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Find My Past Blog - The dogs of war

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  • Find My Past Blog - The dogs of war

    While it’s common knowledge that man’s best friend has four paws, a wet nose and a penchant for playing fetch, did you also know that the role of canines on the front line (1914-1918) was of grave importance to the war effort?
    Life was certainly no walk in the park for the estimated 20,000 dogs who contributed to the British war effort, whether they were carrying*aid*to the wounded, accompanying patrols to sniff out the enemy or helping to pull along heavy equipment. They were so important, in fact, that in the early months of 1917 the War Office created the War Dog School Of Instruction in Hampshire in a bid to hone their skills yet further.
    “A watchdog never barks; at the most he will use a low growl to indicate the presence or approach of a hostile force,” reports the Dundee Evening Telegraph, in a 1916 report we came across in our British newspaper collection, “More often than not the mere pricking of the ears or the attitude of expectancy is sufficient to put his master on his guard.”
    More interesting still, is the fact that although some of these canine heroes were rescued from lives as strays, many thousands of families actually made the heart-wrenching decision to say goodbye to their much-loved family pets, donating them to the war effort so they could serve their country on the front line. Perhaps one of them was even donated by your own family.
    Read more newspaper reports about the role dogs played in the First World War


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