. The animals used are mostly of the German sheep-dog variety, and a register of these, numbering several thousands, is kept for mobilization purposes by the German Sheep-Dog Club. Other breeds used by the enemy are terriers, red-haired griffons, Doberman pinchers, Airedale terries, and a sort of bull-terrier known as a "Boxer." Dogs, it appears, have been used by the German army chiefly on the Eastern Front, where the fighting was of a more open description than on the Western Front. The German papers published appeals from the authorities asking dog owners to offer their pets for war purposes, and many thousands were obtained as a result.
Article Source : The Great War in a Different Light
In a previous article ‘Messenger Dogs’ it was noted how the Australians tried unsuccessfully to use dogs to carry messages. Perhaps other units had better luck!!
III - HOW DOGS BECOME GOOD SOLDIERS
The training of intelligent animals like these is carried on in five different ways, for various uses.
1. As Ambulance Dogs. The animal seeks for wounded men lost on the battle-field; he searches in holes, ruins, and excavations, and hunts over wooded places or coverts, where the wounded man might lie unnoticed by his comrades or the stretcher-bearer. The dog is especially useful at this work in the night-time, when he can often by his scent discover fallen men who would otherwise be passed over, for at night-time ambulance-men often have to work in the dark, as lights would attract the enemy's fire. Having found a wounded man still alive, the dog brings his master (or the ambulance-man to whom he is attached) some article belonging to the sufferer. This object tells the master, "I have found someone - search!"
Usually the object brought is the fallen man’s képi (or nowadays his helmet), and the trainers teach the dog to find the man's headgear, but if this is missing some other object must be brought. It is a fatiguing operation for the animal, as he has to return with closed mouth. The ambulance-man who receives the article at once puts the animal on a leash, and is immediately led to his wounded comrade. The leash is about two yards long, so that the movements of the animal shall be hindered as little as possible.
If dogs were utilized in this service long during wartime, their value would be incalculable; and their use is all the greater when fighting takes place over an extended area. The situation of the wounded man overlooked or abandoned on the battle-field is a truly horrible one; he has to wait in the forlorn hope that he will be found, for the army has gone on, and the more victorious it is the farther it will push ahead. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1 more than twelve thousand men were thus lost to the French alone, while in the Russo-Japanese War the Japanese lost over five thousand in this manner, showing that the methods then used for the exploration of the battle-fields were inadequate. In that war three dogs sent by a military dog society found twenty-three wounded men who had been abandoned after the battle of Cha-ho. In the Boer War the collie dogs taken out by the men, it is said, saved hundreds of wounded men who would never have been found by the ambulance-workers in the difficult country where fighting mostly took place.
2. As Trench Dogs or Sentinels. The sentry or trench dog is trained to stay in the trench itself or in a small "listening-post" made for him, either on the edge of the trench, outside it, or at a little distance away. There he remains on the qui vive, ready to signal the least suspicion of a noise or the presence of the enemy. In this work both his eyes and his scent help him. He is kept on the leash, and he gives the signal of danger by a slight growl, without barking, which would give the alarm. The greatest difficulty in the training of dogs for this work has been to rid them of the habit of barking, but this has been overcome with care and patience. The training of dogs for this class of work can be - and has been-carried to great lengths. A man crawling on patrol work takes a dog with him, also in a crouching position, on a leash. A little tug at the leash causes the dog to rise, to retire, or to change its direction, and a properly-trained animal will answer to the leash as satisfactorily as a horse does to the reins. Such a dog is of immense help at night, when he can be taken quite close to the enemy.
3. As Patrols or Scouts. The dog accompanies the human scout in his reconnaissance, and helps in finding advance posts or sentinels, and locating small groups of the enemy.
4. As Couriers or Messengers. The animal acts as a messenger, carrying written orders or information, and is used according to circumstances. He can carry messages between groups in the rear and fighting formations in the front - for example, between the artillery and the infantry, and vice versa; between two fighting forces, such as battalions, companies, or sections; between the headquarters and the various positions of the army; or between the main body and detached posts, such as patrols, scouts, etc. Taken along by a patrol or scouting party, he can be sent back to the main body with a message fixed to his collar. The note having been removed and read, a reply can be attached to his collar, and the dog sent back to the original body of men, even if they have changed their position, since he finds them again by his scent. A dog is not only much quicker in carrying these very special qualities, so that only a very few animals have been found capable of the work. It consists in sending him after a patrol en route with a message, or even in finding a lost patrol or scouting party and bringing it back to its base. It will readily be understood that an exceptional scent is required in a dog to do work of this sort.
In the two last-named classes of work dogs can pass swiftly backwards and forwards through brisk firing and run much less risk than a man.
