WE have just seen the passing of another Remembrance Sunday, when we recollect the service and sacrifice of all those that have defended our freedoms and protected our way of live.

It got me thinking about the part that dogs have played in conflicts.

Bruce Vivash Jones, senior vice chairman of the Veterinary History Society, shared his knowledge with me.

Previously I have only ever thought of dogs being regimental mascots but they were much more.

The use of dogs in war began in 1884 when the German army established a school to train ‘sanitatshunde’ (sanitary dogs) whose important purpose was to locate wounded soldiers.

By 1914, therefore, Germany had far more experience of dogs in battle than the Allies. Indeed, by 1918, they employed over 30,000 canines. They favoured Dobermanns and German Shepherds, due to their attributes of loyalty, strength and ferocity, while Britain also liked the latter, though they were renamed Alsatians, for obvious reasons.

Airedales and Bloodhounds were considered hardy and, typically, the Americans introduced strong Pitbull terrier types.

Though many dog acted as mascots (and trench pets who were vital to mental health), they filled considerably more roles. Sentry and guard dogs were trained by one specific man to whom they would become attached and, at night on a short lead, they would alert him to strangers by giving a low growl or even just by stiffening silently.

Major Edwin Richardson established a War Dog Training School in Essex and became renowned for producing rescue dogs. Sometimes referred to as ‘ambulance’ or ‘mercy’ dogs, they served a crucial role in locating and indicating the wounded and dying.

Great endurance was needed and their training was refined, so that they could detect breathing, even in concealed bodies. German and Italian dogs wore Red Cross badged collars but, for fear of collars getting tangled, the British sported Red Cross coats. I cannot imagine the relief a wounded soldier must have felt when he was discovered, when he presumed all was lost.

Other dogs were used for spying, being sent out into No-Man’s land to find the enemy, when they would bark. At first, Allie troops presumed these dogs to be lost, so fed them, but pretty soon they realised the coercion and the awful, but necessary, order was issued to shoot them on sight. Given their great nose, dogs were employed to warn of gas attacks and their affinity for people meant that some acted as messengers, running between two ‘handlers’.

Interestingly, the RSPCA supplied aid to British dogs, leaving the Blue Cross to help the French, treating some 1604 dogs in 1917. Sadly, many dogs were left behind to fend for themselves when conflicts concluded.

I leave the last words to Bruce Jones: ‘One has to question the use of animals in war, but in particular dogs. Of all animals, their bonding to humans is unconditional and the value of the pleasure and friendship they bring is infinite. We depended on them because of their loyalty and companionship; were we right to ever involve them in the first place, let alone discard them at the end?’

Visit www.veterinaryhistorysociety.org.uk