Animals in the Great War | Maria Grazia Suriano .edu

Animals in the Great War Maria Grazia Suriano

Animals in the Great War

Maria Grazia Suriano

Associazione culturale Se

Animals in the Great War Maria Grazia Suriano Published by Associazione culturale Se, case studies|Se, December, 15th 2017 ISBN: 978-88-943141-1-3 © Associazione culturale Se. All Rights Reserved This book was created with Booktype. For more information, please visit: www.booktype.pro Discover Omnibook - a social platform for writing books - and create your own book at www.omnibook.pro

To Novembre

Table of Contents 0. Title Page ............................................................................................................  0 0. Dedication ..........................................................................................................  0 INTRODUCTION  ...............................................................................................  11 3. The project  ......................................................................................................  13 4. The instruments  ..............................................................................................  15 0. Thanks  ................................................................................................................  0 I. ANIMALS IN THE GREAT WAR. WORKING WITH THE SOURCES  .  19 6. Describing the animal experience to obtain an inclusive history  ............  21 7. Inferior who? Going beyond the construction of animal inferiority .......  27 8. Recounting war animals in the class room   ................................................  34 9. Empathy, a didactic approach  ......................................................................  40 II. THE PROTAGONISTS  ..................................................................................  43 10. Dogs  ................................................................................................................  45 11. Bally Shannon, Satan and Stubby ...............................................................  50 12. Instruments for in-depth study  ..................................................................  55 13. Pigeons  ...........................................................................................................  57 14. Cher Ami, Mocker and Valiant ...................................................................  62 15. Instruments for in-depth study  ..................................................................  66 16. Horses .............................................................................................................  68 17. Warrior  ...........................................................................................................  73 18. Instruments for in-depth study  ..................................................................  76 19. A Multimedia Guide  ....................................................................................  79 20. Bibliography  ..................................................................................................  87 0. Copyright  ...........................................................................................................  0

Table of Figures Figure 6.1 British soldier feeding a snow-covered cat at Neulette, 17 December 1917 © IWM (Q 6399)  ......................................................................  24 Figure 7.1 Soldier with "Sammy", the fourth battalion mascot, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers © IWM (Q 1451)  ...................................................  28 Figure 7.2 RAVC Soldier with a Blindfolded Horse at Veterinary Hospital n. 5, Abbeville, April 22, 1918 © IWM (Q 8726) ..................................................  31 Figure 8.1 Australian members of the Imperial Camel Corps near Jaffa, Palestine, 1918 © IWM (HU 75737)  ..................................................................  35 Figure 8.2 Refractory horses © IWM (Q 33569) ..............................................  36 Figure 8.3 War chariot for electric lamps pulled by dogs, Dorimbergo, Front of the Isonzo, ca 1916 © ÖNB, Europeana Collections 1914-1918  ...............  37 Figure 8.4 Pigeons returning to their own dovecote, Pernes, 1918 © IWM (Q 9000) ......................................................................................................................  38 Figure 10.1 A messenger dog with a cylinder, in which the message was transported, Etaples, 28 August 1918 © IWM (Q 9277)  ................................  45 Figure 10.2 Officers relax around a gramophone with their dogs, on the field at Poperinghe, September 26, 1917 © IWM (Q 2897) .....................................  48 Figure 11.1 Front page of Le Miroir, 17 June 1917  .........................................  51 Figure 11.2 Stubby, the hero of Georgetown  ..................................................  53 Figure 13.1 British pilot releasing a pigeon © IWM (Q 13613) .....................  57 Figure 13.2 A miniature photographic camera placed under the belly of the traveling pigeons, © Bnf, Europeana Collections 1914-1918  ........................  59 Figure 13.3 Anti-gas box for 15 carrier pigeons, Trento, © ÖNB, Europeana Collections 1914-1918  .........................................................................................  60 Figure 14.1 Postcard of Commander Raynal, 1916  ........................................  64 Figure 16.1 Men and horses of the Army Service Corps (ASC) undergoing an anti-gas drill, somewhere in the UK, probably Aldershot © IWM (Q 34105) ....................................................................................................................  68 Figure 16.2 Captured Italians bury horses lying on the street, 1917 © ÖNB, Europeana Collection 1914-1918 .......................................................................  69 Figure 17.1 Troops of Royal Engineers taking their horses away after disembarkation in France, © IWM (Q 33311) .................................................  74

Animals in the Great War Maria Grazia Suriano case studies | Se 

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To Novembre

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Introduction

3. The project The e-book Animals in the Great War is one of the didactic proposals that was developed by the cultural association Se. It is in response to the latter’s pledge to promote the history of the twentieth century, disseminating an in­ clusive knowledge that develops further secondary subjects that have been excluded from institutional accounts with the aim of expanding the defini­ tion of a discipline, in this case history, so that it is no longer the “science of man throughout time” but the “science of the living throughout time.” In this sense, animals can be considered unique subjects. Just like humans, they are subjects of life: they ‘feel’, in other words they experience emotions, but unlike man, who often needs lengthy psychoanalytical sessions to ex­ press them, they access their emotions with astounding ease. They have complex social lives, they develop passionate relationships with each other, and love their offspring desperately. Man’s prolonged conviction that any­ thing that does not resemble him physically is unworthy of respect led to an overall impoverishment of social relations and with the natural environment and has influenced his manner of thinking and ability to produce critical re­ flections. It was only recently that the possibility has been acknowledged that animals can actually be the subject of future biographies, at least for studies, as autobiographies are out of the question1. The numerous initiatives that have been promoted throughout Europe to mark the centennial of the Great War have therefore been a source of inspi­ ration to reflect on all those subjects that are not wholly extraneous to histo­ riography, but have been excluded from textbooks. The result was the devel­ opment of a didactic project aimed at secondary school pupils and teachers, with the objective of offering a different perspective in their studies on the First World War and further instruments that could be used to modernise the classic methods of teaching history. Edited by the cultural association Se, the first number of the series “Case Studies” is Animals in the Great War and offers a response to the need to have more updated references to develop line of study in the classroom whilst al­ 13

so offering a methodological support for individual or group work at home. Just like the didactic offers (training courses and seminars) offered by the Association, the e-books in this series all favour the use of comparative methodology, interdisciplinary studies and multimedia, whilst also identify­ ing useful instruments for education that can be used both on the web and freely accessed so that they may be used again if necessary. In recognition of the fact that free, inclusive knowledge should be free of charge, the cultural Association Se decided that this first e-book in the ‘Case Studies’ series should be available free of charge on their website. This was made possible by participating in the first international competition “Euro­ peana Strike a match for Education” promoted by the Europeana cultural net­work in collaboration with the Goteo civic crowdfunding platform and the proceeds from the funds raised, in which Animals in the Great War participat­ed and was one of the three winning projects.

1. J. M. Masson, S. McCarthy, When Elephants Weep. The Emotional Lives of Animals, Cape, London 1994 and M. Bekoff, The Emotional Lives of Animals, New World Library, Novato 2008. See, also A. Horowitz, Inside of a Dog. What Dogs See, Smell, and Know, Simon & Schuster, New York 2009, J.-L. Guichet (ed.), Douleur animale, douleur humaine, Quae, Versailles 2010, C. Darwin, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals, Murray, London 1872, and A. R. Damasio, Descartes’ Error. Emotion, Reason, and Human Brain, Putnam’s, New York 1994.

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4. The instruments The web is a source of information that is in continuous and constant growth; the use of this information for educational purposes must be able to count on a guarantee of authenticity and quality. As far as studies on the Great War are concerned, it is now possible to access a variety of digital col­ lections that have been compiled by museums and libraries; these have the advantage of being accurate from an archivistic perspective and of guaran­ teeing their authenticity and quality of the sources made available to the users. There is a multitude of materials available and they are all extremely valid; they include period footage, films, novels as well as articles, docu­ ments, documentaries and photographs (Ch. III, A Multimedia Guide), all con­ tribute to the development of more comprehensive educational activities than those found in scholastic textbooks, with the aim of offering a coherent account of the history of the Great War, from the perspective of the animals that took part. The decision in this e-book to place the iconographic sources in the foreground was dictated by the fact that it offers the most direct form of the animals’ experience on the front, and from a didactical point of view, has the ability to attract attention more immediately. Today most of this European cultural heritage can be accessed online thanks to an initiative promoted by the portal Europeana, which is the result of the work carried out by the same-named foundation to represent and enhance cultural heritage through extensive initiatives of digitalization and conserva­ tion; this has made more than 23 million elements accessible, in the form of texts, images, film and audio clips, all regarding the historical periods and cultural movements of Europe, from north to south, and from east to west. Also available here is the collection dedicated to the Great War Europeana 1914-1918. Promoted by the initiative of digitalising the patrimony of ten important na­ tional foundations, Europeana 1914-1918 was one of the numerous initiatives to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the First World War; its objective was to document those diverse aspects of the conflict that were 15

particularly pertinent to the everyday life of the common people and sol­ diers. As a result, a patrimony comprising books, newspapers, trench jour­ nals, geographical maps, sheet music, children’s tales, photographs, posters, pamphlets, propaganda flyers, art works, religious texts, medals and coins. The institutions that took part in the creation of the Europeana 1914-1918 database are the Berlin Staatsbibliothek, which acted as coordinator, and the Clio-Online portal that had the task of inventories and analysis of the requi­ sites. Other partners and content suppliers included Bibliothèque Nationale de France and Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg (France); Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma “Vittorio Emanuele II”, Bib­ lioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze and the Istituto Centrale per il Catalo­ go Unico delle Biblioteche Italiane e per le Informazioni Bibliografiche (Italy); Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique (Belgium); British Library (Great Britain); Kongelige Bibliotek (Denmark); Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Austria) and Narodna Biblioteka Srbije (Serbia). Furthermore, there are also other digital collections that are equally impor­ tant and of inestimable value. In some cases they are long-term experiences, with a vast tradition of looking after and conserving heritage behind them; this is the case with the Imperial War Museums and, in particular with the digital collection dedicated to the Great War. Navigating in this collection one can consult one of the richest iconographic collections on war animals; this is one of the most beautiful and comprehensive ones in the world, con­ firmation of the lengthy British tradition and sensitivity in the valorisation of military history and the animal world. Italian contents have also found their rightful place for this centennial. The posters, prints, periodicals and photographs preserved in Biblioteca Univer­ sitaria Alessandrina, Biblioteca di Storia Moderna e Contemporanea and in the Istituto per la Storia del Risorgimento Italiano have been digitalised for the occasion and they can now be consulted on the website 14-18. Documen­ ti e immagini della Grande Guerra.  The e-book is divided into three chapters, The first chapter offers a histori­ cal-critical presentation of the role of animals in the First World War, includ­ ing, through further studies and the analytical approaches adopted in them, to what extent the animal perspective lends itself for an institutional account 16

of the Great War and for a multidisciplinary study of the aforementioned. The second chapter offers three case studies and the relative instruments for further study that can be used by the teacher to prepare lessons as well as by the student in individual or group projects. Each of the three paragraphs in the chapter includes an introduction to the specific case in question, regard­ ing the dog, pigeon, and horse, followed by a section on the experiences of the individual protagonists; the last section is devoted to the study tools needed to develop a didactic activity. The third chapter is dedicated to the sources and offers a multimedia guide of the selected resources. At the end of the book is an updated general bibliography to illustrate the guidelines for reflection on the presence of animals in the war.

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Thanks Many people made this project possible. Heartfelt thanks go to friends, colleagues, known and unknown supporters whose financial support made Animals in the Great War possible. The match funding campaign promoted by the Goteo and Europeana foundations was the instrument that enabled this unique synergy. In particular, I would like to thank Alexandra Baez, who coordinated the first phase of the project for Goteo, fol­ lowing it step by step during the intense weeks of crowdfunding. Grateful thanks al­ so go to the staff at Europeana who facilitated the bureaucratic formalities from The Hague. Special thanks also go to Emanuela Guzzinati, head of the inter-library loan at the ‘Walter Bigiavi’ Library at Bologna University who followed my numerous requests with such professionalism and kindness, obtaining texts that would have otherwise been impossible to find.