IV - DOGS ARE HEROES UNDER FIRE
There are several societies in Paris which choose suitable dogs in order to make soldiers of them. The "Central Society for the Development of the Breeds of Dogs" gave three thousand dogs to the French army last August. After they have been tested, an operation which takes about three weeks, they are sent to special stations in the rear of the armies to be trained, and five or six days are all that are necessary for the training of animals for the simpler kinds of work. For more difficult tasks the training is naturally a longer business. When dogs are to be trained as communication agents the in- struction may take several weeks. They are taught to go from one master to another, first by a call, then by a whistle, then simply at a mere gesture. Distances are gradually increased, obstacles are placed in the way, the animal's goal becomes invisible, and so on. Much patience is required in this kind of work; and it is found that the best results are obtained by kindness and giving rewards for good work accomplished. The animals are taught to recognize only two masters, and to obey them alone. Outsiders are not allowed to pet or feed them. When they understand that they have to obey only one or two men, they have to learn to follow one or both of them when marching in a column of infantry, to recognize them when in a group, and so on. They are taught to endure the sound of gun-firing or explosions quite close to them. Above all, they are strictly trained never to pick up articles on their journey and to refuse delicacies offered them by strangers.
Specially-trained dogs only are chosen for this work, and they are mostly sheep-dogs or collies or animals whose business it was in civil life to be guardians or watchers, and always on the alert. These are all the easier to train for the special work - somewhat of the same order - which they are set to do in war.
When the question of transport through the mountain snow had become a matter of urgent importance, the French authorities conceived the idea of using dog-drawn sleighs for carrying supplies. Some hundred "huskies' - a cross between the Eskimo dog and the wolf -and other trained dogs from Alaska, North-Western Canada, and Labrador were brought over by Lieutenant René Haas, a Frenchman who had spent fourteen years in Alaska. Mr. Warner Allen, the representative of the British Press with the French armies, describing the work of these dogs, says the snow in the neighbourhood of the Schlucht Pass was deep enough until almost the end of April for the dogs to render yeoman service. "They were able," he says, "to draw heavy loads over almost inaccessible country, and to supplement to a valuable extent the wheeled transport. But their utility has not ceased with the disappearance of the snow. They are now being harnessed to trucks on small two-foot-gauge light railways, which run everywhere behind the Front, and they are capable of drawing the heaviest load up the steepest gradient. Eleven dogs, with a couple of men, can haul a ton up some of the most precipitous slopes in the mountains, and I was assured that two teams of seven dogs each could do the work of five horses in this difficult country, with a very great economy of men."
This correspondent adds that the best of these imported breeds of dogs is the Alaskan, as "his courage never fails, ani he will work until he drops, though he is perhaps the weakest of them. They are all shaggy dogs, with prick ears and bushy tails, their colour ranging from black to white, between greys and browns. Their chest development, so necessary for hauling, is remarkable. They are mainly fed on rice, horse-flesh, and waste military biscuits, and this fare appears to suit them admirably, as they are always in splendid condition, and disease is practically unknown. The experiment of transporting these do as to France has shown that they can be of real service in mountainous country, and represent a real economy."
Dogs that are specially adapted or have been trained for hunting or sporting purposes are of little use in war, as they have acquired habits incompatible with the work now demanded of them, Certain breeds, such as the Great Dane, and others of limited intelligence, are of no value at all. Some of these have the habit of rushing forward at the slightest alarm, which is of more danger than advantage to the soldiers to whom they might belong.
V - DOGS AS LOYAL COMRADES - FELLOW-WORKERS
The "dog soldier," like his master on special missions, has to see and hear without being seen or heard. It is amusing, but nevertheless true, that the dogs of smugglers and poachers, as well as those of coastguardsmen, have been found to be most useful animals in the army. A well-trained dog, acting with a sentinel or scouting party may be the means of preserving numbers of lives by saving them from unpleasant surprises,
The use of dogs in warfare was, of course, not invented in the present war, though their utility had been systematized and given more scientific scope than was ever the case before. In no previous campaign have men understood the full use that could be made of these highly-intelligent creatures.
It was the Belgians who first turned their attention to the subject of employing dogs more extensively. Everybody who has visited Belgium knows the use that is made of dogs for traction purposes all over the country. Nearly all the peasants who bring agricultural or dairy produce to market employ dogs to draw their small carts, sometimes harnessing whole teams to heavy loads. The dog is also greatly used in Belgium for sport, and from the sporting dog to the police dog is but a step. The dog in war - as sentinel, courier, scout, or ambulance worker - followed, and was the idea of Professor Reul, of the Veterinary School of Cureghem, and two journalists named Van der Snick and Sodenkampf. In 1885-6 the 11 first dogs trained to some of these purposes were shown at a dog show at Ostend, and shortly afterwards societies were started at Brussels, Liége, Lierre, Ghent and other places, not merely for the training of dogs, but to improve the breeds. Lieutenant van der Putte, of the Belgian army, started the Société du Chien Sanitaire for the express purpose of training dogs for ambulance work and soon afterwards similar societies were organized in Paris and Berlin.
