The Dogs of War: Canine heroes of WWI

[LeCauroy]

 

Hi folks, 

           I am starting this thread because I was inspired by a reply I received to a post I made about my grandfather where I showed a photo of him with is dog Brutus.  A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy  https://www.greatwarforum.org/profile/149280-a-lancashire-fusilier-by-proxy/  talked about how his grandfather, Captain Norman Hall, 5th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, wrote in his diary bout his experiences with a Airedale terrier.( here is his website about his grandfather  https://alancashirefusilier.wixsite.com/1914-18 ) 

Here is his reply on my thread.

https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/292069-how-do-i-donate-this-letter-by-a-medical-officer-about-the-german-spring-offensive-bombing-march-21-2018/?do=findComment&comment=3039095I

In a different post, he quotes the story directly from his grandfather's diary. 

 

"My grandad in his diary for 1 June 2016 (when the 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers were on the front line in the Blaireville sector) describes how the Regimental pet, an Airedale terrier, found his way from Battalion HQ to Company HQ where my grandad's dug out was. He says: Hearing a dog bark outside my dug out, I went out and found him. He was all alone, having come up from Battalion HQ; he made himself quite happy on my bed in the Company HQ, and slept there all night. I sent him down next morning to Battalion HQ under escort, and charged him on AF.B 252  “Leaving his Post without permission”.

Captain Hall had quite a sense of humor!

Does anyone else have any dog stories about WWI or any info on their role in the war?

I am putting together some stories about my grandfather's experiences in WWI and wanted to include one about his dog Brutus, a Belgian Malinois that he found in a deserted farmhouse in the reserve line.  (below) 

Daniel

 

[A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy]

On 17/08/2021 at 02:29, LeCauroy said:

Captain Hall had quite a sense of humor!

Yes, my grandfather did have a sense of humour, but also a serious, compassionate, side too.

I sense something of the same mix in your own grandfather from the information in your other thread - the sense of humour from his comment that from his facial appearance in the photograph of the Third Mobile Laboratory he might have been  "any dour Scotsman", adding "and anyway, my moustache never will amount to much", also from the way in which he  self-deprecatingly notes (in his 25th anniversary autobiographical sketch) the newspaper photograph as showing him talking to the King "at ease" when he should have been standing to attention; and his compassion from the way in which he records the detail of the effect of shellfire on his unit - there is not a lot of hand-wringing lamentation in the piece, but it is full of humanity nevertheless.  

Apologies if this is a bit "off piste" - I have no other interesting dog stories at the moment, I'm afraid, but will note here any that I happen upon in my future reading.

Tricia (Norman Hall's granddaughter)

[LeCauroy]

 

Tricia,

      Whoops! I had no idea you were a woman. Pardon my sexism! I guess I was unconsciously influenced by the stereotype that guys are only ones interested in talking about war, battles, tanks, guns etc. Very foolish of me. How many women do you think are on this forum anyway? What is the percentage? I guess one wouldn't know unless people identify themselves as such. Also, perhaps my mistake was influenced by your username since women weren't in combat in WWI. 

       Thanks for your thoughts on my grandfather's letter. I did notice on the Imperial War Museum website that they aren't currently accepting contributions. I thought that would be a good place to donate the letter because he was with the RAMC, he is talking to the King of England and the reason the King is talking to him is because he is a Yank.

        As you said, he mentioned standing at ease in front of the King. I think that was unintentional. As an American, he probably didn't know the protocol and he was probably still in shell shock from the bombing of his Casualty Clearing Station at Achiet-le-Grand. But who knows, maybe it was a 1776 moment? George V was a descendant of George II and my grandfather was a member of the Sons of the Revolution since he had many ancestors who had fought in the Revolutionary War. I am just joking. Such disrespect was not in keeping with Arthur's personality. 

       Question: How much of a scandal is it to stand at ease in front of the King? A close up of him with the King was on the cover of the British newspaper The Daily Graphic (below), so I am guessing it didn't help the image of American soldiers in England. 

       By the way, he also wrote a letter where he talks about meeting the Prince of Wales at a Coblenz casino when he was at American Evacuation Hospital #2 with the Army of the Occupation. I'll post it. 

Daniel 

P.S. I am assuming that you are British. 

 

 

[LeCauroy]

Here is a transcription of another letter by my grandfather describing his meeting the Prince of Wales at a ball given in his honor at a Coblenz casino. I have to do a better transcription. I also attached two NYT articles about the Prince visiting Coblenz. 