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I. Animals in the Great War. Working with the sources

6. Describing the animal experience to obtain an inclusive history “A week since, I was lying out in no-man’s-land, a little German dog trotted up and licked my British face. I pulled his German ears and stroked his German back. He wagged his German tail. My little friend abolished no-man’s-land, and so in time can we (Lt Melville Hastings, killed in action, 3 October 1918)”1 From a technological perspective, the Great War can be regarded as the first modern war that was ever fought. Scientific progress and its technical appli­ cation in the war industry, which grew significantly during the second half of the nineteenth century, meant that for the first time in 1914 every army, without any distinction whatsoever, could count on mobile columns of light and heavy artillery and automatic and semi-automatic artillery; on aero­ planes, used to carry out bombing and recognition and fighter flights; on submarines, which were used in naval battles in the Channel and Mediter­ ranean. In addition, the extensive use of new means of communication such as the radio, telephone, telegraph and cablegram should not be forgotten2. Although neglected for a long time by historical reconstructions and totally absent in text books, the most striking fact is that the First World War was a modern war, but one that soon lost its character as an adventure and instead became a long, desperate undertaking that was actually primordial in na­ ture, that is, with the mass recruitment of millions of animals that made it possible to begin and succeed over such a long period. Today the figure is still imprecise since it is not precisely known if it refers to the overall num­ ber of animals present on the fronts at the beginning of the conflict or at the end; the fact remains, however, that it is somewhere around the sum of 12 million animals, of which 11 million were equine, 100,000 dogs and between 200,000 and 250,000 pigeons. Most of the animals were requisitioned by the authorities and actually recruited, that is, given military service documents because they were considered useful from a tactical point of view. They in­ cluded dogs, mules, donkeys, horses, pigeons and camels; in addition there were mice and lice, the main inhabitants alongside the soldiers in the trench­ 21

es, as well as the fireflies that were captured and used at night to read maps or letters from the family; unless plundered beforehand, farmyard animals escaped from houses, stalls, and farmyards when the fronts fell; in addition were the animals to be slaughtered, mainly bovine and pigs, which were destined for the soldiers’ meals3. The numbers were considerable and certainly well-known as can be seen in the correspondence and letters of both common soldiers and officers, as well as in the information regarding the strategic-logistical organisation of the fronts, where specific structures were created such as staging posts where the transport animals (mules, donkeys, dogs) could rest, storerooms for feed and veterinary hospitals. In close proximity to the front there were also sta­ bles to house the animals for short periods that were to be slaughtered for food as well as digester facilities where the carcasses were disposed of4. With the exception of the rare publications of official memoirs that appeared in the Twenties and Thirties, in which evocations of the relationship with an­ imals on the front are often to be found, it was not until the early Eighties that the story of Warrior caught the attention of the children’s writer Michael Morpurgo. This was the name of the horse that belonged to the British general Jack Seely, who was with his regiment in France. Warrior was the source of inspiration for the protagonist of the novel War Horse, which was published in 1982 and in which the narrator is the war horse Joey, and was made into a film in 2011 by Steven Spielberg. In the same years the Imperial War Museum commissioned a renowned British writer, Jilly Cooper, with a book to accompany the exhibition dedi­ cated to animals in the war, planned for 1984. The publication of Animals in War inspired the creation of the Animals in War Memorial Fund, which, over a twenty-year period, raised the two million pounds needed for the construction of the impressive memorial with the same name, dedicated as can be read in the inscription “to all the animals that served and died along­ side the British and allied troops in the wars and military campaigns throughout the ages”, inaugurated in Park Lane (London) in November 2004 th

on the occasion of the 90 anniversary of the end of the Great War.

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From this date on, and for the following ten years, numerous exhibitions dedicated to the animals in war or the Great War were staged in nearly all the countries of the Western front (London 2005, Péronne 2007, Campbell 2008, Osnabruck and Brussels 2010, Gorizia 2014), the organisation of which required a significant amount of seeking documents in archives, making it possible to bring to light and reorganise a large amount of material, especial­ ly that of an iconographic nature. Today this material has been studied by those who love the history of war, resulting in the creation of numerous websites and the publication of diverse studies that, in view of the accuracy of their reconstructions and the value of the sources used, cannot be de­ scribed as amateurish. Nevertheless, all of these works basically concentrate on the practical use of animals in war. In the accounts the animal is never placed in the foreground as the subject and protagonist of an activity or ac­ tion, instead they focus on the human aspect, and it is from this perspective that their history is offered to the reader5. Despite looking more closely at the condition of the animals during the con­ flict, even several worthy Italian studies such as those by Bucciol and Fabi do the same, and do not place their experience at the centre of their analyses; Fabi does, however, observe that, as they are mainly being used as elements of the armed corps, “they are also and above all living beings that accompa­ ny the soldiers on a difficult, demanding situation that is at times desperate and impossible, but also carefree and amusing, at times extremely danger­ ous whilst at others inevitably boring”6. The animal remains an asset to be used, whether as food, logistical support or a pet therapy instrument. It is worthwhile remembering that the presence of animals was also used to alle­ viate the horror of the trenches. Taking care of defenceless beings that were completely dependent on man enabled the soldiers to recover their own hu­ manity, which had been offended by the experience of war7, albeit only for a short period of time.

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Fig. 6.1: British soldier feeding a snow-covered cat at Neulette, 17 December 1917 © IWM (Q 6399)

The few professional historians who studied the subject of the presence of animals in the wars until the beginning of 2000 did the same, limiting their approach to the human aspect out of conviction or habit of the fact that his­ tory as a discipline is exclusively a science that studies man throughout the ages. There was interest in the use of horses and homing pigeons, in cultural portrayals and the affective projections of the soldiers on the animals in their trust, in the organisation of veterinary services and the unheard of chal­ lenges resulting from having to face the illnesses and traumas of war, in which the animals were the victims; however, even in these cases the ani­ mals are only perceived in comparison to the efforts made by the veterinary staff, for example. The veterinary records, however, could have been an ex­ cellent source to evoke their experiences, especially in the light of the infor­ mation that is now available as regards their emotional world, ability to feel pain and to react to suffering8. 24

On the contrary, there was no desire to shift the perspective and link the analysis with knowledge from other disciplines, for example the natural sci­ ences, psychology, ethology and, above all, from feminist and animalist re­ flection; this was owing to the still unwavering prejudice according to which animals are inferior to humans and as such, object of their projections, atten­ tion, whether being cared for or violence, with the aim of satisfying and con­ firming the role on a hierarchic scale, in line with the dualism of the Western cultural and philosophical tradition that continues to perpetualise the logic and practices of patriarchal rule, which was exercised over the centuries over anyone who appeared to be at a disadvantage, (coloured people, work­ ers, for example), and still exercised with constant and violent stubbornness over women, animals and nature. Three examples of beings, which do not correspond to the hierarchic model men created for themselves, are able to ‘break the mirror’ in which dominance seeks its own reflection at all costs9. 1. R. van Emden,  Tommy’s Ark: Soldiers and Their Animals in the Great War, Bloomsbury, Lon­ don 2011, p. 12. 2. The role of science in the production of weapons M. G. Suriano,  “Will this terrible possibility become a fact?”. Il progresso scientifico applicato alla guerra nella riflessione di Gertrude Woker e Kathleen Lonsdale, in “Dep. Deportate, esuli, profughe”, n. 35, 2017, pp. 26-41, http:// www.unive.it/media/allegato/dep/n35/02_Suriano_modello.pdf 3. É. Baratay,  Bêtes des tranchées. Des vécus oubliés, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2013, pp. 8-9, D. Baldin (ed.),  La guerre des animaux, 1914‐1918, Artlys, Versailles 2007. See, also E. Bucciol,  Animali al fronte. Protagonisti oscuri della Grande guerra, Nuovadimensione/Ediciclo, Portogruaro 2003 and L. Fabi,  Guerra bestiale: uomini e animali nella Grande Guerra, Persico, Cremona 2004. 4. L. Fabi,  Guerra bestiale, pp. 8-13. 5. On the topic animals in war, see S. Bulanda, Soldiers in Fur and Feathers. The Animals that Served in World War I - Allied Forces, Alpine Publications, Crawford 2013, J.-M. Derex, Héros oubliés: les animaux dans la Grande Guerre, Pierre de Taillac Editions, Villers-sur-Mer 2014, L. Fabi,  Il bravo soldato mulo. Storie di uomini e animali nella Grande guerra, Mursia, Milano 2012, J. Gardiner, The Animals War: Animals in Wartime from the First World War to the Present Day, Portrait, London 2006, I. George, R. L. Jones,  Animals at War, Usborne Publishing, London 2006, E. Le Chene, Silent Heroes: The Bravery & Devotion of Animals in War: An Animals’ Roll of Honour, Souvenir Press Ltd, London 1997, D. Leoni,  La guerra verticale. Uomini, animali e mac­ chine sul fronte di montagna, Einaudi, Torino 2015 and F. Quilici, Umili eroi: storia degli animali nella Grande Guerra, Mondadori, Milano 2016. See also articles and essay in this e-Book Ch. III, A multimedia guide. 6. L. Fabi, Guerra bestiale, p. 16. 7. G. Ungaretti,  Lettere a Giovanni Papini 1915-1948, a cura di M. A. Terzoli, Mondadori, Milano 1988 and R. van Emden,  Tommy’s Ark.

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8. D. Baldin (ed.), La guerre des animaux, 1914‐1918. Baldin also authored De la continuité anthro­ pologique entre le combattant et le cheval: le cheval et son image dans l’armée française durant la Pre­ mière guerre mondiale, in “Revue historique des armées”, n. 249, 2007, pp. 75-87 and Le chien, animal exemplaire d’une anthropologie historique des relations hommes-animaux en temps de guerre (1914-1918), in “Ethnozootechnie”, n. 78, 2006, pp. 159-162. See, also R. Bruneau, Les équidés dans la Grande Guerre, in “Bulletin de la Société Française d’Histoire de la Médecine et des Sciences Vétérinaires”, IV, n. 1, 2005, pp. 20-33, J. Kramer, Animal Heroes. Military Mascots and Pets, Secker & Warburg, London 1982, J. Wajerowski, La Grande Guerre des pigeons voyageurs, in D. Baldin (ed.), La guerre des animaux, pp. 59-67; the essays in R. Pöppinghege (ed.), Tiere im Krieg. Von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, Schöningh, Paderborn 2009, and D. Roche (ed.), Le cheval et la guerre, Académie d’Art Équestre, Versailles 2002. 9. P. Singer, Animal Liberation, Random House, New York 1975 and P. Jouventin, D. Chauvet, E. Utria (ed.),  La raison des plus forts: la conscience déniée aux animaux, Imho, Paris 2010, and by D. Haraway,  see “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century”, in Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature, Rout­ ledge, New York 1991 [1st ed. 1985], pp.149-181 and Primate Vision: Gender, Race and Nature in the World of Modern Science, Routledge, New York 1989.

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7. Inferior who? Going beyond the construction of animal inferiority

The first step in emancipating the animal from the inferiority it was destined to is deconstructing the habit of regarding animals as passive beings and seeing them as mere objects, to the extent of labelling human attitudes and feelings towards them as purely anthropomorphic projections, and the rela­ tionship with them as a simple relationship and unique pole (man) in one di­ rection (man’s towards his animal), in which the former exercises his projects, knowledge and practices without any consequences on a transpar­ ent object that has been transformed into a simple pretext; this would then make it possible to begin developing a reflection that is able to show how the relationships of animals with men are much more complex; they are twopole, and in two directions because animals are actors that act, react and cre­ ate interaction with men where there is room for misunderstandings, adjust­ ment, violence, resistance, exchange and empathy1. Living together for a long time in situations of extreme danger can therefore be an excellent expedient to study a variety of animal biographies. The war not only reinforced a familiarity, which partially evoked the memory of rur­ al tradition, in which whilst on the one hand the attitude towards animals was hard, on the other it was also compassionate and responded partially to a more modern bourgeois culture that was open to living and interacting with animals with affection, whilst also highlighting the possibility of a pro­ found, reciprocal affective relationship. The war chronicled the love of a German horse that, right in the middle of a cavalry charge turned back to comfort its dying rider until a grenade killed them both; a little mongrel that ran from one soldier to another in the trenches desperately looking for its owner until it lost strength; and also that of the mule track Indians, who were paid just £1.20 a month to look after the mules, and who refused to abandon their job because they did not want to leave them to their fate2.

