Animals in the First World War

Transport horses in the trenches

The most common animals in World War I were horses , dogs and pigeons , more rarely donkeys , mules , camels , oxen , even cats , fireflies , canaries and snails . All participating countries use animals for military purposes. The animals were involved in all areas of the war. They were in fact treated as consumables such as ammunition, weapons and equipment and used, among other things, to transport weapons, ammunition, food, building materials, wounded, as mounts for combat, for guarding, for communication, espionage and also as food. A total of 14 to 20 million horses are said to have been involved in the First World War , 1.5 million of them on the German side. At least 8 million horses were killed during the war.

What was seen as a scarcity of resources and a burden on the soldiers was always true of the animals. The lack of food, improper care and care, overload, bad weather conditions, epidemics, gunshot and gas injuries cost countless animals their lives. How many animals there were in total cannot be determined.

The use of animals in war was a matter of course at the time and was not morally questioned. Today, monuments remind of the achievements and suffering of war animals. Individual animals achieved national fame as "war heroes".

introduction

Royal Navy officers with mascot dogs

By 1910 the use of animals as an aid in all areas of life was commonplace. The motorization was not very advanced. But in view of the latest technical achievements, such as automobiles, tanks , and telegraphy , it was initially doubted that animals would be used at all in war, except as load carriers. The cavalry was questioned, the number of carrier pigeons was reduced, and reporting dogs were not provided. It soon turned out that , despite all the technology , logistics , transport , communication or combat could not be carried out without the use of war animals. In no war before and in no war since have both animals and technical means been used so massively. Last but not least, the lack of draft horses was responsible for the fact that a stagnant trench war developed on the western front .

Mainly horses, dogs and carrier pigeons were used by the armies in World War I. With horses and dogs, training worked well, with camels and donkeys less, and with cats not at all. In purely quantitative terms, horses played the largest role in the German Army, and hundreds of dogs were used in transportation.

The moral question of whether animals should be used for war purposes did not arise at the time. The important thing was how to use it most effectively. The death of humans was accepted - that of animals anyway.

"We will defend ourselves to the last breath of man and horse."

- Kaiser Wilhelm II. (“Address to the German People”, August 6, 1914) : Deutschlandradio

“One of the hallmarks of World War I is that everything became material. [After the Battle of Verdun ] it was just a matter of adding as much material as possible, whether it was humans or animals. "

- Gerhard Bauer : Deutschlandradio

“When people die by the thousands […], there is no time for sentimentality. We had no reason to spare the horses if that would shorten the war and [...] everything that humans stand for could be saved. "

- Ernest Harold Baynes : Animal Heroes of the Great War

The war animals were consumables such as ammunition, weapons and equipment. On the one hand, animals were abused in forced labor for war purposes. On the other hand, the war animals were valued as "four-legged comrades", mainly by soldiers. Countless evidence shows that relationships with animals during war were shaped by feelings. Maybe because of the emotional closeness, maybe to cover up a guilty conscience. Care and benefit in equal measure were shown in special horse and dog hospitals and specially developed gas masks for horses, dogs and pigeons. Some soldiers also showed feelings, who tried to win the affection of stray dogs in quiet phases. The emotional importance of animals was also made clear through their use as mascots . In many cases, military units acquired mascots to strengthen their community and for emotional closeness. Dogs on board were not only found on ships, but even on submarines . Some mascots were related to their homeland. In fact, there were mascot animals u. a. Sheep, donkeys, goats, bears, monkeys, even kangaroos .

Incidentally, the owners changed frequently. Following the changing course of the front, animals sometimes belonged first to one nation, then to the other. The opponent was often accused of mistreating the animals. Accordingly, practiced animal protection stood for a well-rounded character.

After the end of the First World War, most of the war animals were released into civilian life, either returned or sold. The military now wanted to learn how to increase the efficiency of war animals for the future. It was expected that horses would still play a special role in future wars. The military writer Ernst von Eisenhart-Rothe wrote : "Even in a future war - [...] technology may make the most ingenious inventions by then, [...] - the troop horse will not become dispensable." And history shows that Even in World War II, all of Europe should have a need for military horses.

Horses

Army trek with horse and cart

“Without horses, the First World War would certainly have been different. By that I mean that this industrial mass war, which used up huge amounts of grenades, would not have been possible without transport horses. They couldn't have shot that much because they couldn't have brought the ammunition to the front. "

- Military historian Prof. Dr. Rainer Pöppinghege : Westphalia sheet

A total of 14 to 20 million horses are said to have been involved in the First World War, 1.5 million of them on the German side.

