Military Animal
Dogs
Military Animal
Anti-Tank Dog
Military animals are creatures that have been employed by
humankind for use in
warfare.
They are a specific application of
working animals. Generally these animals are
domesticated creatures, such as the
dog or
horse;
more exotic animals such as the
elephant, pig,
and even the
spider
have also seen use during wartime. Animals have even been awarded
medals for their courage in battle.
Transport and hauling
The horse
has been the most widely-used animal throughout the recorded history of warfare.
Early mounts could be used to pull the
chariot or to
carry lightly armored
skirmishing
forces. With the appearance of heavier mounts and the invention of the
stirrup, the
horse-mounted
cavalry became the dominant military arm in
Europe for
several centuries. The combination of the horse-mounted warrior armed with a
bow made the
Mongol army the
most powerful military force of its time.
With the appearance of modern ranged weapons and motorized vehicles, the use
of the horse for military purposes fell into decline. However the horse was
still used extensively by the
German army during
World
War II for transporting supplies and equipment, including
artillery.
The U.S. Army
also used pack horses during the war.
While elephants are not considered
domesticable, they can be trained to serve as mounts, or for moving heavy
loads. Sanskrit
hymns record their use for military purposes as early as 1,100
B.C.
A group of elephants was notably employed by
Hannibal
during the
Punic Wars. They were employed as recently as
World
War II by both the
Japanese and
Allies. Elephants could perform the work of machines in locations where
vehicles could not penetrate, so they found considerable use in the
Burma theater.
For more information on the military utilization of elephants, see
war
elephant.
Other
- Camels
have typically seen use as mounts in arid regions. They are better able to
traverse sandy
deserts
than horses, and require far less water. Camels were employed in both
world
wars.
- Mules
were used by the
U.S. Army
during World War II to carry supplies and equipment over difficult terrain.
These pack animals that are innately patient, cautious, and hardy; mules
could carry heavy loads of supplies where
Jeeps and even
pack horses could not travel. Mules were used in
North Africa,
Burma, the
Philippines, and in
Italy.
- During the Second World War, over 100,000
reindeer
were used by
Finland to tow
sleds. They were employed during raids, for carrying wounded to
hospitals,
and for bringing supplies to the troops.
- Oxen
have occasionally been used in war as improvised beasts of burden.
Pigeons & War
Homing pigeons have seen use since the time of the
French Revolution for carrying messages. They were employed for a similar
purpose during the first world war. In WWII, experiments were performed in the
use of the pigeon for guiding missiles, known as
Project Pigeon. The pigeon was placed inside so that they could see out
through a window. They were trained to peck at controls to the left or right,
depending on the location of a target shape. See also:
War pigeon.
Other specialized functions
Dogs were used by
the
ancient Greeks for war purposes, and they were undoubtedly used much earlier
in history. During their conquest of
Latin
America,
conquistadores used
Mastiffs to
kill Indian warriors in the
Caribbean,
Mexico and
Peru. More
recently, canines with explosives strapped to their backs saw use during
World
War II in the
Soviet
Army as
anti-tank weapons. In other armies, they were used for detecting mines. They
were trained to spot trip wires, as well as mines and other booby traps. They
were also employed for sentry duty, and to spot snipers or hidden enemy forces.
Some dogs also saw use as messengers.
Beginning in the
Cold War
era, research has been done into the uses of many species of
marine mammals for military purposes. The
U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program uses
dolphins and
sea lions
for underwater sentry duty, mine clearance, and object recovery. On land, the
Gambian giant pouched rat has been used with considerable success in
demining, as its keen sense of smell helps in the identification of
explosives
and its small size prevents it from triggering
mines.
Pliny the Elder wrote about the use of
pigs against
elephants. As he relates it, elephants became scared by the squeal of a pig and
would panic, bringing disaster to any soldiers who stood in their path of
flight. [citation
needed]
At the beginning of the
War in
Iraq, The Goverment of
Congo proposed
the idea of trained monkeys to clear minefields by running across them.
[citation
needed]
During the Second World War,
spiders were
employed by the Allies to spin
silk
for use in
cross-hairs on bomb
scopes and other optical instruments. [citation
needed]
Also during the Second World War, the United States came up with the idea of
a "bat bomb" using the
Mexican Free-tailed Bat as a delivery system for incendiaries which the
Americans would use to burn down the Japanese homes and districts. It was hoped
that after dropping this bomb, that the bats would be released to fly into
attics and other dark places in the Japanese cities. After a set period of time
the incindaries would go off and burn down whatever buildings the bats had
roosted in. They even went as far as to attach the incindiararies to the bats
themselves before the program was halted because of the first
atomic
bomb test. They never saw operational service.
Additional reading
- Jilly Cooper, Animals In War, The Lyons Press,
2002,
ISBN 1585747297.
External links
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