Commanding officers were, at first, sniffy about the dogs, often ignoring them, until instructions from HQ taught them how to use them. A central kennel was formed at Etaples, from where dogs and keepers were posted to Sectional Kennels behind the front lines. From here, the keepers were sent, with three dogs apiece, up to Brigade HQ. The dogs were then led away by infantrymen up to the front line, while their keepers remained at Brigade HQ, watching for their return, ready to deliver the messages they brought to their commanding officer.
The work of every British dog on the Western Front – each run they made, its distance and destination – is recorded in the DGHQ Central Kennels Register of Dogs and Men (GR Army Book 129). Airedales were eventually named the official breed of the British Army, though it was the ordinary half-bred lurcher that stood out as the messenger dog par excellence.
Some of the events of Bones’s and Soldier’s lives are based on the dog known as Airedale Jack, who came from the Battersea Dogs Home. In 1918 Airedale Jack was sent to France and taken by the Sherwood Foresters to an advance post at the Front. The Germans cut off every line of communication with Headquarters. No runner could have survived the barrage of gunfire. Jack was released, stayed close to the ground, taking advantage of whatever cover there was, but came under heavy bombardment. A piece of shrapnel smashed his jaw. A missile ripped open his coat from shoulder to thigh. Jack staggered on, using craters and trenches for cover. His forepaw was hit and still he dragged himself along the ground, on three legs, for the last few miles. He reached Headquarters, delivered the message and, having saved the battalion, Airedale Jack fell dead.
In early November 1918, it was ordered that all infantry battalions were to be given messenger dogs. After the Armistice, Field Marshal Haig’s final dispatch paid tribute to the work of the dogs. In March 1919 the Service was liquidated.
During the course of the Great War, 100,000 dogs served with the warring nations. Of these, 7,000 were killed.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Allen, Tony, Animals at War, 1914–1918, Great War History 7 (Holgate, 1999)
Baker, Peter Shaw, Animal War Heroes (A. & C. Black, 1933)
Baynes, E. H., Animal Heroes of the Great War (Macmillan, 1925)
Blenkinsop, L. J., and J. W. Rainey, Veterinary Services, History of the Great War (HMSO, 1925)
Clabby, Brigadier J., The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1919–1961 (J. A. Allen & Co., 1963)
Gray, Ernest A., Dogs of War (Hale, 1989)
Hamer, Blythe, Dogs at War: True Stories of Canine Courage under Fire (André Deutsch, 2006)
Moore, Major-General Sir John, Army Veterinary Service in War (Brown, 1921)
Richardson, Major E. H., British War Dogs, Their Training and Psychology (Skeffington, 1920)
——, War, Police and Watch Dogs (1910)
FROM THE ARCHIVE OF THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, LONDON:
Waley, Major A. C., GHQ Central Kennels, Register of Dogs and Men
Waley, Major A. C., Messenger Dog Service, July 1917–April 1919
War Diary of OC Carrier Pigeon and Messenger Dog Service 1915–1919
About Author
Sam Angus was born in Italy, grew up in France and Spain, and was educated rather haphazardly in most of these countries, at many different schools. She studied English Literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, where she kept a dog until he was discovered being smuggled out of college in a laundry basket. She taught A level English before spending a decade in the fashion industry and now writes full time.
She lives between Exmoor and London with improvident numbers of children, dogs and horses.