Muster

Horses were the most common means of transport in civil life at the time. They were indispensable for urban traffic and agriculture. The height of horse use was reached around 1910, just before the start of the First World War. It is therefore only natural that horses formed the basis of the infrastructure in warfare. The military mobilization of horses was prepared for the long term across borders. The war horses in Germany came, for example, from army studs, domestic muster or foreign sources. Mandatory annual inspections of civilian horses already took place in times of peace. Animals were excluded from doctors and princes. Suitable animals were noted on sample lists and assigned to possible uses. In the event of war, the patterned horses could be used, which could make up around 70 percent of the total stock.

Just a few weeks after the start of the war, it became necessary for the German military authorities to withdraw additional horses from civilian positions. In Bavaria there were almost 300,000 horses on the draft list. Of the animals patterned between 1908 and 1913, 85 percent were considered fit for war. Military historian Rainer Pöppinghege explains: “Some farmers were happy not to have to go to the front themselves. In addition, they might not be able to feed their horses so well on the farm during the war. Our gaze is of course first directed at the animals that lost their lives in the war. But the animals at home weren't much better off than those at the front because of the scarcity of food. Starvation was commonplace on the home front as well. ”This meant that horses were missing, for example in agriculture, which led to social problems. With horses in particular, it was important to find a balance between the workhorses at home and the resources for warfare. After the fighting began, the horse market was heavily regulated, which in some cases lasted until 1919.

Local horses seemed softened by keeping them in the stable, those in Eastern Europe seemed more fit for war. In the Bavarian army only 30 percent of the horses were recruited locally, the rest mostly in East Prussia. Young horses were often trained as remonte at the age of three, and by six they were fully operational. To relieve the horses of fear of explosions, they were placed in bunkers while cannons and grenades were detonated outside. Many of the civilian horses were not used to being ridden. Few of the civilian horses had shoeing . The shoeing worn out quickly on the tough roads. If a fitting was otherwise due once a month, it had to be renewed twice as often under wartime conditions. The monthly requirement of the German army was around 10 million horseshoes .

In 1917 the German Reich imported 140,000 horses. The British bought most of their horses (and mules) in the US, over 16 million. Italy acquired two thirds of its 30,000 draft horses in the United States. The USA shipped 66,000 horses to Europe when it entered the war.

use

Horse cart with field kitchen

Ambulance transport with horse power

The use of horses in war was a matter of course, but opinions were divided on the type of use. Would cavalry deployments still be of strategic military importance in the future, or would they have to be bid farewell? Attacks with horses, which had been effective in the previous wars, now became useless in trench warfare with machine guns . Horses and riders were too big a target for their opponents, and they were even shot at from airplanes. This was especially true of the western front . Horses were used in the cavalry on the battlefield; on the other side of the battlefield they were needed as transport and draft animals. Their role changed from a battle animal to a transport animal. In contrast to the Western Front, horses were increasingly used as battle animals on the Eastern Front. They had to travel barely manageable distances. The animals often suffered injuries from belts, saddles and harnesses.

More than in any other war before, the German army deployed up to 1.4 million horses in the First World War. In addition, there were around two percent so-called body horses . These were retired horses that had to be used for lighter transport work and had to be fed without a fixed ration. 700,000 horses were stationed on the Western Front, up to 900,000 by 1918, and 400,000 on the Eastern Front.

Many of the horses used in the war were transported to the front in non-species-appropriate rail transports that lasted for days. Even at the rest areas, the feed supply was often inadequate, and that was not to improve in the coming years of the war. This supposed lack of organization turned out to be a fundamental structural deficit.

The horses' job, for example, was to move building materials to the front lines. As a supplement to the still new railway lines, they pulled the artillery wagons over the last few kilometers. They were able to transport the injured back. Horses and mules could carry between 60 and 80 kilograms. The average horse had to run up to 50 km a day, up to ten days without rest. According to the regulation, an artillery horse was allowed to march 25 kilometers a day, but towards the end of the war it was often up to 80 kilometers. Message riders mounted to deliver news were required up to 120 km a day, often even at a gallop. In the first two months, people often spent the night outdoors, despite bad weather and often only for a few hours. In order to always be ready to go, the horses were rarely unsaddled and therefore had to carry their heavily packed saddles for up to four days. If the soldiers lived in stables and barns, shelters were built for the horses. If necessary, tent sheets were used as building material , which was particularly common around Verdun . The already weakened animals suffered from the insufficient shelter.

