Mercy dog ​​- Unsung heroes of World War I

For the wounded soldiers in No man's land during World War I, the appearance of Mercy dog ​​was no small joy, because the light nudges and face licks mean help will come. .

These dogs scoured the fields after the battle, looking for soldiers in need of help. Most ambulance dogs carry medical supplies on their backs; Some are required to wear respirators. When they find a soldier seriously injured, they will try to remove a piece of his uniform and then run back to the camp to seek help.

Sometimes they find soldiers dying, they will stay by his side, providing him with moments of comfort and companionship until the soldier dies.

How the military started using Mercy dogs.

Humans used dogs in wars thousands of years ago. Ancient Egyptian frescoes depicted dogs in battle, and documents written by the ancient Greeks also mention dogs "dressed in armor" during war.

But for modern people, the idea of ​​​​using ambulance dogs in war only began in 1890. Later, a German dog lover and painter named Jean Bungartz founded the Deutschen Verein für Santiätshunde hay also known as the Medical Canine Association of Germany. He envisioned well-trained dogs that could help find wounded soldiers.

In 1895, Major Edwin Richardson came across a man buying dogs in England to move back to Germany.

 The idea of ​​​​using ambulance dogs in war only began in 1890.

Richardson recalls: "I noticed a 'foreigner' who bought a sheepdog from a shepherd and learned that the man was German, sent by the government to buy large quantities of collie dogs for him. German Army". "I know these are dogs that are said to be excellent according to certain selection requirements, and there are not any dogs in Germany that can compare with them."

Accordingly, Richardson and Bungartz, a dog lover, began to experiment to see if dogs were useful in the war of the time. At the nearby Barry Buddon Army camp, they put the dogs in saddlebags to carry some supplies for the soldiers. Richardson found that Terriers and Collies worked well, but that the Airedale terrier was the "ideal" breed to serve in war.

When World War I broke out, the dogs were sent to the front.

Then the dogs were trained to do more. They are trained to find missing people - Richardson pays unemployed locals to lie in the woods to be searched by dogs. They are then trained to ignore corpses, wear gas masks and even ignore them. people wearing German military uniforms.

When World War I broke out, dogs from England, France, and Germany were brought to the front. There, the ambulance dogs did their job and saved thousands of lives.

Mercy dogs in World War I

When the war broke out, the men went to war, but so did the dogs. During the four years of bloody conflict, the two sides used a total of more than 50,000 dogs for logistical purposes.

A soldier collects gauze from a British ambulance dog.

The breeds used are mainly Airedale Terriers, German Shepherds, Doberman Pinschers, Boxers and others. Their names are usually ambulance dogs, red cross dogs, or good dogs, and their work really begins as soon as soldiers stop firing and stumble on the battlefield.

They carried enough medical supplies on their backs for a wounded soldier to treat himself. When they detect someone seriously injured, the dogs will pick up a piece of his uniform and run back to the camp to alert the others.

They carried enough medical supplies on their backs for a wounded soldier to treat himself.

Oliver Hyde wrote in The Work of the Red Cross Dog on the Battlefield: "For the wounded soldier in despair, the appearance of the Red Cross was always seen as a messenger of hope."

"It was a pitch black night with a thick fog," a 1915 report by German santiätshunde in the New York Times. "As ordered, 'Let's hunt the wounded!' the dogs rushed into the woods, we followed them as fast as we could… soon we heard barking… the dogs ran up to pick us up and guide us until we came across a soldier poor lay groaning on the ground… The dogs worked all night long, until we thoroughly searched the battlefield Fourteen wounded were found in the dark woods by dogs ours".

The wounded soldier was found by a team of Mercy dogs.

One surgeon writes: "Sometimes they lead us to bodies we think are lifeless, but… they always find a spark for those wretched beings struggling to find life. ', another surgeon wrote: 'It is their instinct, they work by instinctive power, much more effectively than the power of human reason.

Or other times, the ambulance dogs decided to stay on the battlefield to comfort the dying. They lay next to the wounded man so he wouldn't have to die alone.

The ambulance dog decided to stay on the battlefield to comfort the dying.

During the war, some dogs became quite famous for their achievements, but most of the remaining ambulance dogs operated incognito and a large number of them died from bombs. By the time the conflict ended, in 1918, about 7,000 rescue dogs had lost their lives on the battlefield.

The lasting legacy of wartime dogs

As the 20th century began, people more often used dogs in warfare. During the Second World War, dogs returned to the battlefield as battle dogs, sentinels, messengers, and scouts. The United States alone employs about 20,000 dogs in the U.S. Army, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps.

World War II, dogs returned to the battlefield as fighting dogs.

The dogs also served in later conflicts. During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, dogs used their keen sense of smell to identify IEDs.

Since the Second World War, dogs were also used to provide comfort to soldiers. The Red Cross started using therapy dogs with soldiers convalescing after battle in the 1940s. Today, they help soldiers treat PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

That way, the legacy of World War I ambulance dogs will live on.

For an injured man, their presence meant help would come. To a dying man, their soft fur, gentle breathing, and beating heart meant that the man would not have to die alone.

After all, dogs have always been man's best friend.