These dogs also work to ensure the safety of military personnel during dangerous operations and provide an invaluable boost to morale.
This article is designed, in a small way, to pay tribute to these extraordinary dogs, who few people know about, but who save lives every day and sometimes make the ultimate sacrifice.
If this is likely to upset you or cause distress then perhaps it might be a good idea not to read on.
The Dickin Medal, also known as the animals’ Victoria Cross, is awarded by the charity People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) to animals which show extreme courage and devotion to duty.
Dogs were first used in war, notably by the Ancient Britons, Greeks and the Romans, as early as 600 BC and their primary role was to incapacitate enemy soldiers.
We had to wait until the American civil war for one of the first authorised use of dogs by a military force when the confederate army used dogs to send messages and for guarding duties.
It was, however, the First World War that brought military dogs to people’s attention. The first Scout Dogs were trained to walk ahead of their handler and warn of an impending ambush, a technique still used today by special forces.
Casualty Dogs (mercy dogs) were used to find injured soldiers in no man’s land. They carried medical supplies in panniers so that an injured man could use them to assist himself. If the casualty was too badly injured to treat himself the dog stayed with the injured man until help arrived. The dogs were also trained to differentiate between live and deceased casualties. Messenger dogs were particularly useful, as the terrain and trenches made movement by men extremely difficult and highly dangerous.
The most notable dog of WW1 was Stubby, who was smuggled onboard ship by the 102nd Infantry Division (United States). He survived 17 battles including 4 offensives and was wounded twice.
His “tour of duty” over, he returned to America with his unit where he was introduced to two American presidents and finally died in his sleep in March 1926.
The Second World War brought more dogs to prominence. Among the more famous was Smoky, a Yorkshire terrier mascot, who weighed approximately four lbs, (1.8 kilos) — less than two bags of sugar. He was the dog that dragged a communication cable through a pipe seventy yards long (21 metres) and only 8 inches wide (200 mm) which, at its narrowest point due to earth being in there, was only 4 inches or 100mm wide.
Afterwards, it was reckoned it would have taken 3 days to dig a trench. The actions of Smoky that day potentially saved many lives, as the men working in the open would have been exposed to enemy fire. After the war, Smoky is credited with being the first-ever therapy dog. He is buried in Lakewood, Ohio, where a memorial stands in his memory. It is inscribed “Yorkie Doodle Dandy.” This refers to the book about him written by Bill Wynne, his owner and trainer.
Beauty was a wirehaired terrier who is considered to be the pioneer for the search and rescue dogs of today. Her job was to find animals buried in the rubble during the London blitz.
She found over 60 animals, survived the war and was awarded the Dickin Medal.
Judy, an English Pointer was a ship’s dog who was able to hear approaching aircraft long before the equipment on board was able to identify their imminent arrival. She survived two torpedo attacks, rescued drowning sailors, found water when they reached land thus saving more lives, survived a Japanese POW camp and tried to protect prisoners from attacks by the guards.
She eventually made it home to the UK with the man who had adopted her, Frank Williams, and was awarded the Dickin Medal.
There are many stories of dogs in World War II but perhaps one of the most poignant concerned the fate of 19 year Emile Corteil of the British Airborne Division and his German Shepherd Dog Glenn, who were killed by friendly fire on D-Day, the 6th of June 1944.
They were both hastily buried together within sight of Pegasus Bridge. Later their bodies were retrieved and Emile was reburied at Ranville war cemetery. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which cares for the 1.7 million military personnel buried in 23,000 locations around the world, only allow one fallen soldier in any one grave, with a headstone bearing his or her name — with one exception.
Glenn is the only British military dog buried with his handler in a recognised military cemetery. They lie together at Plot 1A. G. 13
During the Vietnam war, 4000 dogs were sent to assist American troops but in what became a notable national disgrace to the United States, only about 250 returned. Despite being credited with saving well over 10,000 lives, the rest were abandoned or euthanized. In those days American military dogs were classed as “equipment” to be abandoned if necessary. In 2000 President Bill Clinton signed into law a bill that ensures that all military dogs are brought home and that all of these dogs can be adopted by their handlers or suitably experienced people when they are retired.