Lining

The horses' feed rations were based on their tasks. So draft horses that did hard work got more feed. In August 1914 there was initially a great lack of water. The animal welfare of those days was committed to keeping animals fit for war. For example, successful fundraising for fodder for the military horses was carried out, the so-called " love gifts ". At that time, according to the Schlieffen Plan, it was assumed that the war would be very short and therefore no food supplies were provided. The shortage of horse feed became serious as early as February 1915, partly because the feed was not a priority for transport on the railroad. The proportion of oats in the feed was reduced to 5,500 grams on paper, in reality it could be even less. The rest of the feed consisted of barley, corn, millet, peas and beans. Even leaves and wood were fed, which the animals didn't get. In the course of the war, not only did the quantity drop, but also the nutritional value of the feed. The physical exertion increased while the diet decreased. Even sawdust or animal meal was added to the feed, which many horses disdained. Famished horses ate moldy straw from roofs, which caused them to develop colic .

Diseases

Operation on a horse

At the beginning of the war, the supply system for war veterinarians in Germany was surprisingly poorly organized and had to be improvised. The horses were not properly cared for. Trained riders, let alone grooms, were rare. Added to this was the “unbelievable rawness of the people”, as one major general described it. Training courses against the grievances were established late. A veterinarian was responsible for 615 horses. In 1915 a system of field, stage and home horse hospitals was set up. Veterinary care was professionalized for the first time. There was a highly organized logistics. Sick or wounded animals came for treatment, recovered animals came back to their work areas. There was an ongoing exchange. On the German side there were a maximum of 550 horse depots and hospitals. The mobile horse depots followed the front at a distance of 15 to 20 kilometers and took in the sick animals. There two vets and 250 soldiers were responsible for 1,000 horses. There were mobile operating tables. In the inpatient horse hospitals , horses were treated that would take longer than four weeks to recover. Two veterinarians and 70 soldiers were responsible for 150 animals. In the German Empire (excluding Saxony and Bavaria) there were around 50 of these hospitals. In addition, there were horse rest homes to at least make weakened animals fit for agriculture again. When horses could no longer be used for the military or civilians, many were eaten.

Gas mask for horses

The most common ailments were malnutrition, overuse, and injuries from guns, gas, or barbed wire. Gunshot wounds predominated on the western front, mange and exhaustion on the eastern front . Horses also suffered from gas attacks, albeit less than humans. There were goggles, protective gaiters and gas masks for horses. Contaminated horse feed damaged internal organs. The military stipulated that injured military horses would be restored to their fitness for war. The prominent and radical animal rights activist Magnus Schwantje . however, pleaded for a compulsory coup de grace for injured horses. He reported that animal welfare groups in England were calling for the Geneva Conventions to be applied to animals as well. Club employees should shoot the wounded "four-legged comrades" on the battlefield to end their suffering.

Contagious diseases such as mange and snot were a threat to entire military units . They were favored by the weakened constitution of the animals, the close housing and the mixing of the stocks, among other things by conquered horses. The mange affected most of the animals, with over 1.3 million cases over the war. The snot was very dangerous. In general, the animals affected had to be killed immediately. In the German troops, 310,000 horses fell ill with snot, more on the eastern than the western front. The authorities tried to get the disease under control through systematic mass investigations. It was important that soldiers recognize the symptoms early on. The education, prevention and veterinary work had an effect.

German agents brought snot bacteria to Romania to infect horses and cattle. Other countries that delivered to the enemy were to be infected. Isolated attacks with biological weapons cannot be conclusively proven. The fear of endangering their own troops limited the actions.

In 1915 75,000 sick horses had to be treated on the Western Front, in 1917 there were 100,000 animals. About every third horse used by the Germans needed treatment in the course of the war. Most of the horses were killed when they could no longer work. Of the approximately 7,200 veterinarians in Germany, more than 5,300 veterinarians are said to have been active in the war and treated between 1.25 and almost 1.4 million horses.

