1. The Animals’ war
British soldier with mule. Photo by Lieutenant Ernest Brooks, (IWM Q 1592)
WWI

2. Dogs A wide variety of animals played an active part in WWI
Horses and mules
Camels
Pigeons
General Sir Douglas Haig (source: Simon Butler)
An Australian with his wrist in a camel's mouth. Near Shellal, 17th September (IWM Q 12578)
Cher Ami US messenger pigeon.
A soldier with "Sammy", the mascot of 1/4th Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers. This dog went to France with the unit in April 1915, was wounded in the Second Battle of Ypres, and also gassed on Whit Monday, He was with the battalion in the trenches and injured by shell fire on several occasions. The dog was also with the battalion during the Somme offensive. (IWM Q 1451)
Soldier with a cage of canaries from a ruined house in St. Venant, 15 April (IWM Q 10903)
Canaries
Dogs

3. Horses . . . and often under enemy artillery fire
A pack horse loaded with rubber trench boots (waiders) is led through the mud near Beaumont Hamel on the Somme battlefield, November (IWM Q 1565)
. . . and often under enemy artillery fire

4. Horses performed many different roles in WWI
Source of graphic: BBC website: Who were the real war horses of WWI?

5. Cavalry
This photograph shows the Royal Scots Greys, practising a cavalry charge in a grassy field. The officer is riding in front with his arm raised to start the charge. The horses wear double bridles to give greater control. The men are in field uniform with steel helmets. The grey horses of the Royal Scots Greys caused some worries in 1914, when an order went out from Headquarters on August 22, 1914 that, 'since grey horses will make a conspicuous target .. immediate steps will be taken to darken the colour of regimental chargers'. For a while there were unhappy experiments to dye the horses with permanganate solution.
(Source: National Library of Scotland)
Royal Scots Greys practising a cavalry charge before they go into battle

6. Artillery Teams of horses were used to
A battery of 18-pounder field guns of the Royal Field Artillery moving up towards Mailly-Maillet to meet the German advance, 26 March 1918 (IWM Q 8631)
Teams of horses were used to
pull guns to and from the front

7. Carrying supplies Most horses and mules were used to carry supplies
The horses and mules of the Army Service Corps (ASC) had the job of supplying water, food and ammunition to the troops at the front.
Six-horse teams pulling General Service (GS) wagons travel along dusty summer roads in France (source Simon Butler)
Most horses and mules
were used to carry supplies
and equipment to the troops at the front

8. Many wounded horses were treated at Royal Army Veterinary Corps animal hospitals
Wounded horses arriving at No. 5 Veterinary Hospital at Abbeville, 22 April (IWM Q 10295)
Over 1,300 officers served as veterinary surgeons across all theatres of war. There were also more than 27,000 men serving in the Army Veterinary Corps, who supported the medical treatment of horses. The British army had 20 veterinary hospitals by 1918 which had separate wards for different conditions.

9. 8 million horses mules and donkeys died in action
German horse drawn ambulance hit by shellfire (Source Simon Butler)

10. 484,000 horses and mules died in the British army
Horses of a British ammunition limber killed by a German shell near Mailly-Maillet, 7 April (Source: IWM Q 7852)
Horses of a British ammunition limber killed by a German shell
Horses of a British ammunition limber killed by a German shell

11. Many horses were killed by shellfire . . .
Battle of Estaires. German shell bursting. Artillery horse lines in foreground. Near La Bassee Canal. (IWM Q 10876)
German horses flee exploding shell or bomb

12. But most died from cold, hunger, exhaustion and disease
Horses of a British ammunition limber killed by a German shell near Mailly-Maillet, 7 April 1918 (Source: IWM Q 7852)
British troops scraping mud from a mule on the Western Front in November 1916

13. What happened to the horses when the war ended?
There were 800,000 horses and mules in the British army
25,000 were retained in the British army
60, ,000 were auctioned in Britain
The remainder were sold where they were to farmers and butchers
Wounded horses arriving at No. 5 Veterinary Hospital at Abbeville, 22 April (IWM Q 10295)