An example of this is the true story of United States Marine Corps corporal Megan Leavey, who wished to adopt her dog Rex, a bomb detection specialist with whom she had survived over 100 missions. Their story was turned into a film, released in 2017 called “Megan Leavey,” which depicts the bond that develops between the dog and the handler and the extraordinary trust that serving soldiers place in those some call the “bomb dog.” Despite huge advances in technology, we still rely on man’s best friend or, as in this case, “ladies’ best friend.”
In 1998 Sam, a German Shepherd Dog serving with the peacekeeping force In Bosnia, gave chase to a gunman who had fired on troops. Sam successfully brought the man down, allowing his handler to disarm the individual. A week later when a mob tried to attack a compound which housed, refugees, Sam held them off until reinforcements arrived.
According to his handler, Sam never surrendered one inch of ground. Sam retired and is another recipient of the Dickin Medal.
Today’s military dog has to be able to abseil down cliffs, parachute from planes and rappel from helicopters whilst attached to its handler. Their equipment may include a special lightweight bulletproof vest, GPS, a load-bearing harness with pockets so that the dog can carry his own food and water, night vision camera, an integrated microphone and speaker and goggles that protect the dog’s sensitive eyes which have the nickname “doggles.”
In 2011, US Navy Seals who were given the task of attacking Osama Bin Laden’s compound were accompanied by a Belgian Malinois called Cairo, who provided assistance in securing the perimeter, informing of the presence of the enemy and ensuring that nobody escaped.
Due to the reluctance of the Ministry of Defence in the UK to even acknowledge the existence of special forces, it is almost impossible to find out what roles canines play in combat. However, sometimes events overtake governments. In 2012 in Kabul, Afghanistan, the elite Special Boat Service was tasked with the job of assisting Afghan troops clear a tower block of insurgents. Helping in the mission was Mali, an eight-year-old Belgian Malinois who was on his second tour of duty in the country. In a battle lasting eight and a half hours, Mali was repeatedly sent forward to find a safe route, warned of the presence of the enemy and discovered booby traps, saving men from death or terrible injuries. He suffered repeated blast injuries from grenades being thrown and at the end of the battle it was observed that the “blood ran down his legs.” He was carried from the building by his handler who’s own tribute said it all:
“We were there for eight and a half hours. We found ourselves in a dark place. Previously Mali had shown his mettle with all the guys and before we started this operation we felt we had a guardian angel with us. Grenades went off very close to us and there are bits of that dog still inside me!”
That battle for the tower block is considered to be one of the most highly decorated actions of the war and that included Mali, who was awarded the Dickin medal. Mali recovered and was transferred to a unit attached to Royal Army Veterinary Corps (R.A.V.C.) where he assisted in the training of newly qualified dogs and their handlers. Eventually, he was “de-mobbed” and went into retirement somewhere in the UK.
In November, in a virtual ceremony online, another Belgian Malinois, Kuno, will become the latest canine to receive the Dickin Medal for the following. In 2019 a Special Boat Service unit was pinned down by enemy fire, when Kuno was released, wearing night vision “doggles.”
He ran through a hail of machine-gun fire and succeeded in wrestling the enemy to the ground, giving the unit the chance to move forward and complete their mission. Kuno was seriously injured in both back legs and needed extensive surgery which necessitated the partial amputation of one paw. Kuno is the only British military dog to be fitted with a prosthesis and an orthotic brace.
Obviously, Kuno was no longer fit for military service and was retired to civilian life, but he is able to enjoy that retirement thanks to the care he received.
It should be noted that military dogs that are injured are afforded the same medical care that serving soldiers receive and whilst injured soldiers are a priority, dogs are medevaced out by helicopter. They receive instant veterinary care to stabilise injuries and where necessary are flown to the UK or other countries where veterinary surgeons perform specialist surgery and rehabilitation facilities are available. There have also been reports of injured soldiers insisting that their regiment’s injured canine should accompany them, instead of waiting for the helicopter to return.
It is impossible to calculate the number of human lives that have been saved by military dogs but if we use the accepted number of 10,000 in the Vietnam war alone as a guide, then with two world wars and every other conflict since then the numbers are incalculable. For every named dog in this blog, hundreds of thousands of dogs have served with no recognition.
When US military dogs are killed in the line of duty their feeding bowls are turned upside down indicating that they will not be returning and a poem is read:
“It is through mysterious power that we have our being and we therefore yield to our neighbours, even our animal neighbours, the same right to inhabit this vast land.”
Chief Sitting Bull. Native American Leader, Lakota Sioux Nation. 1831-1890
With subtitle or not?