In the UK, France and Russia, the health of a veterinary system appeared to have been somewhat better. England had learned from the Second Boer War and had a functioning veterinary system as early as 1914. Of the 2.5 million horses the British treated in France, 80% were re-usable. England had one of the lowest values of all war states with 9.5% horse mortality. American animal rights activists printed 150,000 brochures educating soldiers about helping wounded horses.

losses

The lifespan of an artillery horse in action averaged ten days. As early as 1915, so many horses were missing that the highest authority instructed teams for six horses to be pulled by only four and those for four by only two. In October 1916, cavalry units had to continue fighting unmounted. The winter of 1917/18 brought considerable horse losses. After the peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918, the German army was able to relocate horses from the Eastern Front to France. Nevertheless, this supply of horses was just a drop in the ocean. In the battle of Moreuil Holz (Fr .: Bataille du bois de Moreuil ) at the end of March 1918, 800 horses died in less than an hour. While the loss of horses was 9.5% in 1915, the animals were so weakened in 1918 that the value rose to almost 25%. In the theaters of war in Africa, the animal losses were allegedly higher. On the one hand due to the climate, on the other hand also due to lack of food.

Separate units at the fronts recycled the dead animals. Leather, fat, glue and animal meal could be produced from skin and bones . Their meat, if safe, was eaten.

"The critical shortage of raw materials urgently requires all-round cooperation in the recovery of fallen animals and animal waste."

- Leaflet on animal body recycling : Katrin Kutter

Around 10 million soldiers died in the First World War, as did around 8 million horses. The number may be an understatement. It is also said that 9 to 10 million dead horses are considered safe. Another source speaks of an estimated 8 million transport animals on the Allied side alone. If 4.7 million horses were counted in the German Reich before the start of the war, after that it was still around 3.3 million. The British experienced their highest loss rates in the first and last year of the war at around 20%. In total, more than 500,000 horses died in the British army, at least 1 million in France and 250,000 in Austria, mostly of starvation.

After the end of the war

The swift, grueling march back after the end of the war often pushed the horses to their limits. Many horses stayed with their units for the time being and were used, for example, for police duties. If the animals were free from disease, they were also released for sale. Horses were auctioned to civilians across the country. Traders were not allowed in to keep prices down. However, the weakened horses were hardly able to function as workhorses. Horses that could not be sold were slaughtered.

Horses were also used as part of reparations for war guilt, as stated in the Versailles Peace Treaty . Article 238 of the treaty required the "return of removed, confiscated or sequestered animals". In addition, in 1920 Germany had to deliver 500 breeding stallions and 30,000 mares to France as an advance payment .

dogs

Reporting dog with its owner

recruitment

The German army already had a military dog system, so that at the beginning of the war there were already 6,000 dogs available. At the maximum, 30,000 dogs and just as many caring soldiers were deployed, some of whom were supported by civilians. In contrast to Germany, other states, such as Great Britain and France, had practically no dogs suitable for the military when the war began. In France and England, the usefulness of dogs in the military was initially questioned.

“The aim is to alleviate the suffering of those wounded who surprised night and fog on the battlefield. [...] We need medical dogs who do their duty with wonderful instinct and great talent and who have already saved the lives of these brave warriors. [...] We need dogs that are suitable [...] to save thousands of wounded people who would still be alive after every battle and would have to bleed to death in trenches, hedges and bushes because the medical teams could not find them despite all care and diligence. "

- Haller Tagblatt 02/22/1915 : Südwest Presse

In order to meet the constantly growing demand, appeals to the patriotism of dog owners were made or they were confiscated. Collection points were set up where civilian dogs were examined and prepared for use in war. In the German Reich, excluding Saxony and Bavaria, there were 19 such institutions. Dogs could be sent to them free of charge. Private breeders also received free food if they gave their puppies to the military at eleven months as part of a “young dog contract”. The offer was very well received if you believed your dog was well looked after there in the hard times of war. During the First World War, around 30,000 private dogs were conscripted for military purposes. In occupied Belgium and northern France, dogs were confiscated and transported to Germany for training. Selection criteria were very good eyes, ears, sense of smell, obedience and robustness. Dogs that were unsuitable were sent back or killed if they were deemed overly ill-docile. In England animal welfare associations selected suitable animals.

Reporting dog with its owner

All armies preferred medium-sized dogs. Small ones lacked strength, large ones made easy targets and were difficult to guide. The aim of the Association for German Shepherds was to breed a "weatherproof, needless and docile local dog" for use in the military and agriculture. German Shepherds and Dobermans were popular with all armies. The Germans also preferred Schnauzers , Poodles , Rottweilers and Weimaraners . The English used Irish Terriers , Retrievers , Airedales, and Scottish Collies . The last two were also procured by the German Wehrmacht through agents in England. In addition, the choice was made according to the dog's required work. Hunting dogs were excluded on all sides because their training was too one-sided and retracted.