14. camels
Imperial Camel corps fought in the hot deserts of Egypt and Palestine
Guerrilla Operations 1918: The 'Imperial’ Camel Corps in 1918; mounted troops operated in the deserts of Egypt and Palestine. (IWM Q )
24,000 camels were killed in action, but more than four times this number, 97,200, died from disease, exhaustion and neglect

15. Dogs
A Sergeant of a Royal Engineers signals section puts a message into the cylinder attached to the collar of a messenger dog, Etaples, 28 August (IWM Q 9276)

16. Dogs performed many different roles in WWI
Carry messages
Companionship
Give first aid
A Sergeant of a Royal Engineers signals section puts a message into the cylinder attached to the collar of a messenger dog.
A soldier with "Sammy", the mascot of 1/4th Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers. (IWM Q 1451)
St. San Francisco Or any U.S. Army Recruiting Station Galloway Litho Co San Francisco. (Art.IWM PST 17116)
Dogs hauling Belgian machine guns early in the war.
A German war dog, fitted with apparatus for laying telephone wires, walks across some muddy ground. The telephone wire is clearly visible stretching out behind the dog from the container carried on its back. (IWM Q 50671)
A portrait of "Jim", an Airedale terrier who was trained for coastguard duties at Birchington, Kent. The dog gave warning of the approach of the first Zeppelin that raided the Kentish coast. The photograph shows Jim on duty on the cliffs of the north Kent coast. (IWM Q 24145)
Haul machine guns
Lay telephone cables
Sentry

17. Training Dogs who passed training
At the British War Dog School of Instruction, 20,000 dogs were trained under harsh battle conditions to perform duties such as carrying messages, scouting and acting as sentries.
Feeding time at the Kennels at the Messenger Dog Service at Etaples. As part of the training, explosions were arranged close to the feeding dogs. 6 September (Q 11305)
Dogs who passed training
were sent to the front, while those who
failed to make the grade were often put down

18. Messenger dogs faced many hazards on the battlefield
A German messenger dog leaps a trench, possibly near Sedan on the Western Front, May Two soldiers are just visible in the trench behind and beneath the dog. (IWM Q 50649)
A German messenger dog leaps a trench on the Western Front, 1917

19. Messenger dogs injured by mustard gas
Two British Messenger dogs with feet bandaged as a result of injuries caused by mustard gas. Dog handler of the Royal Engineers (Signals) with his messenger dogs at a Army Veterinary Corps HQ Kennel near Nieppe Wood, France, 19 May (IWM Q 10965)

20. Wounded German messenger dogs being treated at a Dog Hospital
German Veterinary Service. Treatment of wounded messenger dogs at a Dog Hospital. (IWM Q 55272)
Wounded German messenger dogs being treated at a Dog Hospital

21. Mascots and companions
Sammy was the mascot of the Northumberland Fusiliers. He went to France with the Regiment in April 1915, was wounded and gassed during the Second Battle of Ypres the following month. He was buried by shellfire on several occasions and died in action with many of his companions on the Somme in 1916
A soldier with "Sammy", the mascot of 1/4th Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers. This dog went to France with the unit in April 1915, was wounded in the Second Battle of Ypres, and also gassed on Whit Monday, He was with the battalion in the trenches and injured by shell fire on several occasions. The dog was also with the battalion during the Somme offensive. (IWM Q 1451)

22. A trench message dog of the 5th Battalion, Manchester Regiment stands on a sandbagged wall as he waits for an officer (left) to complete the note he is writing, Cuinchy. One soldier (centre) pats the dog and holds him steady. 26 January (IWM Q 6475)
At the end of the war, rather than being re-homed or returned to their original owners, many animals were simply abandoned

23. Pigeons Canadian soldiers release a messenger pigeon from a trench
on the Western Front, 1917
Canadian soldiers release a carrier pigeon from a trench on the Western Front. (IWM CO 1414)

24. A pigeon being released from a port-hole in the side of a tank, near Albert. During the First World War pigeons were frequently used to carry messages from tanks. (IWM Q 9247)