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Fig. 7.1: Soldier with "Sammy", the fourth battalion mascot, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers © IWM (Q 1451)

Drawing attention to particular aspects of the relationships that the animals established with soldiers and civilians, with whom they interacted, means adopting the perspective of their experiences and placing it at the centre of the study; in other words, it means abandoning a restrictive anthropocentric perspective, inverting approaches, analyses and therefore the actual struc­ ture of the tale. It is in this direction that recent studies put forward by Éric Baratay and Jean-Christophe Bailly3 go; in them one learns that to better get to know and understand these living beings, the abilities of whom are often important and much more superior to the ones we usually attribute them with and often with pronounced individuality4, the historian has no choice but to accept openings in other disciplines. The roots of this inclusive approach are to be found in the Animal Studies that appeared in the mid Eighties in Europe and the United States, as a new discipline project focussing on the study of man-animal interaction. Such studies are characterised by their multi-disciplinary method, ranging from the philosophical field, in particular in reference to the ethical problems of 28

the relationship with the other species, to aspects that lead back to the hu­ man and natural sciences. The prerequisite condition if the other species are to be taken into consideration and result in an expansion of the notion of his­ tory that, from this perspective can not be exclusively regarded as the sci­ ence that studies men over time, but also has to have the objective of study­ ing living beings over time, is to overcome the distinction between man and animal, a distinction whose origins lead back to Western religion and philos­ ophy and that, when it comes down to it, are futile, puerile and false. To go back to Baratay’s thoughts on the subject, it is: "Futile because the animal does not exist, it is nothing other than a concept that wants to hide the reality of the multiplicity of the species. Puerile be­ cause the question of the difference between an actual species, man, is an il­ lusion (the concept of animal) was never necessary to distinguish the diverse animals, but rather was one that allowed humans to prevail, when what was actually necessary was to think about the multiplicity of the living beings, al­ so that of humans, not in terms of superiority and hierarchy, but in terms of difference, specificity, and the wealth of each. False, because we still know very little about animals (we also are not particularly interested in doing so and often prefer convenient stereotypes about animals instead) and nearly always establish the differences about beliefs, confounding the study with a discussion about domination"5. For a historian, a discussion of the presence of animals in the Great War therefore entails a two-fold challenge. The first is of a theoretical nature and concerns the overcoming of the man-animal distinction and the acceptance of animal alterity as a subject of history with a narratable biography. The second is of a methodological nature and consists in finding the point at which the two historiographies meet; in this case, the one that begins con­ structing the animal history and the already consolidated one of the war, with the aim of writing the history of all the protagonists, soldiers and civil­ ians, men, women and children, westerners and non, and also the animals. The greatest difficulty in presenting the account from the animals’ point of view concerns the documents that can be used. Available sources regard physiological reactions and immediate reactions, which can only be found if they were observed and described by man6. 29

Military archives, which are a primary source for studies of war experiences, are often disappointing as regards animal experience: they conserve, for ex­ ample, documents recalling the activities of dog handlers but do not record any information regarding the animals’ origins, their functions and what happens to them once they have completed their service. Combatants’ testi­ monies such as letters, novels and diaries7 could help fill the gaps in so far as memoirs pose the stringent question for the historian of source reliability. The value of memoirs should be measured on the basis of numerous vari­ ables: the period in which the testimony was produced (during or after the war), the author’s social and cultural context, the nature of the texts (letters, private papers, texts destined for the public and therefore edited for publica­ tion); the state of the text (direct or indirect narrative). If one is to achieve a coherent, truthful reconstruction of an episode that is inherent to human ex­ perience, these are important questions to be resolved although they are not necessarily pertinent to the reconstruction of an animal experience. In most cases, memoirs say nothing specific about animals; instead, they just give clues: it is easy to find a comment like “the cannon … arrived at a galop”; on the other hand, there is little trace of the horse carnage caused by artillery, although comments expressing regret for such a fate do appear. What does emerge from these texts as a sociological fact is that whilst the nationalist-in­ spired writers also care about the animals and their presence on the front when evoking the body-to-body, need for sacrifice and hatred for the enemy, their pacifist-inspired counterparts say nothing about the animals and their fate, despite denouncing the violence and suffering8.   Another source that is of extreme value for the historian is that of the finan­ cial statements and reports written by military veterinary surgeons. These are official documents that were written for governments and professional in-depth studies that, despite focusing almost exclusively on horses, proved indispensable as a source of knowledge regarding the animals’ everyday life on the front, ranging from the type of food they were given, the traumas they suffered, their capacity for endurance and the relationships they creat­ ed with their human companions-in arms9.

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Fig. 7.1: RAVC Soldier with a Blindfolded Horse at Veterinary Hospital n.5, Abbeville, April 22, 1918 © IWM (Q 8726)

Finally, sources also include the testimonies of civilians who were encour­ aged to hand over dogs for military use and the photographs that were pub­ lished in newspapers and magazines at that time. Controlled, stereotypical photographs that often show dogs being used in the military health system10, but not messengers and guard dogs, which were used as sentries in the War prisons11, and not even companion dogs and mascots12. These can be seen in the photographs taken by press agencies or in photographs by soldiers, par­ ticularly by officers. This material has been used extensively by amateur his­ torians, thus making it possible to ascertain once and for all a presence that has not been evoked by texts, making animals whose traces had been lost appear out of the blue and therefore making it possible to reconstruct their presence and look at their attitudes. Furthermore, images of animals at the front also make it possible to describe the different war fronts from a per­ spective that is not that of opposite fronts13, as has emerged from the count­ less similarities that can be seen in images from the Italian, French and Russ­ ian fronts, going from the one in the Balkans to those in the Ottoman Em­ 31

pire, in Palestine or today’s Iraq, not to mention in the German and Austri­ an-Hungarian hinterland, preserved in the Archive of the Austrian war, and now integrated in the Europeana 1914-1918 database. The information used in historical studies is all to be used with circumspec­ tion; as a result, studying the conditions in which the testimonies were pro­ duced and their cultural characteristics is indispensable but it must not be an insurmountable objective. Cross-checking the documents is the best possible way to overcome any flaws. The combatants’ descriptions should be crosschecked with the information the current researchers have and it should be interpreted from the animals’ point of view; this means inverting the infor­ mation, tracing the information that is in the background, reading between the lines, guessing or making assumptions based on the previous ones, in the same manner that historians learned to do in order to study the losers, the submissive and the anonymous in history. To do so, it was necessary to resort to other knowledge. Ethology is necessary to study animal behaviour and social interaction, in particular applied ethology, which deals with do­ mestic species when with humans; cognitive ethology, which focuses on mental states and descriptions at the origin of such behaviour, as well as psychology and neurobiology to understand the emotions, pain and suffer­ ing experienced by the species involved in the conflict. One must withstand the arrogant temptation of denying or diminishing the animals’ faculties and instead adopt supplementary, plural definitions of their abilities as they vary depending on the species, groups and periods, equal to the intelligence that is not defined univocally by ethologists for all species; instead they speak of multiple intelligence, without falling into the anthropomorphic temptation of projecting human abilities onto the animals14.

32

The question of animals in the Great War must be regarded as an itinerary under construction from the perspective of historical studies. It consists in the study of the animals’ behaviour and sociality in a precise period and sit­ uation, working with scarce, accurate information, whether detailed or par­ tial, from multiple sources. What is important is that the animals’ experi­ ences are taken into account, starting with the variables that determine the experience, whether environmental or emotional, where documents and knowledge allow. However, above all one must feel empathy: this is an in­ tention, an attitude, a method of tending towards the animal. 

1. É. Baratay, Bêtes des tranchées, p. 11. 2. J. Cooper, Animals in War, Corgi, London 1983. 3. J.-C. Bailly, Le versant animal, Bayard, Paris 2007. See É. Baratay, Bêtes des tranchées, and by the same author Le point de vue animal, une autre version de l’histoire, Seuil, Paris 2012, and Bi­ ographies animales, Seuil, Paris 2017 4. M. Bekoff, The Emotional Lives of Animals, F. Burgat (ed.), Penser le comportement animal, Mai­ son des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris 2010, and A. Horowitz, Inside of a Dog. What Dogs See, Smell, and Know. See also Roberto Marchesini, Post-human: verso nuovi modelli di esistenza, Bol­ lati Boringhieri, Torino 2002. 5. É. Baratay, Bêtes des tranchées, p. 15. 6. É. Baratay, Le point de vue animal, une autre version de l’histoire. 7. C. E. Gadda, Giornale di guerra e prigionia, Einaudi, Torino 1965, e successive ristampe), R. van Emden, Tommy’s Ark, and B. Amez, Dans les tranchées, les écrits non-publiés des combat­ tants belges de la premiére Guerre mondiale, Publibbok, Paris 2009. 8. É. Baratay, Bêtes des tranchées, p. 12. 9. D. Baldin, De la continuité anthropologique entre le combattant et le cheval, and also L. Fabi, Guerra bestiale. 10. On sanitary dogs, see Ch. III, A multimedia guide, for footage available on British pathè. 11. S. Audoin-Rouzeau, A. Bécker, C. Ingrao, La violence de guerre, 1914-1945, Complexe, Brux­ elles 2002, H. Jones, Violence Against Prisoners of War in the First World War, Cambridge Uni­ versity Press, Cambridge 2011, R. E. Lubow, The War Animals. The Training and Use of Ani­ mals as Weapons of War, Doubleday, New York 1977, and M. Puricelli, Prefazione, in S. Ferrari, S.E.L. Probst, 1914/18: la guerra e gli animali. Truppe silenziose al servizio degli eserciti, Ideago, Gorizia 2015. 12. J. Kramer, Animal Heroes. Military Mascots and Pets. 13. E. Bucciol, Animali al fronte. 14. É. Baratay, Bêtes des tranchées, p. 15.

33

8. Recounting war animals in the classroom Despite all its technical modernity1, millions of animals were involved in the First World War. Without mules and donkeys, the soldiers would have had difficulty in reaching the fronts they were being sent to. It was thanks to them that artillery and the materials needed to fortify the trenches were transported, together with water, foodstuffs and obviously also the dead and injured. Unjustly believed to be irascible and stubborn, mules displayed their stoicism in the most extreme situations, under fire at the Battle of Gal­ lipoli2 and in the freezing cold of the Balkan nights, not to mention the fact they were more resistant than the other equines to disease owing to their hy­ brid nature3. Donkeys, on the other hand, were used extensively on the Western front by French and Italian troops for transport, and they were also used by the allies in the campaign in eastern Africa in 1916-1917, where thousands died in Palestine because of the tze-tze flies: of the 34,000 head enrolled, only 1,042 had survived by the end of the operations4. On the middle-eastern front the camels of the Imperial Camel Corps were al­ so used in northern Africa, the Sinai desert and in the Middle East, where the normal infantry units could not be used because it would have been too difficult for the horses to adapt to the climate. Nevertheless, the western sol­ diers discovered they were ill-prepared to look after such exotic animals, which were delicate despite their impressive appearance, anything but fast, hypersensitive to the cold, and terrified of water, as well as a danger to the soldiers’ safety; there were cases of males that became so uncontrollable that they attacked their riders during the mating season. When General Allenby decided to march towards Jerusalem and Amman in 1917-18, going across the Judaean hills, there were numerous losses owing to the cold tempera­ tures at night5.

34

Fig. 8.1: Australian members of the Imperial Camel Corps near Jaffa, Palestine, 1918 © IWM (HU 75737)

Horses played a primary military role and the price they paid was enor­ mous. Sensitive, shy and delicate, their presence in human wars goes back to 2000-1000 BC, when it is believed cavalry was born. Ever since, and at least until the First World War, these noble equines have always been present in armies and have been adapted to the technological tools that have gradually been developed by the science of war, whether attaching small barrows to the horses to move pieces of artillery, or teaching them to maintain their po­ sition under fire and amidst the sound of explosives. The Great War became an appalling slaughter. They died in the hundreds on the battlefields during infantry charges and as a result of the hazards of war in the trenches, where they were exposed to enemy machine-guns, asphyxiating gases and metal entanglements. However, before they even got that far countless animals died crossing the ocean, when they were packed on to vessels coming from the United States, Canada and Australia, sent to Europe to replace those that had fallen in the allied infantry divisions on the Western Front6.

35

Fig. 8.2: Refractory horses © IWM (Q 33569)

Dogs were also involved in this regard although their role was more strate­ gic. In fact, in the early months of the war a sort of canine conscription was established in diverse European countries on a “voluntary” basis: the own­ ers were asked to present their dogs for military examinations and if they were found suitable, they were requisitioned and the owners were issued a document of enrolment. The most popular breeds for military tasks were the classical retriever dogs, especially the Rottweiler, German shepherd, terrier and robust cross-breeds of medium size. Numerous Maremma sheep dogs were used in the Italian army. After receiving specific training, they were used in recognition operations to verify whether anything had been sabo­ taged along the telephone lines, as well as in retrieving the injured and fallen in “no man’s land.” They were often sent with parachutes behind enemy lines to retrieve information. In the particularly inaccessible areas such as the Alps, they were used to transport weapons and drag the stretchers with the injured7.

36

Fig. 8.3: War chariot for electric lamps pulled by dogs, Dorimbergo, Front of the Isonzo, ca 1916 © ÖNB, Europeana Collections 1914-1918

The function of pigeons was equally strategic. Although communications systems such as the cablegram, telegraph and telephone were used, they were used to send messages and carry out espionage operations. The pigeons were fast, resilient and in their own way really intrepid. They flew at a speed of 40 km/h and were able to cover distances of up to 100 km without a break. They bore messages of vital importance and, as they showed during the battle of La Marne in 1914, always returned to their dovecots, even if the latter had been moved in the meanwhile. They were believed to be so strategic that it was forbidden to capture them for food, and any injured birds were rescued, and if possible treated8. 

37

Fig. 8.4: Pigeons returning to their own dovecote, Pernes, 1918 © IWM (Q 9000)

Rescue measures and treatment were foreseen for the animals at the front and, if there was no veterinary hospital (on the field), the medical officers in charge of treating men would intervene. On all the fronts, but on the West­ ern Front in particular and to a certain extent in Palestine, the commitment of the British veterinary corps was impressive; supported by the Royal Soci­ ety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), it was extremely ac­ tive in raising funds, estimated at around 250,000 pounds, for the equipment of veterinary hospitals on the field, the purchase of ambulances, medicine and feed; it also guaranteed the convalescence of injured animals, most of which were horses and mules, but not only9.

38

As shall be seen, only a few of these creatures were to be recognised official­ ly and be given medals of valour for their actions on the field alongside their brothers-in arms; in fact, most of them did not even have right to be remem­ bered.

