One surgeon recalled: “They sometimes lead us to bodies we think have no life in them, but when we bring them back to the doctors…always find a spark. Their heightened senses brought another priceless benefit. They were especially useful when working with search parties in hostile territory, because their keen noses would locate wounded soldiers in thickets and bushes who otherwise might have been missed. (Each hound was taught to ‘freeze’ on the ground if hostile fire lit up the sky.)Īccording to war medics, the Red Cross dogs saved many lives. ![]() The resourceful pooch would then silently lead a stretcher party straight back to the victim, still in pitch darkness, right under the enemy’s collective nose. If a soldier was unconscious or unable to move, however, the dog would run back to its handler carrying a cap, glove or torn scrap of clothing as evidence. Lightly injured men could then treat their own injuries and be guided back to their own trench. Carrying harnesses filled with medical supplies and small canteens of water, they searched out their own troops. Because once the dogs were fully trained, what they achieved on the battlefield was incredible.Īs soldiers lay injured or dying out in no man’s land, the dogs were sent out under cover of darkness. It was a long and exhaustive process, but worth it. (After all, nobody wanted them leading a search party to an injured but still-armed German soldier.) ![]() They uncomplainingly wore restrictive gas masks.Ĭritically, they were also taught to distinguish between British military uniforms and those of the enemy. They could understand a huge range of hand signals. The level of sophistication in the dogs’ training was jaw-dropping.
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