25. A former London bus, used as a loft for carrier-pigeons. Pernes, 1918
A former London double-decker bus (B.2125), camouflage painted, used as a travelling loft for carrier-pigeons. Pernes, 26 June Note the four-compartment wicker basket in which the pigeons were carried up the line. (Source: Simon Butler)
A former London bus, used as a loft for carrier-pigeons. Pernes, 1918

26. Message sent by a First Battalion of the U. S
Message sent by a First Battalion of the U.S. 308th Infantry Regiment, who were cut off and under fire, was delivered by Cher Ami on October 4th, 1918
Before Cher Ami, two other pigeons were sent who were shot and killed. According to reports, Cher Ami flew over 25 miles in just 25 minutes to deliver his message despite having been shot through the breast, blinded in one eye, covered in blood, and with a leg hanging only by a tendon. The message was in a capsule on the damaged leg. Shortly after the message arrived, the artillery stopped saving nearly 200 American lives. Medics were able to save Cher Ami‘s life but not his left leg. Cher Ami died the following year on June 13th, 1919 from the injuries he received in battle.

27. Cher Ami after recovering from battle minus a leg by US Army
Cher Ami after recovering from battle minus a leg by US Army. which is French for “dear friend”, was a homing pigeon donated to the US Army Corps by British pigeon fanciers to deliver messages during the war.
Cher Ami, a famous messenger pigeon who served in the US army, recovering from battle minus a leg. He later died of his wounds

28. Injured messenger pigeons in the pens at Sorrus 1918
Injured messenger pigeons in the pens at Sorrus Each had lost a leg in the fighting
Of the 100,000 pigeons used by all sides in the war, it is thought that about 20,000 were killed in action
Three carrier pigeons in the pens at Sorrus who had lost a leg, 2 June (IWM Q 8870)

29. Canaries
Soldier with a cage of canaries from a ruined house in St. Venant, 15 April (IWM Q 10903)

30. A member of an Australian Tunnelling Company with canaries and mice in cages
A view of the Mine Rescue Station of the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company at Hulluch Tunnels, near Loos. Seen here is 1057 Sapper E. Kelly on duty, wearing the proto-apparatus and carrying a canary (or white mice) used for testing air conditions underground. Owing to the poisonous gas (carbon monoxide) formed by explosions, much of the mine fighting had to be done by men wearing this kind of protective apparatus. The 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company had several such mine rescue stations in their forward subways and also in the Infantry subways for rescue purposes or mine fighting when necessary. (AWM E01683))

31. Men of the 3rd Australian Company excavating a chamber in the chalk in the Hulluch subway system. The chalk was dug out with miners' picks and filled into bags. These bags were trucked along the gallery to suitable positions, hauled to the surface and emptied at night. In places where the chalk crumbled, the walls had to be revetted, as is seen on the left. Identified left to right: Captain R. J. Langton MC, Officer Commanding, No. 1 Section (holding bag); 1194 Sapper (Spr) D. C. Vecchia; 6772 Spr C. A. L. Robinson, all members of the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company. (Australian War Memorial E01681)
Canaries and mice were used by miners in the tunnels to warn them of the presence of poisonous gas

32. Heroes Heroes or victims? ‘They had no choice’
War in War Memorial in London.
The memorial commemorates the countless animals who have served and died under British military command throughout history. It was unveiled in November 2004.
Beneath the main header, "Animals in War", the memorial has two separate inscriptions; the first and larger reads:
"This monument is dedicated to all the animals that served and died alongside British and allied forces in wars and campaigns throughout time"
The second, smaller inscription simply reads: "They had no choice"
Upon the rear or outside of the memorial are these words:
"Many and various animals were employed to support British and Allied Forces in wars and campaigns over the centuries, and as a result millions died. From the pigeon to the elephant, they all played a vital role in every region of the world in the cause of human freedom. "Their contribution must never be forgotten."
‘They had no choice’
Heroes
Heroes or victims?

33. A soldier with "Sammy", the mascot of 1/4th Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers. This dog went to France with the unit in April 1915, was wounded in the Second Battle of Ypres, and also gassed on Whit Monday, He was with the battalion in the trenches and injured by shell fire on several occasions. The dog was also with the battalion during the Somme offensive. (IWM Q 1451)
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