DOGS OF WAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15175, 14 December 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

DOGS OF WAR.

duties in which men are ' 'excelled.

OUR ARMY EQUIPPED.

That honoured old phrase "the dogs of war" has now quite a new significance which has nothing to do with the lank hounds of Bellona. The modern conception of a dog of war was explained by Major Richardson in a lecture at the Royal United Service Institution on " The Employment of War Dogs, with Special Reference to Tripoli and Other Recent Campaigns." Major Richardson is famous as a trainer of dogs for riuch special services as police, sentry, and ambulance work, and foreign armies have taken more notice of this work than has our own. To an interested audience, chiefly of military people, he outlined the advantages to an army of possessing four-footed scouts. It is not a theoretical matter, as dogs* are already extensively employed all over the Continent for military and police purposes, and on many of the frontiers for detecting smugglers. Moreover, they have in many cases proved their value in actual warfare, and in one instance in particular sentry dogs saved the Italian troops near Tripoli from being rushed by surprise in a stealthy night- attack by the Turks last February. This particular incident is worth giving in full. The sentry dogs were kept chained in kennels amid the wire entanglements ahead of the Italian, trenches. Major Richardson said: — "In the early part of the evening of February 11-12, the Turks, under cover of darkness, advanced in two columns against the Italian position at Derna ; one column; of about 500 men to the right ; the other consisting of about 1000 Bedouins, with a stiffening ,of Turkish . officers. The whole of the country is difficult in the extreme, J without roads, and crossed by a series of tracks for the most part known by the natives only, running on the edges of the precipice?. ' This force took every advantage of the sinuosities of the ground, and practically crawled undisturbed to the Italian position. The, alarm, however, was given/ by the doji's chained to the entanglements, and at 1.30 berian an engagement at this point which lacked, the whole slight." With the descent of darkness, which renders the human being so helpless, said the lecturer, the hearing and scenting powers of the dog become most acute, and while soldiers, tired out with long marching or the ardours of a campaign, may have their senses dulled, the four-footed scout will hear or " wind" he stealthy approach of an enemy's patrols long before > a sentry is aware that there is anyone in the. neighbourhood. After hundreds of experiments he had proved that a dog can bear 200 or 400 yards further than a man, and when the conditions are favourable for scenting detection will come at very great distances. The slightest suspicious noise, unheard by human ears, makes the dog watchful and restless, and his fears are immediately communicated to the sentry accompanying him. Good German Dogs. The lecture was illustrated by lantern elides showing the dogs at work with the various Continental armies in peace tinie, and with the Italians during tha war in Tripoli. In Belgium dogs are even used for dragging machine guns. In a number of armies they are used for carrying messages for short distances, and also for carrying ammunition. But Major Richardson favours their use in two main ways only as sentiy dogs and as ambulance dogs to search out the Wounded after a battle. . In ambulance dogs the French army is especially well provided, and 0 they are trained up to a very high pitch. Ma,jor Richardson had two ambulance dogs with him yesterdaytwo beautiful and intelligent Airedales, with the red cross of mercy standing out boldly on their flanks, and with cordials for the wounded strapped to their backs. One can imagine, the joy with which the appearance of such a saviour. would be hailed by a wounded soldier lying in rocky ground or 'scrub, where the biped brigade might never find him at all. It will • surprise most people to learn that in Germany there are 8000 trained dogtt used for police, ambulance, and sentry purposes, and that in the case of war mobilisation of all these is carefully provided for. The lecturer's suggestion that the British army should begin to make preparation of a similar kind w&« received with loud applause. It should be added that English-trained . ambulance dogs were used with great success in the Russo-Japanese war. Count Versidsky. of Count Keller's staff, wrote to Major Richardson: " In finding the missing and wounded with which the millet fields are strewn nothing succeeded like our pack of seven dogs. The English ones are especially intelligent. In out 1 last engagement 25 men were found in unsuspected places. Dogs have also been successfully used for active service in Cuba, South-west Africa, and the Abor campaign of last winter. In the Italian campaign just ended in Tripoli between 500 and 600 dogs were used for one purpose or another.