1. Diego Leoni, La guerra verticale. Uomini, animali e macchine sul fronte di montagna, Einaudi, Torino 2015. 2. M. Greenwood, F. Lessac, The Donkey of Gallipoli: A True Story of Courage in World War I, Can­dlewick Press, Cambridge (MA) 2008. 3. J. Cooper, Animals in War, pp. 96-109, E. Bucciol, Animali al fronte, and L. Fabi, Il bravo solda­ to mulo. 4. J. Cooper, Animals in War, pp. 154-163. 5. J. Cooper, Animals in War, pp. 85-95. 6. R. Bruneau, Les équidés dans la Grande Guerre, S. Butler, The War Horses: The Tragic Fate of a Million Horses Sacrificed in the First World War, Halsgrove, Wellington (UK) 2011, D. Kenyon, Horsemen in No Man’s Land: British Cavalry and Trench Warfare 1914-1918, Pen & Sword, Barnsley 2011, G. Tempest, All the Muddy Horses: Giving a Voice to the “Dumb Crea­ tures” of the Western Front (1914-1918), in R. Pöppinghege (ed.), Tiere und Krieg, pp. 217-234, and G. Winton, ‘Theirs Not To Reason Why’. Horsing the British Army 1875-1925, Helion and Company, Solihull 2013. 7. J. Cooper, Animals in War, pp. 54-71 and L. Fabi, Guerra bestiale. See, also N. Allsopp, Cry Havoc: The History of War Dogs, New Holland Publishers, Chatswood, 2009, D. Castellani, Cani in guerra, storie di soldati a quattro zampe, Nordpress, Chiari 2000, I. George, Dog Soldiers. Love, Loyalty and Sacrifice on the Front Line, Harper Collins, London 2016, M. G. Lemish, War dogs: A History of Loyalty and Heroism, Potomac, Washington, D.C 2008, D. Lewis, War Dog: The no-man’s-land puppy who took to the skies, Sphere, London 2014, K.-G. Petzl, Hundee in Krieg und Frieden, Petzi, Wien 2005, L. Rogak, The Dogs of War: The Courage, Love and Loyalty of Military Working, Saint-Martin’s Press, New York 2011 and R. Todero, Cani e soldati nella Prima Guerra Mondiale, Gaspari Editore, Treviso 2011. 8. F. Calvet, J.-P. Demonchaux, R. Lamand, G. Bornert, Une brève histoire de la colombophilie, in “Revue Historique des Armées”, n. 248, 2007, pp. 93-105, https://rha.revues.org/1403 tocto2n3, M. Marchisio,  G. Morei, L’impiego dei piccioni viaggiatori durante la Prima guerra mondiale, in “Veterinaria Militare”, n. 12, 2007, pp. 541-542, http:// www.ordiniveterinaripiemonte.it/rivista/07n12/pdf/09.pdf, A. Salles, La colombophilie mili­ taire. I. 1870-1918 Un drôle d’oiseau, in “Histoire de Guerre, Blindés et Matériels”, n. 93, 2010, p. 44-53, and J. Wajerowski, La Grande Guerre des pigeons voyageurs, in D. Baldin (ed.), La guerre des animaux, pp. 59-67. 9. J. Cooper, Animals in War.

39

9. Empathy, a didactic approach The presence of animals in wars is a subject that is of the utmost topicality. In fact, military corps have never stopped using animals for war-related pur­ poses; on the contrary, it is still continuing and with increasingly sophisticat­ ed forms. While the presence of some of the animals that died during the First World War (for example, mules, donkeys, horses and homing pigeons) has been reduced if present at all, other examples, first and foremost dogs, followed by mice, hamsters, cats, marine mammals, in particular dolphins, and bees, are still present and their military application continues to be ex­ tensive, strategic and cruel. Used mainly for mine-removing operations and in some cases for targeted attacks with explosives against enemy means, they are also used in ‘times of peace’ to test the effect of chemical and bacte­ riological weapons1. Taking a topical subject as the starting point and leading it back to a study of the Great War can not only be interesting, but also effective from a didactic perspective. In the case in point, compared to textbook reconstructions, it is completely or almost completely unheard of and it is this novel character that makes it a catalyst of attention, stimulating the pupils attention when they are asked to trace the animal’s experience between the lines, crosschecking documents, bringing to the fore what has remained in the back­ ground, as described above. In a classroom, stimulating the creative effort needed to change one’s perspective to something that is usually excluded from accounts because it is considered secondary, will generate the empathy needed to start further in-depth studies. Apparently banal questions – what was it like for the horses from the American grasslands to live so far away from their own habitat when they were shipped to the Western Front? What conditions were they subjected to during the journey and what implications did this have on their health? How did they react to the sound and firing of the weapons? – will suffice not only to make them consider the animals in war, but also to assume their point of view so that it becomes the centre of the account: they are no longer just a resource to be used, simple instru­

40

ments in the soldiers’ hands, but the subjects of history, the protagonists in a narratable biography2. Furthermore, studying the Great War with the animals that participated in it as the starting point also has various advantages. Precisely because it means an inversion of approach and analysis as regards that of the dominant sub­ ject, adopting the point of view of a subordinate subject necessarily results in a broader horizon, leading one to reflect on the particular aspects of an indi­ vidual historical event that we would otherwise have never taken into con­ sideration, and thus inevitably reflecting on how we regard the present. This dilated vision from the bottom to the top that is inherent to that of the ani­ mal, makes it possible to develop a new narrative of the war, emancipating it from the text book narrative that is often exclusively focused on European fronts, losses, defeats and the victories of the individual countries and hard­ ly ever on the day-to-day aspects of those who fought and experienced the war. Chapter III, A Multimedia Guide, includes an extensive catalogue of instru­ ments, films, novels as well as articles, documents, documentaries and pho­ tographs available on-line and, in most cases with free access, so that they can be drawn on to integrate text book education, transforming it into one that entails active and empathetic.  It was conceived to make it easier to overcome geographic, linguistic, and teaching subject borders so that the teachers of different disciplines can develop truly multidisciplinary itiner­ aries in the classroom, either concerted or parallel, starting with a single case study. If properly reconstructed, the experience of animals in the war facilitates an international analysis of the Great War because the animals are figures that are extraneous to European nationalisms. They make it easier to cross the apparently impregnable borders of men, the history of which seems to have been fashioned by opposing nationalism, highlighting the elements that are constant and common in the experiences of each of them, even the ‘enemies’3. 1. J. Cooper, Animals in War, pp. 54-71. 2. K.-G. Petzl, Hundee in Krieg und Frieden, L. Fabi, Guerra Bestiale. 3. É. Baratay, Bêtes des tranchées, E. Bucciol, Animali al fronte.

41

II. The protagonists

10. Dogs

Fig. 10.1: A messenger dog with a cylinder, in which the message was transported, Eta­ ples, 28 August 1918 © IWM (Q 9277)

In the First World War around 100,000 dogs were recruited, but it is likely that the figure of their mobilisation was higher, in view of the fact that, as shown in the first chapter, studies have not yet been able to establish the true number of animals on the front. The figure is, however, undoubtedly substantial, although not completely unheard of. In actual fact, dogs are known to have taken part in earlier wars, when they were given an auxiliary role with the purpose of the light transport of ammunition, medicine, food supplies, water, post and delivering orders. What was new in the early years 45

of the war was the new strategic role, one that was indispensable to military operations, that these animals were given, despite the significant technicalscientific investments that had been made by all the forces. The Germans were the first to train military dogs, beginning in 1870, and over the years, thanks to breeding and the purchase of numerous specimens, they managed to put together real divisions; they were so successful that when the world war broke out, they were able to count on a contingent of 6,000 dogs; to give an idea of the disproportionate differences, the English on the other hand, only had one, which fell in action during the battle of Aisne, on the Western front, in September 19141. The most popular breeds for these military tasks were the classical retriever dogs, especially the Rot­ tweiler, German shepherd, terrier and robust cross-breeds of medium size, and in the case of Italy, Maremma sheep dogs2. The importance and use of dogs on the front was already clear in the early months of the war, so much so that all the countries involved and above all, those of the Entente, rushed to enlist as many dogs as possible to compen­ sate the deficit they had accumulated compared to their German adver­ saries. In countries that were more sensitive to animals, dogs in particular, such as Great Britain, they began to seek suitable specimens amongst the strays and abandoned dogs, in the fear that dog owners would be unwilling to collaborate. In fact, in the diverse European countries a sort of canine con­ scription was established; it was called ‘voluntary’ but actually obliged the owners to present their dogs at military examinations. The recollections of the officers in charge of this selection process include heart breaking scenes of the owners who went to great lengths to remind the soldiers the names of their dogs, telling them about their dietary habits and begging them to treat them kindly and bring them back once the war was over; there is also a rec­ ollection of children writing to the authorities, asking to be allowed to keep their dogs because they were old, stating that they had already given them the younger ones. Once the military examination was over, the animals deemed suitable were recruited and given a conscription certificate, attesting the authorities’ commitment to give them back at the end of the war; they were then sent off for training3.

46

The training courses, in the case in point courses for war dog handlers, last­ ed 6 months and, in addition to the objective of teaching the dog how to car­ ry out certain specific tasks, they also had the aim of creating a close rela­ tionship between the dog and its handler. Training was arduous and could last for several hours each day as it was indispensible that the hoped for re­ sults would be achieved so that the dogs could be sent to the front. The dogs were taught how to carry out their tasks despite the deafening noise of the weapons and confusion, and to penetrate inaccessible zones. To ensure they would carry out their task successfully, they had to go without food while they were waiting to be sent on their mission, and were fed as a reward when they returned4.  Once they were at the front their tasks included deliv­ ering dispatches, reconnaissance of telephone line sabotage, helping the health units retrieving the injured and fallen in “no man’s land” and trans­ porting medicine, as well as eliminating rats from the trenches. Using dogs to deliver messages, for example, had objective advantages as they were three times faster than a man, could dodge the enemy’s sight with greater agility, were light enough to be able to walk over a mine without it explod­ ing and, unlike pigeons, could also be sent on a mission in adverse weather conditions. In particularly impenetrable areas such as the Alps, they were used to transport weapons, food and to haul the stretchers with the wound­ ed; in fact, specific carts that could be pulled by two dogs were put into pro­ duction. On the Italian Adamello front in particular, dogs would pull the sledges through tunnels that had been dug in the ice. In addition to messen­ ger and transporter dogs there were also those that were trained to keep guard and, unfortunately, to terrify prisoners. Finally, although they do not belong to the dogs that were enlisted, one must also take into account the companion dogs and mascots at the front. Taken in by the soldiers and often adopted by the officers, these were animals that had been abandoned during evacuations and sought food and shelter in the trenches; in exchange they got rid of the rats, sounded the alarm because they could sense grenades ar­ riving before humans did, and gave the men a sort of normality just by wag­ ging their tails5.

47

Fig. 10.1: Officers relax around a gramophone with their dogs, on the field at Poperinghe, September 26, 1917 © IWM (Q 2897)

The presence of dogs at the front was believed to be so indispensable that the commanding officers gave orders to ensure the soldiers paid the greatest attention to their general well-being, introducing precautions to guarantee they could rest after each mission, suitable and sufficient food, as well as treatment if they fell ill or were injured during their mission, for example by automatic weapons or gas explosions. Most cases were treated by the med­ ical officers because although veterinary staff was foreseen in the operation zones, it was not in permanent service at the front. Sanitary care, which was to have a positive effect on the progress veterinary science made after the war, did not adhere to a principle of compassion and greater sensitivity to­ wards the suffering of the four-legged comrade-in-arms but rather a funda­ mental utilitarian one that had the aim of not wasting the investment that had been made with the training and the animal’s upkeep. Although there was no denying the bond that was created between the animal and soldier, as can be seen in sources, it was the soldiers themselves who abandoned the countless civilian dogs to their own fate, having shared the endless months in the trenches with them, and the dogs that had been enlisted regularly did 48

not have a better fate. In actual fact, once the war had ended the dogs that had survived on the battlefield were put to sleep if they were injured or ill whilst the others were abandoned in the operation areas. The most tragic ex­ perience was probably that of the Italian dogs at Adamello that were aban­ doned in the mountains in 1918: only the most robust were able to free them­ selves and disappear in the mountains, while the others died of hardship6. Unlike the extraordinary undertakings in which they were the protagonists, only very few became heroes. Others lived on in the soldiers’ recollections, for example Isonzo, the dog of the Italian poet Vittorio Locchi7; the dogs of the legendary Captain Carlo Mozzoli, on the Italian front8; and Pataud, the dog of the French artilleryman Luis Bedu9. The biographies for many others, especially those on the Eastern front are still to be studied. 1. 2. 3. 4.

J. Cooper, Animals in War, pp. 54-71. K.-G. Petzl, Hundee in Krieg und Frieden, L. Fabi, Guerra Bestiale J. Cooper, Animals in War, pp. 54-71. Edwin H. Richardson, British War Dogs. Their Training and Their Psychology, Skeffington, Lon­ don 1920.