 

 

 

 

 

[FROGSMILE]

There are several threads giving great detail on dogs, here are a few:

1.  https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/272038-the-role-of-dogs-in-the-great-war/page/2/

2. https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/3851-use-of-dogs-by-the-british-army/?tab=comments#comment-27774

3. https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/66693-dogs/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-632597

4. https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/255383-ambulance-dogs/?tab=comments#comment-2583613

 

 

 

Edited 20 August , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[LeCauroy]

6 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

There are several threads giving great detail on dogs, here are a few:

1.  https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/272038-the-role-of-dogs-in-the-great-war/page/2/

2. https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/3851-use-of-dogs-by-the-british-army/?tab=comments#comment-27774

3. https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/66693-dogs/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-632597

4. https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/255383-ambulance-dogs/?tab=comments#comment-2583613

 

Thanks! I'll check them out.

6 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

 

 

[A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy]

8 hours ago, LeCauroy said:

Whoops! I had no idea you were a woman. Pardon my sexism!

No problem at all - as you say, the username gives no real clue. As a Lancashire Fusilier, even by proxy, however, you are correct in surmising that I am British ...

 

8 hours ago, LeCauroy said:

Question: How much of a scandal is it to stand at ease in front of the King? A close up of him with the King was on the cover of the British newspaper The Daily Graphic (below), so I am guessing it didn't help the image of American soldiers in England. 

To me the stance of your grandfather is that of someone who was relaxed and whose conversation with the King was an earnest one. He was perhaps so engrossed in the conversation as to forget protocol. Nowadays that type of unselfconscious sincerity - even if it leads to a breach of etiquette - seems worthy of respect. Maybe it would have been different back in 1918 when deference to one's superiors was considered more of a virtue than it is now, and when so many more members of the public were au fait with strict militay protocol. However, I doubt that the photograph would have been chosen for a front cover supposed to showcase "heroes of the great battle" if the lack of formaility was likely to give serious offence to the British public of the time.

Thank you so much for posting the further letter - your grandfather's self-deprecating sense of humour once more shines through!

[A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy]

 

On 20/08/2021 at 17:00, FROGSMILE said:

There are several threads giving great detail on dogs, here are a few:

1.  https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/272038-the-role-of-dogs-in-the-great-war/page/2/

2. https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/3851-use-of-dogs-by-the-british-army/?tab=comments#comment-27774

3. https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/66693-dogs/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-632597

4. https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/255383-ambulance-dogs/?tab=comments#comment-2583613

Thank you, Frogsmile, for these links - clearly my search for "pet dogs" had filtered out references to working dogs, of which I now see that there are many on this Forum. I have now read the four threads to which you have provided links with interest, especially the first one, which introduced me to Lieutenant Colonel E.H. Richardson, and his work with dogs in WW1, of which I was previously unaware.

The reason why I am particularly interested is that the dog referred to by my grandfather as being charged on AF B 252 with "leaving his post without permission" in the thread  https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/282303-afb-252-airedale-terrier-leaving-his-post-without-permission”/?tab=comments#comment-2897989 is first mentioned by my grandfather (in August 1915) in these terms:

"When the Col came back from leave he brought a Sentry dog back with him – one of Maj Richardson’s. He was a fine big Airedale terrier ...."

So it looks as though the CO must have responded to the advertisment referred to in the 7th post of the first thread you referred to, or a similar advertisement.

The curious thing is that the photograph of the CO's dog does not appear to show an Airedale terrier at all, certainly not a pure bred Airedale, but looks more like a labrador, or maybe a Patterdale terrier. Maybe this anomale is in some way explained by the fact that Major Richardson's favourite breed was the Airedale, so that, if my grandfather was not too familiar with different breeds of dog, he might have thought that he had been told that the CO's Sentry dog iwas an Airedale??

 

Edited 3 September , 2021 by A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy

[FROGSMILE]

5 hours ago, A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy said:

 

Thank you, Frogsmile, for these links - clearly my search for "pet dogs" had filtered out references to working dogs, of which I now see that there are many on this Forum. I have now read the four threads to which you have provided links with interest, especially the first one, which introduced me to Lieutenant Colonel E.H. Richardson, and his work with dogs in WW1, of which I was previously unaware.

The reason why I am particularly interested is that the dog referred to by my grandfather as being charged on AF B 252 with "leaving his post without permission" in the thread  https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/282303-afb-252-airedale-terrier-leaving-his-post-without-permission”/?tab=comments#comment-2897989 is first mentioned by my grandfather (in August 1915) in these terms:

"When the Col came back from leave he brought a Sentry dog back with him – one of Maj Richardson’s. He was a fine big Airedale terrier ...."

So it looks as though the CO must have responded to the advertisment referred to in the 7th post of the first thread you referred to, or a similar advertisement.

The curious thing is that the photograph of the CO's dog does not appear to show an Airedale terrier at all, certainly not a pure bred Airedale, but looks more like a labrador. Maybe this anomale is in some way explained by the fact that Major Richardson's favourite breed was the Airedale, so that, if my grandfather was not too familiar with different breeds of dog, he might have thought that he had been told that the CO's Sentry dog iwas an Airedale??

