Dogs of War

[Drew5233]

Being the dog lover that I am having worked with Military and Police dogs in the past and having a rescue dog, I came across some great shots from 'Life' of dogs during WW2 and thought they were worthy of sharing with you good folk on here.

1.

A dog wears a gas mask and another carries rations for a wounded soldier in 1939 England. Airedales were a favorite of British troops, and were trained not for speed but dependability.

2.

Wearing a steel helmet, a bulldog guards a London flat. Stubborn but lovable, bulldogs became a symbol of the United Kingdom itself. Prime Minister Winston Churchill himself was often referred to as "the British Bulldog."

3.

A German shepherd poses with RAF flyers who bombed Nazi warships. Other popular mascots with the RAF included terriers, white rabbits, goats, and even geese and ducks.

4.

Awaiting evacuation, a young refugee hangs onto his dog's leash in 1940. Vast numbers of pets were, not surprisingly, separated from their families during the war, while breeding progams and animal shelters were often shuttered or cast into disarray.

5.

A British shelter worker protects a dog in 1941. The National Canine Defence League not only protected dogs, it also used dog-hair combings to knit into clothing for the troops.

[Drew5233]

6.

American soldiers and their dog read a scrapbook during a break in training in 1942 Northern Ireland. Mascots served as morale boosters and companions during the war, a reminder of life back home.

7.

Kicks the dog learns to stay calm under fire. Germans made frequent use of German shepherds as patrol and guard dogs. In the U.K., however, they were renamed Alsatians.

8.

A dog gets treated in Guam in 1943. In the 1944 Battle of Guam, 25 U.S. Marine dogs were killed. They'd been trained to sniff out the enemy and traps as well as carry messages, medicine, and ammo.

9.

During World War II, Marine dogs "led over 550 patrols on Guam alone, and encountered enemy soldiers on over half of them, but were never once ambushed," wrote William W. Putney, C.O. of the 3rd War Dog Platoon.

10.

Soldiers and their dogs patrol an L.A. beach in 1943. Some 19,000 dogs -- many of them domestic pets -- were "drafted" for possible military use from 1942 to 1945. A little over half were enlisted into service.

[Drew5233]

11.

Butch, a Spaniel mascot, looks greenish aboard an American Navy ship. The most famous U.S. military dog was Chips, a German Shepherd-Collie-Husky mix that attacked and captured a crew of enemy machinegunners fortified in a pillbox in Sicily in 1943.

12.

Bombed out of his clinic, a vet attends to a patient outside in 1944 England.

13.

RAF search dogs getting ready to travel in 1944. with vastly keener senses than humans, dogs proved invaluable on the humanitarian side of war, such as sniffing out bomb victims buried under rubble.

14.

Loaded with U.S. missionaries and their dogs, the SS ZamZam is sunk by a German raider in 1941. After the war, with the increase in average family income and living space, America saw a boom in pet ownership.

15.

When the war ended, dogs had proven their worth in combat, and the U.S. Army created scout-dog platoons for a peacetime role. Many military dogs went home with their wartime handlers.


Anyone else got any pictures of War Dogs?

[Fuchs]

Awesome post Drew! I like number 4 alot, I own one of those myself, a Fox Terrier. Very interesting dogs, lone wolves, highly intelligent and fightesr to death.

I think I got some pictures myself somewhere on this computer and the internet. Let me look.

One with a marine in the Pacific:


A dog searching the rubble for survivors and succeeds. I assume this is during the London Blitz.



This is Smoky, a dog in service of the US army. He doesn't look that threatening



And ofcourse theres the famous Anti-Tank Dog. Cruel and ineffective most of the time.



German soldiers on training with their dogs, don't got any more info on this one.



From the First World War we have Stubby, the highest decorated dog in the history of the United States.



German scout and his dog on the Eastern Front, 1943.



NCO from the Waffen-SS and his German shepherd.



Thats my contribution to this thread, I'm missing one picture of a German dog in a guardhouse which I found quite funny. Maybe I'll find it somewhere.

[Pegasus]

Hi, great thread I like the pictures of the dobermans I have got two they are sisters and are 10 months old
I used the picture of the doberman with the sleeping marine for some time, these dogs are realy inteligent

[Negative Creep]

Great pictures there. I've told people about the attack dogs before, they are always far more upset about the dog dying than the tank crew!

[Drew5233]

I have just watched a article about this fantastic dog on 'The One Show'. He sounded a right dog going on patrol with the MP's, visting schools and letting the children sit on his back, saving sailors and showing the drunk ones back home!

A statue of a sea dog who became an unlikely war hero has been escorted from Scotland by the Norwegian Navy.

Bamse was a mascot on the Norwegian Navy minesweeper the Thorrod, which was stationed in Montrose and Dundee during World War II.

It is claimed the St Bernard saved the lives of two sailors during the war.

The Norwegians are shipping a copy of the statue, which was erected in Montrose in 2006, from Leith Docks to Honningsvag, his original home.

The Navy ship KV Leikvin berthed alongside the Royal Yacht Britannia on Saturday morning to take aboard the bronze, which weighs a quarter of a ton.

David Windmill, the honorary consul general of Norway in Edinburgh, joined representatives from the Norwegian Navy, the Royal Navy and the statue's sculptor to watch the handover.

The statue will be unveiled in Honningsvag on 19 June.

Bamse died in 1944 and is buried in Montrose with his head facing towards Norway, where he started life as a family pet.

His exploits included going into the water to rescue a sailor who had fallen overboard and knocking over a knifeman who was trying to attack a young lieutenant.

Dr Andrew Orr, from the Montrose Heritage Trust, who co-wrote a book about Bamse, said: "It is very exciting to see this copy of our Montrose statue heading for Norway.

"It will reinforce the bonds between the Scots and the Norwegians, and will serve as a memorial to Norwegian sailors in the dark days of World War II. We are looking forward to the unveiling at Honningsvag."

From BBC Scotland

Bamse - History of the legendary Norwegian Sea-Dog

[Gage]

Didn't I read about the Allies parachuting dogs and handlers in on D-Day?

Some excellent pix. Thanks all.

[Drew5233]

Found this great shot a few days ago.....Can anyone shed any light on it? There was no caption.

[nicks]

Originally Posted by Drew5233

Found this great shot a few days ago.....Can anyone shed any light on it? There was no caption.

Andy

I took the liberty of posting this photo on another forum I visit and was given the following links;

611 Squadron

611 Squadron

See what you think, the closest match is in the second link sixth from the left.

Nick

With thanks to UDF