5. L. Fabi, Guerra Bestiale. 6. L. Fabi, Guerra Bestiale. See, also T. Auffret van der Kamp, J. C. Nouët (ed.), Homme et animal: de la douleur à la cruauté, L’Harmattan, Paris 2008. 7. S. Ferrari, S.E.L. Probst, 1914/18: la guerra e gli animali.  8. L. Fabi, Guerra Bestiale. 9. D. Arnold, Le chien et l’artilleur, Pataud et Louis Bedu, Archives départementales et patrimoine du Cher, http://www.archives18.fr/article.php?laref=825&titre=le-chien-et-l-artilleurpataud-et-louis-bedu

49

11. Bally Shannon, Satan and Stubby Although there were not many dog heroes in the Great War, there are some that have not been forgotten. One such case is Bally Shannon, the British sani­ tary-dog, who retrieved numerous injured soldiers from the “no man’s land” on the French front; Satan, the French messenger dog, who changed the outcome of the siege of Verdun; and Stubby, the multiple decorated sergeant in the American army. The story of this dog is quite unique because it was not a military dog that had been enlisted and trained like the first two but instead was a companion dog that followed its owner when he set out for Europe in 1917.

50

Fig. 11.1: Front page of Le Miroir, 17 June 1917

Bally Shannon was an Irish greyhound. It was in action in France in the ranks of the British sanitary contingent and was mainly used to retrieve the allied injured and dead from “no man’s land”. From the documentation we have, it appears that it distinguished itself on the field by having retrieved 10 casu­ alties, defying German gunfire, until it was seriously injured together with its handler when a grenade exploded. Both were taken aboard on a ship-hos­ pital to return home but were attacked by a German submarine whilst cross­ ing the Channel. After being struck by a torpedo, the ship sunk with the en­ tire crew and only three men survived, one of which was Shannon’s handler, and the dog itself. In the bitterly cold and choppy waters of the Channel, the three soldiers managed to hold on to a plank, and drifted whilst waiting to be saved, which happened the following day. When Shannon approached the 51

group, its handler apparently told him not to get close to them because its weight would have made their makeshift raft sink. The dog then swam the whole night alongside its comrades-in arms, only resting its chin on the plank when it was completely exhausted. Unlike its handler, Bally Shannon survived the crossing and once the war had ended it was taken to New York where it remained for the rest of its life1. The only certain description of this four-legged hero is the one by the war correspondent and American writer Albert Payson Terhune, who describes Satan as a ‘hairy mongrel’ that saved Verdun2. What we know as the Battle of Verdun was a lengthy siege that lasted ten months, from February to De­ cember 1916, when the French troops found themselves besieged in the city under German fire. After the Battle of La Marne (1914), this was the most im­ portant offensive by the Germans on the Western Front and, also thanks to Satan, it was at the origin of the start of the operations by the British troops, shattering any hope of Germany winning the war. In autumn 1916 the Ger­ mans were present in a position of strength that allowed them to surround the city and they were ready for the final offensive. The French troops con­ tinued to resist without much hope, having lost all their messenger dogs and homing pigeons; in addition, a dozen men had been killed in the attempt to deliver requests for help to the headquarters. According to the soldiers, at the most critical moment of the battle Satan, the dog-messenger sent from the headquarters appeared, knowing that its handler, the soldier Duvalle was at Verdun3. Accounts from the trenches describe a dog, that looked as if it was flying as it ran zig-zag towards the French line and its handler, and some soldiers even swear they saw wings sprout on its shoulders. Moving with the greatest agility through “no man’s land”, the dog was intercepted by German fire and hit repeatedly; it collapsed just a few metres away from its comrades-in arms when a bullet practically shot off a leg. At that point, in a suicidal gesture, its handler stood up on the edge of the trench and called it. Hearing Duvalle’s voice, Satan got up and dragged itself as far as the trench; its handler was dead, but he had managed to bring them the mes­ sage. Under its gas mask the soldiers found the dispatch from the headquar­ ters, telling them to resist until the following day when reinforcements were coming, and to send them the coordinates via the two homing pigeons that Satan was carrying on its back. The homing pigeons were sent back with the 52

coordinates. One was shot down immediately while the other one managed to reach the headquarters, with the result that the following day, the attack that was launched on the Germans opened the passageway that was to re­ unite the British and French troops, thus changing the outcome of the war. As far as Satan is concerned, there is no precise information about his fate; it might have received the necessary treatment and been saved or might have died after having carried out its mission.

Fig. 11.1: Stubby, the hero of Georgetown

Unlike Bally Shannon and Satan, Stubby was not a military dog but a mascot, a small-sized dog that was discharged as sergeant. It embarked in the spring of 1917 with its owner, a Harvard student, Corporal Robert Conroy, who set nd

out from Connecticut for the French trenches with the 102 infantry regi­ ment of the American army. Following his human companion, Stubby soon found himself working in France for 18 months, during which it became im­ mensely popular owing to the courage it showed in action. Thanks to its small size, it was used to infiltrate the enemy lines and transport the cables needed to repair the sabotaged telephone lines. Injured on numerous occa­ sions, it unfailingly returned to the front after a convalescence period, and was awarded decorations and praise, until it was made sergeant as a result of its contribution to the capture of a German spy. It was so famous that, 53

when the Americans entered Château-Thierry, the local women made it a jacket so they could hang the numerous medals it had won on it4. Once they had returned to the United States Stubby participated with Con­ roy in public debates dedicated to the Great War and became a national hero. When it died of old age in 1926, its body was embalmed and put on display in the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, where it can still be seen today. 1.

W. A. Dyer, Bally Shannon – Dog of War, in “Country Life”, November 1918, http:// www.irishwolfhounds.org/ballyshannon.htm 2. Kate Kelly, World War I and a Remarkable Messenger Dog, https://americacomesalive.com/ 2013/07/31/national-mutts-day-july-31-a-brave-and-remarkable-messenger-dog/ 3. Alexander Robertson, Revealed: How a messenger dog called Satan dodged German fire in a gas mask to help Allied forces turn the tide in one of the Great War’s bloodiest battles, http:// www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3456252/How-messenger-dog-called-Satan-dodgedGerman-fire-gas-mask-help-Allied-forces-turn-tide-one-Great-War-s-bloodiest-battles.html 4. Ben Thompson, Sergent Stubby, http://www.badassoftheweek.com/sgtstubby.html

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12. Instruments for in-depth study Digital collections and databases Europeana 1914-1918 By typing the key-words dogs, cani, army veterinary corps, one can access all the images of sleigh-dogs and retrievers, used to transport war materials such as electric cables, but also materials for everyday use such as wood, and companion dogs, or rather, mascots (see ch. III, A Multimedia Guide). 1418 documenti e immagini della grande guerra The search path is not intuitive; nevertheless, clicking on the page fotografie, the page album fotografici opens up and then, adding the word animali in the space parola da cercare one can see some images of the Adamello dogs. BBC Schools World War One It is a thematic site by the BBC that is dedicated to the First World War. On the page  Animals during the war there is a specific section dedicated to dogs.  British pathé It is a cross-media site that allows access to numerous period videos. A search for animals in war results in the vision of some interesting footage re­ garding the training of French military dogs (see Ch. III, A Multimedia Guide). Articles online 

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Didier Arnold, Le chien et l’artilleur, Pataud et Louis Bedu, Archives départe­ mentales et patrimoine du Cher, http://www.archives18.fr/article.php? laref=825&titre=le-chien-et-l-artilleur-pataud-et-louis-bedu Walter A. Dyer, Bally Shannon – Dog of War, in “Country Life”, November 1918, http://www.irishwolfhounds.org/ballyshannon.htm Rebecca Frankel, Dogs at War: Three-Legged Dog Delivers Crucial Message in WWI, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/140516-dogswar-canines-soldiers-troops-army-military/  Kate Kelly, World War I and a Remarkable Messenger Dog, https:// americacomesalive.com/2013/07/31/national-mutts-day-july-31-a-braveand-remarkable-messenger-dog/  Warren Manger, Satan the messenger dog who helped Allies turn tide of Great War remembered 100 years on, http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/ satan-messenger-dog-who-helped-7404457  Alexander Robertson, Revealed: How a messenger dog called Satan dodged Ger­ man fire in a gas to help Allied forces turn the tide in one of the Great War's bloodi­ est battles, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3456252/How-mes­ senger-dog-called-Satan-dodged-German-fire-gas-mask-help-Allied-forcesturn-tide-one-Great-War-s-bloodiest-battles.html  Joe Shute, "Dogs of war: the unsung heroes of the trenches", The Telegraph, 29 oct. 2014, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/11195378/ Dogs-of-war-the-unsung-heroes-of-the-trenches.html  Ben Thompson, sgtstubby.html

Sergent

Stubby,

http://www.badassoftheweek.com/

C. N. Trueman, Dogs In World War One, The History Learning Site, 16 Apr. 2015, http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/the-westernfront-in-world-war-one/animals-in-world-war-one/dogs-in-world-warone/ 56

13. Pigeons

Fig. 13.1: British pilot releasing a pigeon © IWM (Q 13613)

In the early years of the war, although all the armies had special divisions with specialised staff who looked after and trained the homing pigeons, the main means of communication were the new forms (telephone, telegraph, cablegram, radio) as it was believed that homing pigeons should only be used in the case of a siege. Very quickly, however, they realised that they were not only useful, but even more reliable for communications between the lines and the headquarters. This was because the telecommunications and radio were often subjected to sabotage and interceptions and, as a result, often useless while homing pigeons would not stop until they reached their destination, and had handed over the message to be given, unless they were seriously injured or shot down1.

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Every division had four dovecotes that were divided into car-dovecotes on four-wheeled vehicles, and in tow-dovecotes on two-wheeled vehicles towed by light motor vehicles. A total of 90 – 120 pigeons could be housed in these structures and they were moved along the front in accordance with lo­ gistical needs. The immobile dovecotes, on the other hand, were placed in barns and lofts in places that were far away from the operations, and were used to supply the mobile dovecotes with young, newly trained pigeons. Their logistical support was mainly aimed at the ground forces, but they were also present on ships, airplanes and submarines. In the case of attack, they were sent to warn the headquarters of what had happened, carrying messages with the coordinates and requests for back up and help. In many cases they represented the soldiers’ last possibility of salvation. The pigeons were very fast, resilient and, in their own way, fearless. They flew at a speed of 40 km an hour and were able to travel up to 100 km without stopping, bearing messages that were of vital importance and, thanks to their marvel­ lous sense of direction, as they had shown during the Battle of La Marne in 1914, always returned to their dovecotes, even if they had been moved in the meantime. In addition to delivering messages, they could also be used for espionage when small cameras were attached to their breasts that had a selftimer and could take pictures during their flight2.

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Fig. 13.1: A miniature photographic camera placed under the belly of the traveling pigeons, © Bnf, Europeana Collections 1914-1918

Just like dogs, pigeons had a strategic military function so that precautionary measures were introduced to protect them; these included being looked af­ ter, a suitable diet, a total ban on their capture for food and anti-gas protec­ tion measures. Any pigeons that were injured were treated and, of possible, looked after by sanitary or veterinary staff when present.

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Fig. 13.2: Anti-gas box for 15 carrier pigeons, Trento, © ÖNB, Europeana Collections 1914-1918

Around 200,000 pigeons were enlisted in the Great War, most of which died on the field. They were considered to be a secret weapon and as such, were fought against with equally lethal weapons – in this case snipers who were trained specifically to shoot them down in flight. There is no trace of their presence in history books although they too belong to the list of heroes. 1. M. Shaw, Animals and War, British Library, http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/ani­ mals-and-war, C. N. Trueman, Pigeons And World War One, The History Learning Site, 16 Apr. 2015, http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/the-western-front-inworld-war-one/animals-in-world-war-one/pigeons-and-world-war-one/, Pigeons militaires et premiere guerre mondiale, Musée du pigeon voyager, http://www.museedupigeon.com/ pages/pigeons-militaires-et-premiere-guerre-mondiale.html. 2. M. Marchisio,  G. Morei, L’impiego dei piccioni viaggiatori durante la Prima guerra mondiale, in “Veterinaria Militare”, n. 12, 2007, pp. 541-542, http://www.ordiniveterinaripiemonte.it/ rivista/07n12/pdf/09.pdf.