 

I’m glad that you found the threads of interest and have been able to establish a canine link between your grandfather’s Service and Richardson of war dog fame.  As the forum is fast approaching its 20th year there’re few topics that have not been well covered and forum search usually brings them up, although as you say using the right words tends to make a great difference.  You will find a general google search using origin or history of war dogs brings up quite a lot too.   It seems sad that the Airedale has been completely eclipsed now as a war dog, a role that’s now been taken over largely by German Shepherds for security and Labrador’s and Spaniels for searching.  Good luck with your continued research.

Edited 21 August , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[LeCauroy]

20 hours ago, A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy said:

No problem at all - as you say, the username gives no real clue. As a Lancashire Fusilier, even by proxy, however, you are correct in surmising that I am British ...

 

To me the stance of your grandfather is that of someone who was relaxed and whose conversation with the King was an earnest one. He was perhaps so engrossed in the conversation as to forget protocol. Nowadays that type of unselfconscious sincerity - even if it leads to a breach of etiquette - seems worthy of respect. Maybe it would have been different back in 1918 when deference to one's superiors was considered more of a virtue than it is now, and when so many more members of the public were au fait with strict militay protocol. However, I doubt that the photograph would have been chosen for a front cover supposed to showcase "heroes of the great battle" if the lack of formaility was likely to give serious offence to the British public of the time.

Thank you so much for posting the further letter - your grandfather's self-deprecating sense of humour once more shines through!

Tricia,

     Glad to hear a Brit say that she doesn't find that offensive. I was looking over the website for your grandfather again. Very impressive. If you had to do it again, would you use WIX again. I am thinking I might do something similar for Arthur. Any other free websites beside WIX that you might reccommend?

      Below is the setting and dialogue for the photo. It has the names of all the officers and units. This is something that was passed down in my family so I am not sure where it came from. I imagine it is accurate. 

 

 

[LeCauroy]

13 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

I’m glad that you found the threads of interest and have been able to establish a canine link between your grandfather’s Service and Richardson of war dog fame.  As the forum is fast approaching its 20th year there’re few topics that have not been well covered and forum search usually brings them up, although as you say using the right words tends to make a great difference.  You will find a general google search using origin or history of war dogs brings up quite a lot too.   It seems sad that the Airedale has been completely eclipsed now as a war dog, a role that’s now been taken over largely by German Shepherds for security and Labrador’s and Spaniels for searching.  Good luck with your continued research.

Frogsmile,

      Apparently, the Belgian Malinois is also used a lot in security and war. My grandfather's dog Brutus was a Malinois. They are similar to german shepherds but are smaller. 

Here is a story of Taki, the first dog to carry a message in WWI. He was also a Malinois. 

https://americacomesalive.com/first-war-dog-carry-messages-world-war/

I was surprised to find out that the German Shepherd breed of today only arrived in the late 19th century through their German "founder" Captain Max von Stephanitz"

https://gsdca.org/german-shepherd-dogs/breed-history.html

Below are two photos of the Belgian Malinois at war and other info. They were often used in WWI for medical units.

 

 

[FROGSMILE]

Yes it’s really uncanny that you mentioned Malinois, as I’d actually mulled over mentioning them (my brother breeds them in France and is a fervently passionate advocate), but I didn’t in the end because I’d mentioned only contemporary British usage and I’ve not yet heard of any Malinois being used (albeit I’m out of contact now).  As you say, they make especially fine military dogs.

Edited 21 August , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[LeCauroy]

Wow. Your brother breeds them? How much do they go for? I was thinking of getting one and calling him Brutus II. ; )

[FROGSMILE]

2 hours ago, LeCauroy said:

Wow. Your brother breeds them? How much do they go for? I was thinking of getting one and calling him Brutus II. ; )

I don’t know how much they are, he lives in the Creuse and breeds them for himself and fellow enthusiasts.  I’m sure you can more easily find out from a specialist kennel.  I thought it was only your children that you name Brutus II, Brutus III, etc!

Edited 23 August , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[LeCauroy]

Well I am starting a new trend of using number suffixes when passing on the same name to a dog of the same breed in a future generation. 

It will eventually reach a tipping point and spread like a global virus throughout the world of animal lovers. 

[FROGSMILE]

25 minutes ago, LeCauroy said:

Well I am starting a new trend of using number suffixes when passing on the same name to a dog of the same breed in a future generation. 

It will eventually reach a tipping point and spread like a global virus throughout the world of animal lovers. 

I think we’ve had enough of viruses, do you think you could come up with a different ‘good idea’?

[LeCauroy]

Spread like wildfire… oops