It was quite natural that the Belgians should also think of using these draught-dogs for small machine-guns, thus providing an inexpensive but efficient light artillery. The Germans wished to imitate them, but it is related that when they tried to buy dogs from the Belgians, as they had no indigenous animals suited to the purpose, the Belgians refused to sell. In other ways, however the Germans were at the beginning of the war well provided with dogs for various purposes, including the ambulance service.
Since then the use of dogs in the German army has assumed considerable proportions. The animals used are mostly of the German sheep-dog variety, and a register of these, numbering several thousands, is kept for mobilization purposes by the German Sheep-Dog Club. Other breeds used by the enemy are terriers, red-haired griffons, Doberman pinchers, Airedale terries, and a sort of bull-terrier known as a "Boxer." Dogs, it appears, have been used by the German army chiefly on the Eastern Front, where the fighting was of a more open description than on the Western Front. The German papers published appeals from the authorities asking dog owners to offer their pets for war purposes, and many thousands were obtained as a result.
Article Source : The Great War in a Different Light
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Messenger Dogs.
This article is from the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 by C.E.W. Bean. It relates to the experimental use of messenger dogs by the ANZACS during May 1918.
The Australians had seen and shot at German messenger dogs during May as the Australian snipers prevented all German movement by day. The German use of dogs was copied by the Australians but their experiments with messenger dogs were far less successful.
“The history of the 97th I.R (German) regiment states, “The enemy showed himself very lively and prevented almost any possibility of movement by day.” Indeed, for the carriage of messages in daylight on the most exposed portions both of the Morlancourt ridge and the Villers-Bretonneux plateau, the Germans at this time had to rely almost exclusively upon messenger dogs.
In the first fortnight of May, Rex and Greif, messenger dogs of the 3Ist I.R., made the dangerous run along the Bray Corbie road at least four times daily. After that regiment had been relieved by the 232nd R.1 R., “the communication service (says the historian of this regiment) was discharged to our greatest satisfaction by our splendid dogs Else and Wolf.” The Australian snipers often caught sight of the dogs, which had to run the gauntlet of their bullets, and at least one was shot and one captured.
The Australians on the Villers-Bretonneux plateau afterwards tested the use of messenger dogs, which were then being supplied for experiment. The trial was not very successful. Men and officers tended to pet the dogs and feed them, which should only have been done by their keepers at the terminals of the run.
For example, Dog 113, which had always been reliable, was sent to the, 18th Battalion where the headquarters mess, “fondled and patted it and finally fed it”. It then refused to leave headquarters, a good dog being thus spoilt. For success (which meant saving of men’s lives) the whole personnel of the corps would have had to be lectured on the need for leaving the dogs alone. A second impediment was the existence in Villers-Bretonneux of female dogs, left behind by the former inhabitants. In all, 21 messenger dogs were tested in the corps between May 2 and 9, of 8 of these it is recorded that 4 were unreliable. 1 was hit; 3 worked well, covering 1 1/2 miles in from 3 to 8 minutes, whereas runners would need 15-20 minutes. One dog took 1 1/2 hours on the Journey, and one 8 1/2 hours.”
The Australians had seen and shot at German messenger dogs during May as the Australian snipers prevented all German movement by day. The German use of dogs was copied by the Australians but their experiments with messenger dogs were far less successful.
“The history of the 97th I.R (German) regiment states, “The enemy showed himself very lively and prevented almost any possibility of movement by day.” Indeed, for the carriage of messages in daylight on the most exposed portions both of the Morlancourt ridge and the Villers-Bretonneux plateau, the Germans at this time had to rely almost exclusively upon messenger dogs.
In the first fortnight of May, Rex and Greif, messenger dogs of the 3Ist I.R., made the dangerous run along the Bray Corbie road at least four times daily. After that regiment had been relieved by the 232nd R.1 R., “the communication service (says the historian of this regiment) was discharged to our greatest satisfaction by our splendid dogs Else and Wolf.” The Australian snipers often caught sight of the dogs, which had to run the gauntlet of their bullets, and at least one was shot and one captured.
The Australians on the Villers-Bretonneux plateau afterwards tested the use of messenger dogs, which were then being supplied for experiment. The trial was not very successful. Men and officers tended to pet the dogs and feed them, which should only have been done by their keepers at the terminals of the run.
For example, Dog 113, which had always been reliable, was sent to the, 18th Battalion where the headquarters mess, “fondled and patted it and finally fed it”. It then refused to leave headquarters, a good dog being thus spoilt. For success (which meant saving of men’s lives) the whole personnel of the corps would have had to be lectured on the need for leaving the dogs alone. A second impediment was the existence in Villers-Bretonneux of female dogs, left behind by the former inhabitants. In all, 21 messenger dogs were tested in the corps between May 2 and 9, of 8 of these it is recorded that 4 were unreliable. 1 was hit; 3 worked well, covering 1 1/2 miles in from 3 to 8 minutes, whereas runners would need 15-20 minutes. One dog took 1 1/2 hours on the Journey, and one 8 1/2 hours.”
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