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14. Cher Ami, Mocker and Valiant The most renowned hero was Cher Ami, who carried out twelve journeys from Verdun to Rampont during the Meuse-Argonne offensive (September – Novembe 1918), and managed to deliver all its messages successively. Equally brave was Mocker who, despite having lost an eye and part of its skull, managed to deliver the message that allowed the American army to thwart the German attack (September 1918). The last one was Vaillant, the courageous pigeon from Fort Vauz who, in June 1916, during the lengthy siege of Verdun, kept communications open between the troops and head­ quarters. The use of pigeons in war was widespread and had a long tradition behind it in Europe1, so much so, that every army had its own contingents of hom­ ing pigeons and staff to look after and train them but it was almost un­ known in the United States. The use of pigeons by the British and French troops made such an impression on General Pershing, the head of the Amer­ ican forces that were sent to Europe to support the armies of the Triple En­ tente in the spring of 1917, that he asked for a similar service to be intro­ duced in the American army as well. It was no easy undertaking, also be­ cause the acquisition of the birds needed for the divisions was very complex; nevertheless, in February 1918 the service was organised and an American contingent that was specialised in communication consisting of three offices, 118 soldiers and a couple of hundred pigeons was transferred to France. In the Battle of Saint Mihiel (12-19 September 1918) 572 American pigeons were needed, and one of them was Mocker; Cher Ami, on the other hand, belonged to the contingent with 442 birds that was engaged in the Meuse-Argonne of­ fensive2. Cher Ami is the most famous pigeon of the First World War and it was not until it was embalmed that it was discovered it was a female. It was given to th

the 77 infantry division of the American army by the English and, during the period it was in action, it managed to deliver twelve messages of vital 62

importance with success between the Verdun front and the headquarters in Rampont; it thus cemented the soldiers’ friendship who called it by name and relied on its service, having seen how reliable it was up to the last mis­ sion, when it saved the “Lost Battalion” of its division. In October 1918, a th

battalion belonging to the 77 division was surrounded by the Germans. Af­ ter several days’ fighting, half of the battalion had been killed and food and water rations sufficed for barely a day. In such conditions, resistance was impossible, as was the idea of accepting the German’s request for surrender, as the order had been to resist to the bitter end. The commanding officer’s last hope was therefore Cher Ami. Struck repeatedly by enemy fire, despite its injuries it managed to cover the distance of 40 kilometres that separated the battalion from the headquarters in just 25 minutes, delivering the mes­ sage that saved them. One bullet had hit Cher Ami in the breast while anoth­ er had shot off a foot. It was General Pershing himself who organised its re­ turn to the United States where it was treated, looked after and finally died in June 1919 in Fort Monmouth (New Jersey). It was awarded the Distin­ guished Service Cross by the American army and the French Croix de Guerre for its bravery. Just like Stubby, Cher Ami’s body was also embalmed and can still be seen today at the National Museum of American History in Washington DC3. The events in which it was protagonist were reconstructed in 2001 in a made-for-television The Lost Battalion, directed by Russel Mulc­ th

ahy and distributed around the world by 20 Century Fox Television. Mocker, the embalmed body of whom is preserved in the U.S. Army Com­ munications Electronics Museum in Fort Monmouth, was one of the longlived heroes of the First World War and did not die until 1937. While in ser­ vice in France, it carried out no less than 52 missions, the last of which went back to 12 September 1918, when the American push in the French sector of Alsace-Lorrain was blocked by a heavy German attack. Mocker set out from near Beaumont for the headquarters and, despite losing an eye and part of its skull, managed to deliver the message with the coordinates, enabling the American army to counter the enemy artillery and open a passageway to en­ ter the German sector of the region. Awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Croix de Guerre, Mocker was sent back to the United States where he was treated and lived for another 19 years4. 63

Fig. 14.1: Postcard of Commander Raynal, 1916

Recruited in the French army, Vaillant was the last courageous pigeon that Commanding Officer Raynal had to deliver the message that was to save Fort Vaux from the siege of 4 June 1916. Fort Vaux was situated along the right banks of the Meuse and had suffered a heavy German attack with gas; most of the men had been seriously intoxicated if not killed, and the intense smoke made visual communication with the fort in Souville behind the lines 64

impossible. The message, which Raynal attached to a ring on Vaillant’s leg was desperate. This was also a testimony of the great difficulty in dealing with toxic gas attacks, which occurred frequently on the Western Front: in fact, one did not know how long they would have been able to resist, and had no other means of communication. Despite the difficulties owing to the smoke and exposure to the gas, Vaillant managed to reach its own dovecote, albeit almost dead, and deliver the message that was to save Fort Vaux. It survived and died at the age of 24 in 1939, in the same week that Command­ ing Officer Raynal died. Vaillant received two awards for its bravery, the Bague d’honneur and the Citation à l’ordre de la Nation, as well as the Croix de Guerre. Its story was the inspiration for a famous French cartoon set in the Second World War, called Vaillant, pigeon de combat5. 1. Cfr. A. Salles, La colombophilie militaire. I. 1870-1918 Un drôle d’oiseau, and F. Calvet, J.P.Demonchaux, R. Lamand, G. Bornert, Une brève histoire de la colombophilie. 2. Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans - U.S. Army CECOM Life Cycle Management Command, A history of Army communications and electronics at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, 1917-2007, https://openlibrary.org/books/OL22977787M/ A_history_of_Army_communications_and_electronics_at_Fort_Monmouth_New_Jersey_1917-2007. 3. A history of Army communications and electronics at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, 1917-2007, and Cher Ami, http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_425415. 4. A history of Army communications and electronics at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, 1917-2007, and CECOM Historical Office - U.S. Army Live Blog, Mocker - Distiguished Pigeon, http:// cecomhistorian.armylive.dodlive.mil/2013/04/25/mocker-distinguished-pigeon/. 5. Pigeons militaires et premiere guerre mondiale, Musée du pigeon voyager, http:// www.museedupigeon.com/pages/pigeons-militaires-et-premiere-guerre-mondiale.html, and F. Plancard, Vaillant, pigeon de combat, http://verdun-meuse.fr/images/files/ VaillantpigeondecombatER30072014.pdf.

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15. Instruments for in-depth study Digital collections and databases Europeana 1914-1918 Using the key word pigeons one accesses an iconographic collection that al­ lows one to visualise both the systems that were developed to look after and protect the pigeons, and to verify the strategic function and self-sacrifice they showed whilst carrying out their tasks (see Ch. III, A Multimedia Guide). 1418 documenti e immagini della grande guerra  Starting with the sheet fotografie one accesses the page album fotografici where, typing  piccioni viaggiatori [homing pigeons] in the string parola da cercare, one can see diverse images of military dovecotes. BBC Schools World War One  On the page animals during the war there is an entire section that is dedicat­ ed to pigeons, including interesting didactic ideas.  British pathé  By doing a search for animals in war, one accesses period footage on mili­ tary homing pigeons (see Ch. III. A Multimedia Guide). Articles online Florance Calvet, Jean-Paul Demonchaux, Régis Lamand, Gilles Bornert, Une brève histoire de la colombophilie, in “Revue Historique des Armées”, n. 248, 2007, pp. 93-105, https://rha.revues.org/1403#tocto2n3

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CECOM Historical Office - U.S. Army Live Blog, Mocker - Distiguished Pigeon, http://cecomhistorian.armylive.dodlive.mil/2013/04/25/mocker-distin­ guished-pigeon/ Cher Ami, nmah_425415

http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/

Mario Marchisio,  Giovanni Morei, L’impiego dei piccioni viaggiatori durante la Prima guerra mondiale, in “Veterinaria Militare”, n. 12, 2007, pp. 541-542, http://www.ordiniveterinaripiemonte.it/rivista/07n12/pdf/09.pdf

Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans - U.S. Army CE­ COM Life Cycle Management Command, A history of Army communications and electronics at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, 1917-2007,https:// openlibrary.org/books/OL22977787M/ A_history_of_Army_communications_and_electronics_at_Fort_Monmouth_New_Jersey_19 Pigeons militaires et premiere guerre mondiale, Musée du pigeon voyager, http://www.museedupigeon.com/pages/pigeons-militaires-et-premiereguerre-mondiale.html  Frédéric Plancard, Vaillant, pigeon de combat, http://verdun-meuse.fr/im­ ages/files/VaillantpigeondecombatER30072014.pdf Matteo Rubboli, Cher Ami: il piccione che salvò 194 soldati volando senza una gamba e un occhio nella battaglia delle Argonne, http:// www.vanillamagazine.it/cher-ami-il-piccione-che-salvo-194-uomini-volan­ do-senza-una-gamba-e-un-occhio-nella-battaglia-delle-argonne/ Matthew Shaw, Animals and War, British Library, http://www.bl.uk/ world-war-one/articles/animals-and-war C. N. Trueman, Pigeons And World War One, The History Learning Site, 16 Apr. 2015, http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/the-west­ ern-front-in-world-war-one/animals-in-world-war-one/pigeons-and-worldwar-one/

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16. Horses

Fig. 16.1: Men and horses of the Army Service Corps (ASC) undergoing an anti-gas drill, somewhere in the UK, probably Aldershot © IWM (Q 34105)

Horses are probably the most well known animals in the collective imagina­ tion, owing to their sensitivity and shyness, as well as their delicate nature despite their impressive physique. Nevertheless, they have been a constant presence in armies every since 2000 – 1000 BC, when the cavalry presumably originated. Over the centuries, and in the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century in particular, on the one hand technical-scientific progress had strengthened armies, giving them increasingly sophisticated weapons, whilst on the other, it contributed to the slaughter of these animals. It was no coincidence that today the confiscation of horses by military authorities is re­ garded as a real act of war against these animals, and after the Great War they were no longer recruited. 68

The Crimean War and the Franco-Prussian War had already shown just how dire the consequences of technological war was on horses and it was precise­ ly these experiences that led to the beginning of activities such as the cre­ ation of the British Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), with an official letter to the contenders in the field, asking them to show greater compassion, introducing a corps of officers-butchers in their armies with the task of putting to an end the suffering of injured animals, and removing their bodies from the battle field. At the end of the twentieth century, growing sensitivity towards animal suffering began to make itself felt in public opinion. All the European countries reacted differently but a powerful movement emerged in Great Britain where, in 1902 for example, public opinion was so reviled after having learnt that the most common memory of Anglo-Boer veterans was the terrible groans of injured horses and the pain they felt at having to abandon them, that a parliamentary in­ quest became necessary; the following year this then led to the establishment of the Army Veterinary Corps1.

Fig. 16.1: Captured Italians bury horses lying on the street, 1917 © ÖNB, Europeana Collection 1914-1918 

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In the First World War over 10,000,000 horses died. Enlisted in equal num­ bers to the soldiers, the central empires had to rely almost exclusively on horses that had been bred in Central Europe, in particular Hungary and Czechoslovakia; and after the first battles, when the horse divisions had been decimated, the only animals they were able to replace them with were requisitioned in Belgium, French territories and to the est in Ukraine. The Entente allies, however, were able to count on a supply of horses from Cana­ da, the United States and Australia. Life expectancy at the front was ten days at the most. In addition to the deci­ mation suffered in battle, for example those on the Western Front and, dur­ ing the early stages of the war, with the operations of the Russian cavalry to conquer German territory, the horses also fell victim to the perils of trench warfare and their own sensitivity. The extreme weather conditions and ex­ plosions caused them to react in ways that were difficult to control, so that they often had to be killed to avoid endangering the safety of the soldiers around them; in addition, exposure to enemy machine-gun fire, asphyxiat­ ing gas and barbed wire resulted in injuries that left them without hope. As the war and immobility on the fronts continued, their military function was limited to behind the lines, to transferring soldiers and pieces of artillery as well as provisions. This reduction of operativeness resulted in terrible living conditions, including scarce amounts of food that was often rotten, and of water, which was often polluted. This does not mean that no measures were taken to guarantee any treatment they might need. On all the fronts, but on the Western Front in particular and, to a certain extent in Palestine, the British veterinary corps showed out­ standing commitment and the RSPCA was extremely active in raising the funds needed to equip veterinary hospitals on the field, to purchase ambu­ lances, medicine, fodder, as well as guaranteeing the convalescence of in­ jured animals. Organisations such as the Blue Cross also benefitted from these resources, fitting out veterinary hospitals in French territory for the treatment and re­ habilitation of the horses, although the possibility of life and recovery for these animals was minimal.

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Nevertheless, the protective measures did not suffice to save the horses from the violence of their own comrades-in-arms. In some cases, the violence was unconscious, dictated by foolhardiness or naivety of actions; one example is that regarding the protective measures and treatment for gas exposure. The first measures that were applied to protect the horses from gas fumes were rather rudimental and extremely painful. It consisted in tampons that were inserted in the horse’s nostrils and kept in place by sticking pins into their nostrils. Later, when they realised that such a practise was not only fero­ cious, but also futile as it had to be applied for a long time, the decision was taken to use bags like the ones used for food, with equally disappointing re­ sults: the horses would become restless because they were looking for food, and when they did not find any, they would remove the protection bag. If possible, the treatment for gas exposure was even worse. The horses that had been exposed were treated to a daily dosage of arsenic, administered in small quantities over an extended period of time. For logistical reasons, the tablet containing the poison was added to the bag containing its food; as a result, it often remained at the bottom, leading to the concrete risk that the animal would be killed later, when the food had been finished and it ended up swallowing a fatal quantity of arsenic2. In other cases it was a matter of premeditated violence that was often dictat­ ed by events, and certainly unwarranted. There is no lack of testimonies of soldiers killing the weaker animals so they had something to eat; likewise, there are accounts of decisions taken at the top at the end of the war, to sell the few surviving animals to the slaughterhouses near the demobilisation ar­ eas3. Nevertheless, the cruelty of war did not stop a very strong, reciprocal bond developing between the soldier and horse. Very often one would see the soldiers brave danger so that they could stay with their dying animals, or horses that had gone mad with despair because they had lost their rider4.

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The experience of horses at the front has generally been neglected in histori­ cal accounts that, by assimilating it with that of the military corps they be­ longed to actually covered it up. However, their presence is mentioned in the soldiers’ letters and diaries as well as in literature. The most vivid con­ demnation of the atrocious and futile slaughter of millions of horses is to be found on some of the pages of the heartbreaking novel All Quiet on the West­ ern Front by the writer-soldier Erich M. Remarque.