In "war dog courses" the dogs were trained for their tasks for a few weeks. The duration of the training depended on the complexity of the tasks; about ten days for watch dogs, seven weeks for patrol dogs and three months for sniffer dogs. Properties in demand were speed, agility, endurance and strength, as well as weather resistance, composure under loud bombardment and a certain degree of aggressiveness.

Training and retraining of the reporting dogs took place in reporting dog schools . The training to become a reporting dog was explained step by step in the book "Using the reporting dogs". Knowledge of the training of reporting dogs should be preserved. Therefore, the title of the book contained the note: “Do not take into the front line”. The training included overcoming ever greater distances and more complex terrain, overcoming bushes and barbed wire, tolerance to smoke and gunshot noises. The abilities of the animals should not be overestimated, it said, because: "The dog lacks the ability to think and thus the insight into the purpose of the reporting process." should take care of. Two methods were known to train the reporting dogs: In the first method, the dog was fixated on a dog handler. The dog was taken to the scene by another soldier and, if necessary, sent back to the dog handler with a message. The dog was given no food at the scene, only water. In the second method, the dog was equally fixated on two caregivers. During use, the animals shuttled back and forth between people. Dogs were often given names by their keepers.

use

A dog keeps watch while the soldier sleeps.

Dog brings a steel helmet to report an injured person

No other species could be used as widely as dogs. As pack animals, dogs could carry 30 kilograms on uneven terrain and 50 kilograms on flat terrain. Dogs were used as draft animals in Belgium even before the war, so they could quickly be used in the military. Some received special endurance training. As a pair, they could pull up to 500 kilograms. 500 dogs were used in twelve machine gun companies. On the front line, dogs transported food, rolls of barbed wire , ammunition, building materials and field post .

As reporting dogs, they brought important information within the military units. The running distance should be practiced two to three times in the field with the dogs. If dogs were able to cover up to 8 kilometers, a maximum of 2.5 kilometers were advisable for reporting dogs, otherwise concentration would decrease and they threatened to get lost. Reporting dogs were not allowed to be unnecessarily distracted at work. They wore the words "service dog" and an identification tag on the collar. They carried the news in a leather case on the collar. It was common for the reporting dogs to be lured by the enemy with fish bait. The dogs were mostly kept chained. Of over 40,000 dogs in the German mission, 30,000 were registration dogs. Their loss is estimated at 20,000.

If dogs were used for guarding, the number of guards could be reduced. Dogs guarded military buildings, airfields, supply cars or soldiers, prisoners of war, deserters. As patrol dogs, they warned of enemies. With their excellent sense of smell, dogs could warn of poison gas.

As medical dogs, they not only carried first aid material, but also alerted the medical service to the wounded. There were three methods of doing this: first, by barking when a wounded man was found. However, this directed enemy fire to the site. In the second method, the dog took an object from the wounded man. However, this sometimes led to the dog pulling the wounded, the soldier resisting the dog or the animal losing the object on the way. The third method would be basically the easiest because the dog will return without an object if it finds a wounded man. But that led to false reports when dogs simply returned and pretended the job was done. Finally, the Sanitätshund plucked a Bringsel from the collar when he found a wounded, and returned with it back to his unit. In the fighting near Ypres in April 1915, for example, dogs found 67 wounded. Dogs also assisted the soldiers with finding and rescuing the dead.

Dogs were also equipped with mines, sent onto the battlefield and blown up.

Sled dogs

In August 1915, two French officers, Colonel Louis Moufflet and Lieutenant René Haas, were posted to North America. Their secret mission was to bring 450 sled dogs from Alaska and Canada to Europe. The dogs were supposed to bring an advantage to the front in the snow-covered Vosges in winter to stop the German advance. Supported by the dog sled driver Scotty Allan, they brought a pack of the Alaskan Malamute breed on a grueling journey around 10,000 kilometers across the North American continent, the Atlantic Ocean, to the Vosges. The sled dog teams transported war equipment, food and the wounded on site, where horses and mules were no longer helpful due to the weather. Italy used 3,500 dogs as sled dogs on the Alpine front.