The "War To End All Wars Was A Misnomer: Part II - The Great War's Forgotten Troops" Story

This little dog carrie medical supplies.

It was an ordinary day.  Reading about the many animals that fought alongside the soldiers for both sides in WWI.  One such animal, a stray dog named "Rags" was as hardworking as the American soldiers he fought alongside.  He served in the First Division American Expeditionary Forces as a courier of messages.  He was one of an estimated millions of dogs, horses, camels and other animals that served during the Great War.  Even though they were known as "military mascots", the soldiers that they worked alongside knew they were more than that for they did real work on the battlefield such as lug munitions and other cargo, carry crucial messages between units and sniff out buried mines.  Many of these fearless animal soldiers never received any recognition for their hard work and dedication and their short lives were largely forgotten.  

This horse is being lowered from a ship to help in war duty.

That was until the National Archives completed a massive scanning project of digitizing 63,000 WWI photos for its American Unofficial Collection of World War Photographs record series.  The majority of photographs contain images of soldiers in various aspects of military life, but they did find something else: animals.  John Bull was an English bulldog who belonged to an English major general until an American air unit adopted him.  And then there were two lion cubs, Whiskey and Soda, who belonged to a military unit of the Aeronautique Militaire (French Air Service).  

This little guy being held by the soldier in the black coat,
caught rats that were in the trenches with troops.

An estimated 10 million horses and mules, 100,000 dogs and 200,000 pigeons were enrolled in the war effort.  They would help find the wounded, haul munitions and food and deliver mail or track enemy troops by miniature cameras.  Many even had fitted gas masks to aid them on their mission.  Horses have been used in battle for ever, but the horses used in WWI were not made war-ready and died by the millions from disease, exhaustion and enemy fire.  The United States shipped more than half a million horses and mules by boat to Europe by 1917.  

Jackie the baboon.

One of the most exotic animals called into duty during the war was a baboon named Jackie who served with the 1st South African Infantry Brigade in then British-occupied Egypt and later in the trenches in France and Belgium.  His acute hearing and keen eyesight helped warn soldiers of enemy movement or possible attacks when he would screech and tug on their clothing.  Jackie was eventually wounded and had to have a leg amputated.  Dogs served mostly as spotters of the wounded and were able to recognize ally from the enemy.  They also served as sentinels, messengers, transporters and chasers of rats which filled the trenches where soldiers would seek safety.  

This little fox helped the pilot find his target.

I have a friend and neighbor who died about a year ago due to Agent Orange during the Viet Nam War.  Many of the photos he would share with me from his service time had dogs in every photograph.  He said they made the best friends and you never felt alone when one was by your side.  I have never found a reliable website that could give an estimate of how many animals were killed during WWI.  It had to be an enormous amount!  And, for those who love animals, I'm sure even a few would be too many.   But, I'm sure many veterans' lives were saved by those furry friends who served their country.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.