1. M. Shaw, Animals and War, British Library, http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/ani­ mals-and-war, C. N. Trueman, Horses In World War One, The History Learning Site, 16 Apr 2015, http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/the-western-front-in-worldwar-one/animals-in-world-war-one/horses-in-world-war-one/, and J. Cooper, Animals in War, pp. 23-27.  2. J. Cooper, Animals in War, pp. 34-49. 3. L. Fabi, Guerra bestiale and Il bravo soldato mulo. 4. J. Cooper, Animals in War, pp. 34-36.

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17. Warrior Very few horses survived the Great War, and of these even fewer had the good fortune of growing old and dying serenely many years after the war had ended. One such horse was Warrior, the horse that belonged to the British general Jack Seely. Many years after the war had ended, its story was to attract the attention of the writer Michael Morpurgo and it was this that inspired the creation of the protagonist of the novel for children, War Horse, published in 1982, in which the narrator is the war horse, Joey, who describes his adventures at the front. In turn, this novel inspired the same-named film by Steven Spielberg that was released in 2011. However, the real story of Warrior was already wellknown immediately after the war thanks to the Canadian soldiers who de­ scribed its legendary undertakings, thus contributing to its growing renown with the English-speaking audience; it became so famous that in 1934 its owner and handler, General Seely decided to write the biography My Horse Warrior,

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Fig. 17.1: Troops of Royal Engineers taking their horses away after disembarkation in France, © IWM (Q 33311)

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Warrior arrived in France in August 1914 with General Seely, the comman­ der of the British expedition corps. After an initial period, in February 1915 it returned to Great Britain for a training period with the Canadian Corps Cav­ alry, of which Seely had become the commander. After returning to France two months later, it remained on the Western Front until Christmas 1918, when it returned to the family house on the Isle of Wight, where it died at the age of 33, in 1941. Warrior participated in some of the most important battles that were fought on the Western Front, including the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and that of Cambrai in 1918 and despite having sustained in­ juries, it always returned to the front line, even when Seely had to stop and receive treatment after having fallen victim to a gas attack. It stood out for its intrepidity on the field, always remaining at its handler’s side and the Cana­ dian comrades-in arms helped increase its fame by giving it the nickname “the horse that the Germans were unable to kill”. Although its experience was renowned, it was not until 2014 that Warrior was awarded the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) Dickin Medal in its memory, for having distinguished itself 100 years after the events in which it had been a protago­ nist1.

1. K. Perry, Heroic First World War Horse Warrior Receives ‘Animal Victoria Cross’, The Telegraph, 2 Sept 2014, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/11069681/Heroic-FirstWorld-War-horse-Warrior-receives-animal-Victoria-Cross.html

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18. Instruments for in-depth study Digital collections and databases Europeana 1914-1918  Typing the key-word horses it is possible to access over 1,000 photographs and prints. Nine images were chosen for this e-Book (see Ch. III, A Multime­ dia Guide) to highlight the phases of mobilisation and training, the activities carried out by the horses in transport and supplies, injured horses being res­ cued and treated by the veterinary services on the field, as well as other episodes regarding their death and burial. 1418 documenti e immagini della grande guerra Following the link fotografie, album fotografici, one only has to type the word cavalleria in the line parola da cercare to see more than 800 documents, in­ cluding photographs and printed postcards, all of which are dedicated to war horses, and not just those that fought on the Italian front. BBC Schools World War One It has both a special space for war horses on the page Animals during the war, and for the in-depth study by Matt Baker, “Who were the real war horses of WW1?”.  Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals  e Blue Cross Society

These are the websites of the two biggest British organisations, which helped organise the veterinary sanitary service during the war. British pathé  

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By doing a search for animals in war, one can access a period film clip about a Blue Cross hospital (see: Ch. III. A Multimedia Guide). Warrior. A Real War Horse   A website dedicated to the war horse “that the Germans were unable to kill”.  Articles online Keith Perry, Heroic First World War horse Warrior receives ‘animal Victoria Cross’, The Telegraph, 2 Sept 2014,  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/ world-war-one/11069681/Heroic-First-World-War-horse-Warrior-receivesanimal-Victoria-Cross.html Macri Puricelli, Eroe dimenticato: il cavallo nella Prima Guerra Mondiale, D La Repubblica Blog, 30 aprile 2015, http://zoelagattad.blogautore.repubblica.it/2015/04/30/eroe-dimenticato-il-cavallo-nellaprima-guerra-mondiale/ Jill Reilly, Warrior, the Real ‘War Horse’ the Germans couldn’t kill - who braved the bullets, barbed wire and shell fire of World War I, http:// www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2080962/Warrior-REAL-War-Horsebraved-bullets-barbed-wire-shell-World-War-I.html Emily Upton, The Horses of World War I, Today I Found Out, 7 Mar 2014, http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/03/horses-world-war/  New Zealand’s First World War Horses, Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 8 Nov. 2016, https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/nz-first-world-war-horses Matthew Shaw, Animals and War, British Library, http://www.bl.uk/ world-war-one/articles/animals-and-war C. N. Trueman, Horses In World War One, The History Learning Site, 16 Apr 2015, http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/the-western-

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front-in-world-war-one/animals-in-world-war-one/horses-in-world-warone/

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19. A Multimedia Guide Inspired by the principles of new historical ethology as outlined in the stud­ ies by Éric Baratay, the aim of this multimedia guide is to contribute to the historical accounts of the Great War from the perspective of the animals that took part, in the belief that they, as the subjects of narratable biographies, can enable a more comprehensive reconstruction of the events. Information regarding the physiological and behavioural reactions of the animals in a given situation can be traced, as explained in the first chapter, in the papers and images produced by the men who had the opportunity to observe and describe them. To overcome any inadequacies, multiple sources need to be crosschecked, for example photographs, period film clips, articles and es­ says, websites, documentaries and films, with the objective of bringing back to the fore what has remained in the background for far too long. Photographic resources  The following iconographic selection derives from Europeana 1914-1918. The selected images are copyright free. Homing pigeons Gas protection box for 15 carrier pigeons in Trento  Pilot receives carrier pigeons  Carrier pigeons inside the pigeon wagon  Carrier pigeon station on the Italian front  Attaching a dispatch on a carrier pigeon  Postcard from Commandant Raynal, 1916

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Military dogs View of war-dogs pulling a cart for electric hand-lamps, Dornberk  Column of dogs with sledge, probably Dolomite front, Trentino Column of dogs on the Isonzo front Hauling dogs at work in Krupy, Russia Dog-drawn cart, probably Kimplong, on the border to Romania  Horses Operation on a Cossack horse, East Galizia   Operation on a horse, Equestrian Clinic 102, Klagenfurt Captured Italians bury the horses lying on the street, probably in the area between Pontebba and Tolmezzo  Pack animals, probably near Podhajce, Galicia   In loyal service, probably near Oporzec, Galicia Arabian stallion from the stud-farm; Galicia   On the road to Gorizia Austrian troops in Görz  Mobilization and requisition of horses, Multilingual Manifesto, Bruxelles Period film clips  The following period film clips selection derives from the cross-media site  British Pathé. 80

Real dogs of war - French army dogs French army dogs find wounded French listening patrols take dogs along the front  Oldest flying corps - Army pigeons Blue Cross Hospital Army Veterinary Corps  Horse breaking by american cowboy soldiers  Online articles and essays This selection is useful to contextualise the sources. Archives départementales du Cher, Les animaux pendant la Première Guerre mondiale, http://www.archives18.fr/arkotheque/client/ad_cher/ _depot_arko/articles/1016/les-animaux-pendant-la-premiere-guerremondiale_doc.pdf Didier Arnold, Le chien et l’artilleur, Pataud et Louis Bedu, Archives départe­ mentales et patrimoine du Cher, http://www.archives18.fr/article.php? laref=825&titre=le-chien-et-l-artilleur-pataud-et-louis-bedu Éric Baratay, La Grande Guerre des animaux, “CNRS Le journal”, 27.05.2014, https://lejournal.cnrs.fr/billets/la-grande-guerre-des-animaux Éric Baratay, Pour une histoire éthologique et une éthologie historique, in “Études rurales, n. 189/1, 2012, pp. 91-106, https://etudesrurales.revues.org/9596 Florance Calvet, Jean-Paul Demonchaux, Régis Lamand, Gilles Bornert, Une brève histoire de la colombophilie, in “Revue Historique des Armées”, n. 248, 2007, pp. 93-105, http://journals.openedition.org/rha/1403

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CECOM Historical Office - U.S. Army Live Blog, Mocker - Distiguished Pigeon, http://cecomhistorian.armylive.dodlive.mil/2013/04/25/mocker-distin­ guished-pigeon/ Cher Ami, nmah_425415

http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/

Fabiola Collabolletta, L’impiego degli animali sui teatri di guerra, in “Euno­ mia”, IV, n. 2, 2015, pp. 607-612, http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/ eunomia/article/viewFile/15751/13654 Walter A. Dyer, Bally Shannon - Dog of War, in “Country Life”, November 1918, http://www.irishwolfhounds.org/ballyshannon.htm Rebecca Frankel, Dogs at War: Three-Legged Dog Delivers Crucial Message in WWI, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/140516-dogswar-canines-soldiers-troops-army-military/ Oscar Grazioli, Quegli eroi bestiali che si fecero onore nella Grande Guerra, “Il Giornale.it”, 06 settembre 2014, http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/politica/ quegli-eroi-bestiali-che-si-fecero-onore-nella-grande-guerra-1049512.html  Kate Kelly, World War I and a Remarkable Messenger Dog, https:// americacomesalive.com/2013/07/31/national-mutts-day-july-31-a-braveand-remarkable-messenger-dog/ Warren Manger, Satan the messenger dog who helped Allies turn tide of Great War remembered 100 years on, http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/ satan-messenger-dog-who-helped-7404457 Mario Marchisio,  Giovanni Morei, L’impiego dei piccioni viaggiatori durante la Prima guerra mondiale, in “Veterinaria Militare”, n. 12, 2007, pp. 541-542, http://www.ordiniveterinaripiemonte.it/rivista/07n12/pdf/09.pdf Museo Civico del Risorgimento di Bologna, Animali al fronte. Protagonisti os­ curi della Grande Guerra, http://www.storiaememoriadibologna.it/files/ vecchio_archivio/prima-guerra/a/Animali.pdf 82

Museo Roccavilla, Gli animali nella Prima Guerra Mondiale, http:// www.museoroccavilla.it/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/GLI-ANI­ MALI-NELLA-PRIMA-GUERRA-MONDIALE-.pdf

Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans - U.S. Army CE­ COM Life Cycle Management Command, A history of Army communications and electronics at Fort Monmmouth, New Jersey, 1917-2007, chapter 1: The Begin­ ning and World War I, https://openlibrary.org/books/OL22977787M/ A_history_of_Army_communications_and_electronics_at_Fort_Monmouth_New_Jersey_19 Maryvonne Ollivry, Bêtes de tranchées, héros silencieux, http:// www.parismatch.com/Actu/Societe/Guerre-de-14-Betes-de-trancheesheros-silencieux-557970  Frédéric Plancard, Vaillant, pigeon de combat, http://verdun-meuse.fr/im­ ages/files/VaillantpigeondecombatER30072014.pdf Keith Perry, Heroic First World War horse Warrior receives ‘animal Victoria Cross’, The Telegraph, 2 Sept 2014,  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/ world-war-one/11069681/Heroic-First-World-War-horse-Warrior-receivesanimal-Victoria-Cross.html Pigeons militaires et premiere guerre mondiale, Musée du pigeon voyager, http://www.museedupigeon.com/pages/pigeons-militaires-et-premiereguerre-mondiale.html Macri Puricelli, Eroe dimenticato: il cavallo nella Prima Guerra Mondiale, “D La Repubblica Blog”, 30 aprile 2015, http://zoelagattad.blogautore.repubblica.it/2015/04/30/eroe-dimenticato-il-cavallo-nellaprima-guerra-mondiale/ Jill Reilly, Warrior, the Real ‘War Horse’ the Germans couldn’t kill - who braved the bullets, barbed wire and shell fire of World War I, http:// www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2080962/Warrior-REAL-War-Horsebraved-bullets-barbed-wire-shell-World-War-I.html 

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Alexander Robertson, Revealed: How a messenger dog called Satan dodged Ger­ man fire in a gas mask to help Aliied forces turn the tide in one of the Great war's bloodiest battles, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3456252/Howmessenger-dog-called-Satan-dodged-German-fire-gas-mask-help-Alliedforces-turn-tide-one-Great-War-s-bloodiest-battles.html  Matteo Rubboli, Cher Ami: il piccione che salvò 194 soldati volando senza una gamba e un occhio nella battaglia delle Argonne, http:// www.vanillamagazine.it/cher-ami-il-piccione-che-salvo-194-uomini-volan­ do-senza-una-gamba-e-un-occhio-nella-battaglia-delle-argonne/ Matthew Shaw, Animals and War, British Library, http://www.bl.uk/ world-war-one/articles/animals-and-war Joe Shute, Dogs of war: the unsung heroes of the trenches, The Telegraph, 29 Oct. 2014, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/11195378/ Dogs-of-war-the-unsung-heroes-of-the-trenches.html Mark Strauss, These Are the Brave and Fluffy Cats Who Served in World War I, “GizMondo”, 22 August 2014, http://io9.gizmodo.com/a-gallery-of-catswho-served-in-world-war-i-1624713212 Maria Grazia Suriano, “Will this terrible possibility become a fact?”. Il progresso scientifico applicato alla guerra nella riflessione di Gertrude Woker e Kathleen Lons­ dale , in "Dep. Deportate, Esuli, Profughe", n. 35, 2017, pp. 26-41, http:// www.unive.it/media/allegato/dep/n35/02_Suriano_modello.pdf Maria Grazia Suriano, Annalisa Zabonati, Animali di trincea e di guerra, in “Dep. Deportate, esuli, profughe”, n. 31, 2016, pp. 293-300, http:// www.unive.it/media/allegato/dep/ n31_2016/020_Animali_di_trincea_modello.pdf Nick Tarver, World War One: The circus animals that helped Britain, BBC News, 11 November 2013, http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-24745705 

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Ben Thompson, Sergent sgtstubby.html

Stubby, http://www.badassoftheweek.com/

Melissa Thompson, The 9 million unsung heroes of WWI: Dogs, horses and car­ rier pigeons made victory possible, Mirror, 31 July 2014, http:// www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/9-million-unsung-heroesww1-3939895 N. Trueman, Horses In World War One, The History Learning Site, 16 Apr 2015, http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/the-westernfront-in-world-war-one/animals-in-world-war-one/horses-in-world-warone/ N. Trueman, Pigeons And World War One, The History Learning Site, 16 Apr. 2015, http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/the-westernfront-in-world-war-one/animals-in-world-war-one/pigeons-and-worldwar-one/ N. Trueman, Dogs In World War One, The History Learning Site, 16 Apr. 2015, http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/the-westernfront-in-world-war-one/animals-in-world-war-one/dogs-in-world-warone/ Emily Upton, The Horses of World War I, Today I Found Out, 7 Mar 2014, http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/03/horses-world-war/ Simon Worrall, On the Hundredth Anniversary of the Start of World War I, Re­ th

membering the Part Animals Played, “National Geographic”, 28 July 2014, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140728-world-warhorse-pigeons-dogs-glowworms-verdun-dickin-medal/  Websites 1418 documenti e immagini della grande guerra  The Australian War Memorial 85

Animals in War Memorial Fund  Animals in World War I – Scotland’s War  First World War – Imperial War Museums  New Zealand’s First World War Horses - Ministry for Culture and Heritage  Pigeons militaires et premiere guerre mondiale - Musée du pigeon voyager  War Horses Memorial Australia  Warrior, A Real War Horse  Documentaries and Films Animals’ contribution to the war effort – World War One at Home  Animali nella Grande Guerra, by Folco Quilici  Lawrence d'Arabia, directed by David Lean (1962)  The Lost Battalion, directed by Russell Mulcahy (2001) War Horse, directed by Steven Spielberg (2011) 

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20. Bibliography Nigel Allsopp, Cry Havoc: The History of War Dogs, New Holland Publishers, Chatswood, 2009. Benoît Amez, Dans les tranchées, les écrits non-publiés des combattants belges de la premiére Guerre mondiale, Publibbok, Paris 2009. Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau, Annette Bécker, Christian Ingrao, La violence de guerre, 1914-1945, Complexe, Bruxelles 2002. Thierry Auffret van der Kamp, Jean Claude Nouët (ed.), Homme et animal: de la douleur à la cruauté, L’Harmattan, Paris 2008. Jean-Christophe Bailly, Le versant animal, Bayard, Paris 2007. Damien Baldin, De la continuité anthropologique entre le combattant et le cheval: le cheval et son image dans l’armée française durant la Première guerre mondiale, in “Revue historique des armées”, n. 249, 2007, pp. 75-87. Damien Baldin (ed.), La guerre des animaux, 1914‐1918, Artlys, Versailles 2007. Damien Baldin, Le chien, animal exemplaire d’une anthropologie historique des relations hommes-animaux en temps de guerre (1914-1918), in “Ethnozootech­ nie”, n. 78, 2006, pp. 159-162. Éric Baratay, Bêtes des tranchées. Des vécus oubliés, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2013. Éric Baratay, Biographies animales, Seuil, Paris 2017. Éric Baratay, Le point de vue animal, une autre version de l’histoire, Seuil, Paris, 2012.

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Marc Bekoff, The Emotional Lives of Animals, New World Library, Novato, 2008. Eugenio Bucciol, Animali al fronte. Protagonisti oscuri della Grande guerra, Nuovadimensione/Ediciclo, Portogruaro 2003. Roland Bruneau, Les équidés dans la Grande Guerre, in “Bulletin de la Société Française d’Histoire de la Médecine et des Sciences Vétérinaires”, IV, n. 1, 2005, pp. 20-33. Susan Bulanda, Soldiers in Fur and Feathers. The Animals that Served in World War I - Allied Forces, Alpine Publications, Crawford 2013. Florence Burgat (ed.), Penser le comportement animal, Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris 2010. Simon Butler, The War Horses: The Tragic Fate of a Million Horses Sacrificed in the First World War, Halsgrove, Wellington UK 2011. Filippo Cappellano, Basilio Di Martino, La guerra dei gas, Rossato, Novale 2006. Daniela Castellani, Cani in guerra, storie di soldati a quattro zampe, Nordpress, Chiari 2000. Pierre Chaine, Mémoires d’un rat, suivi des Commentaires de Ferdinand, ancien rat des tranchées, Tallandier, 1917. Charles-Maurice Chenu, Totoche prisonnier de guerre, journal d’un chien à bord d’un tank, in “Plon”, 1918, p. 49-50. Jilly Cooper, Animals in War, Corgi, London 1984. Antonio R. Damasio, Descartes’ Error. Emotion, Reason, and Human Brain, Putnam’s, New York 1994.

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Charles Darwin, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals, Murray, London 1872. Jean-Michel Derex, Héros oubliés: les animaux dans la Grande Guerre, Pierre de Taillac Editions, Villers-sur-Mer 2014. Vinciane Despret, Que diraient les animaux … si on leur posait les bonnes ques­ tions, La Découverte, Paris 2012. Richard van Emden, Tommy’s Ark: Soldiers and Their Animals in the Great War, Bloomsbury, London 2011. Lucio Fabi, Guerra bestiale: uomini e animali nella Grande Guerra, Persico, Cre­ mona 2004. Lucio Fabi, Il bravo soldato mulo. Storie di uomini e animali nella Grande guerra, Mursia, Milano 2012. Serenella Ferrari, Susanne E. L. Probst, 1914/18: la guerra e gli animali. Truppe silenziose al servizio degli eserciti, Ideago, Gorizia 2015 Carlo Emilio Gadda, Giornale di guerra e prigionia, Einaudi, Torino 1965. Juliet Gardiner, The Animals War: Animals in Wartime from the First World War to the Present Day, Portrait, London 2006. Isabel George, Rob Lloyd Jones, Animals at War, Usborne Publishing, Lon­ don 2006. Isabel George, Beyond the Call of Duty: Heart-warming stories of canine devotion and bravery, Harper Collins, London 2010. Isabel George, Dog Soldiers. Love, Loyalty and Sacrifice on the Front Line, Harp­ er Collins, London 2016. Mark Greenwood, Frané Lessac, The Donkey of Gallipoli: A True Story of Courage in World War I, Candlewick Press, Cambridge, MA 2008.  89

Jean-Luc Guichet (ed.), Douleur animale, douleur humaine, Quae, Versailles 2010. Donna Haraway, “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and SocialistFeminism in the Late Twentieth Century”, in Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature, Routledge, New York 1991 [1st ed. 1985], pp. 149-181. Donna Haraway, Primate Vision: Gender, Race and Nature in the World of Mod­ ern Science, Routledge, New York 1989. Donna Haraway, The companion species manifesto: dogs, people and significant otherness, Prickly Paradigm Press, Chicago 2005. Ryan Hediger (ed.), Animals and War. Studies of Europe and North America, Brill Academic Publishers, Boston 2012. Alexandra Horowitz, Inside of a Dog. What Dogs See, Smell, and Know, Simon & Schuster, New York 2009. Heather Jones, Violence Against Prisoners of War in the First World War, Cam­ bridge University Press, Cambridge 2011. Pierre Jouventin, David Chauvet, Enrique Utria (ed.), La raison des plus forts: la conscience déniée aux animaux, Imho, Paris 2010. Gisela Kaplan, Lesley Rogers, Birds. Their Habits and Skills, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest 2001. David Kenyon, Horsemen in No Man’s Land: British Cavalry and Trench War­ fare 1914-1918, Pen & Sword, Barnsley 2011. John M. Kistler, Animals in the Military, ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara 2011. Jack Kramer, Animal Heroes. Military Mascots and Pets, Secker & Warburg, London 1982.

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Adolphe Lasnier, P. Malher, Nos chiens sur le front, Maison de l’édition, Paris 1915. Evelyn Le Chene, Silent Heroes: The Bravery & Devotion of Animals in War: An Animals’ Roll of Honour, Souvenir Press Ltd, London 1997. Michael G. Lemish, War dogs: A History of Loyalty and Heroism, Potomac, Washington, D.C 2008. Diego Leoni, La guerra verticale. Uomini, animali e macchine sul fronte di mon­ tagna, Einaudi, Torino 2015. Damien Lewis, War Dog: The no-man’s-land puppy who took to the skies, Sphere, London 2014. Robert E. Lubow, The War Animals. The Training and Use of Animals as Weapons of War, Doubleday, New York 1977. Garry McCafferty, They Had No Choice: Racing Pigeons at War, Tempus, Stroud 2000. Roberto Marchesini, Post-human: verso nuovi modelli di esistenza, Bollati Bor­ inghieri, Torino 2002. Jeffrey M. Masson, Susan McCarthy, When Elephants Weep. The Emotional Lives of Animals, Cape, London 1994. Michael Morpurgo, War Horse, Kaye & Ward, London 1982. Karl-Gerhard Petzl, Hundee in Krieg und Frieden, Petzi, Wien 2005. Rainer Pöppinghege (ed.), Tiere im Krieg. Von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, Schöningh, Paderborn, 2009. Folco Quilici, Umili eroi: storia degli animali nella Grande Guerra, Mondadori, Milano 2016.

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Benjamin Rabier, Flambeau, chien de guerre [1916], Le Grand livre du mois, Paris, 2003.  Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on The Western Front [1929], Mayflower, London 1970. Edwin H. Richardson, British War Dogs. Their Training and Their Psychology, Skeffington, London 1920. Daniel Roche (ed.), Le cheval et la guerre, Académie d’Art Équestre, Ver­ sailles 2002. Lisa Rogak, The Dogs of War: The Courage, Love and Loyalty of Military Work­ ing, Saint-Martin’s Press, New York 2011. Jean-François Saint-Bastien, Les animaux dans la grande guerre, Editions Alan Sutton, Tours 2014. A. Salles, La colombophilie militaire. I. 1870-1918 Un drôle d’oiseau, in “Histoire de Guerre, Blindés et Matériels”, n. 93, 2010, p. 44-53. Jack B. Seely, My Horse Warrior, Hodder & Stoughton, London 1934. Peter Singer, Animal Liberation, Random House, New York 1975. Neil R. Storey, Animals in the First World War, Shire Publications, Oxford 2014. Gene Tempest, All the Muddy Horses: Giving a Voice to the “Dumb Creatures” of the Western Front (1914-1918), in R. Pöppinghege (dir.), Tiere und Krieg, pp. 217-234. Roberto Todero, Cani e soldati nella Prima Guerra Mondiale, Gaspari Editore, Treviso 2011.  Giuseppe Ungaretti, Lettere a Giovanni Papini 1915-1948, a cura di Maria An­ tonietta Terzoli, Mondadori, Milano 1988. 92

Giuseppe Ungaretti, Opere, i Meridiani Mondadori, Milano 2000. J. Wajerowski, La Grande Guerre des pigeons voyageurs, in D. Baldin (ed.), La guerre des animaux, pp. 59-67. Graham Winton, ‘Theirs Not To Reason Why’. Horsing the British Army 1875-1925, Helion and Company, Solihull 2013.

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Animals in the Great War  by Maria Grazia Suriano © 2017 Associazione culturale Se, Bologna Translated from Italian by Tina Cawthra  Cover illustration: Kneeling soldier raises a dog in his helmet, December 22, 1917 © IWM (Q 10597) The images used in the volume from Europeana Collections 1914-1918 are considered to be in the public domain and, therefore, without copyright The images used in the volume from Imperial War Museums Collections are published under the terms of the IWM Non Commercial License ePub created in December 2017 with Booktype GmbH, Berlin   all rights reserved Associazione culturale Se Bologna Se ISBN 978-88-943141-1-3

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