Dogs & Other Animals WW1 Uncut

EXPLOSIONS AND GUNFIRE

SHELLS WHISTLE

EXPLOSION

GUNFIRE

When

the First World War

broke out in 1914,

the German army had 6,000 trained dogs.

The British had one, an Airedale terrier.

In fact, Britain was alone amongst the great powers

in not having a military

dogs programme.

But now,

as you can see,

things have changed a little.

Haven't they, Marley?

MUSIC: "Stuck In The Middle" by Stealers Wheel

# Well,

I don't know why

I came here tonight

# I'm just scared in case I fall off my chair

# And I'm wondering how I get down the stairs

# Clowns

to the left of me,

jokers to the right

# Here I am Stuck in the middle with you... #

DOGS

BARK

Today,

Britain leads the way.

At the Defence Animal Centre in Melton Mowbray,

I'm about to see some of the most sophisticated training techniques

in

the world for the deployment

of military dogs and their handlers.

Just check out Stygen searching for a tiny piece of explosive material.

This dog is trained to focus.

Really focus.

You

could land a helicopter next

to him and he wouldn't budge.

That's impressive.

This is what the military call HASD - High Assurance Search Dog.

He's trained to spot any

kind of

peculiarity on the ground

that might be a threat.

And he is now going to stay there, staring at that,

no matter what I say.

Yo!

Do you want a sausage? Let's go. Walkies!

Meet

Sparky and Onyx.

You know, it's weird that Britain was so far behind the game

when it came to dogs in World War One,

especially given our reputation as a nation of

dog lovers.

Maybe that was the problem. Maybe we loved them too much.

The

reason things changed

was largely down to the vision of one man,

Lieutenant Colonel EH Richardson.

He

was convinced of the contribution

dogs could make in combat

and lobbied the military top brass to take the idea seriously.

And while they deliberated,

warring

nations such as Italy were

using

dogs to carry munitions

across treacherous alpine terrain.

Richardson was sure that dogs could solve the

communications

problem

on the Western Front,

where phone lines were often down and runners were easy targets.

Finally,

on 31st December 1916,

two dogs, trained by Richardson,

were sent to run messages on the Western Front.

Their success in navigating across shell holes and

muddy fields

led to a request to set up the British War Dog School

to provide more canine support.

The modern British military dog was born.

The training programme was led by Mrs Richardson

and lasted around five weeks before the animals were sent

for duty.

Today dogs like Quinn are trained for around 12 months

until they're ready for action.

The

advent of modern communications

meant that dogs as messengers

became obsolete.

But there was still one key military task that dogs could perform

and that was search.

Today the forces have to search

planes, vehicles, houses,

and what this exercise here is doing is deploying that canine strength -

the sense of smell.

Quinn

is trained to filter out

competing and confusing scents,

so he can home in on the most important.

What's in there?

The target scent that we want him to find, which is explosives.

Over the years, the military has fine-tuned exactly what it wants

from its dogs. It comes down

to two broad areas.

There's the search and detection work

and then there's protection.

Throughout

history, armies have

sought to take advantage

of the aggression and muscle power of certain breeds of dog.

The

Romans, for example,

trained up dogs to take on swordsmen.

Today there's few patrols out there that don't value having

a dog like this with them.

Believe me, getting a

dog,

even one that's been put through some

of the best training in the world, to follow commands is never simple.

Back in World War One, because dog handling was in its infancy,

the British shoulders were basically making it up as they went along.

Today, of course, that's completely

different.

It's a fine art and the training for guys like Mikey, dog handlers,

is as comprehensive and intensive as it is for the dogs.

But

do you reckon I can give it a go?

It's as easy as shelling peas.

- Right. - Here's your dog.

Thank you.

So, I'm sending it off to a target somewhere in this field.

I know where

the target is.

The dog, Onyx, doesn't.

At the moment it's facing the wrong way. Onyx, go on, this way.

Right, back.

BLOWS WHISTLE, MIKEY CHUCKLES

Not

going where I want it to go.

WHISTLES

Sit.

Not

sure I'm cut out for this.

- OK,

Mikey.

- Yeah.

You tell the dog where to go. Let's see how it's done.

Onny.

BLOWS WHISTLE

Yep,

exactly where I want it to go.

WHISTLES

Back

in World War One,

as the use of dogs developed

and they proved their worth on the battlefields,

so did the level of care for their wellbeing,

with kennels being provided behind the front line.

The relationship between handler and dog

is as vital now as it was in World War One.

And while the specialist role of military dogs has developed hugely

since they were introduced in World War One,

some elements have remained unchanged.

One of those is morale. Soldiers love having a dog in the ranks.

EXPLOSIONS,

GUNFIRE

Well,

hello, there.

My name is Charlie Blue and this is my great friend Tresor.

I talk and he listens.

Now, Tresor, did you know that it wasn't just the wonderful horse

who played a

role in World War One?

Oh, no, there were other animals who lent a hand.

Like...

Welcome to the Weird And Wonderful

Animals Of World War One.

HORSE WHINNIES

Now, when the Americans joined the war,

they searched high and low for a creature to detect

oncoming mustard gas.

Cows, cats, rats, mice,

guinea pigs, flies

and even fleas were all tested to no avail.

Enter the common garden slug.

The sensational slugs were able to

detect the presence of mustard gas

due to their sensitive schnozzles.

The

slugs would show signs of

distress, thus allowing the soldiers

to put on their masks before being exposed to lethal levels of gas.

And from the fantastic

slug

to a flatulent sea gull.

Huh?

So desperate were the Allies to counter the menace of the U-boat

that they tried to train seagulls to defecate on U-boat

periscopes.

Didn't work. Of course it didn't work!

You'd have more luck getting a sea lion to spot a

U-boat.

Which is exactly what they tried next.

Yes, sea lions would dive down into the deep and, on spotting a

boat

under the water, surface, thus revealing its location.

Genius!

Another

birdie conscripted by the

Allied forces was the carrier pigeon,

employed to relay messages and take surveillance.

In response, the Germans would send up

interceptor hawks.

Didn't stop this little birdie, though.

This is Cher Ami, who saved 194 lives

after her battalion

became

trapped behind enemy lines.

She delivered a message detailing their location,

despite having been shot, blinded in

one eye

and with a leg hanging on only by a tendon.

What a legend!

Now, let's not forget that just under a million horses

were sent off to the front, not only as part of the cavalry,

but also to perform such tasks as pulling

artillery,

ambulance trolleys and supply wagons.

These

acts were recently acknowledged

by the best play,

book and film ever made, War Horse,

which I had a small part in, Tresor.

Yes, I did.

But Spielberg

could have made

his film about the heroic glow worm.

Yes,

the British soldiers

in the trenches found unlikely

allies

in these bioluminescent critters,

using them to illuminate battle plans and letters from loved ones.

GRAVELLY VOICEOVER

- What is it? - It's a worm.

A worm they found wandering about in no-man's-land.

What kind of worm?

A miraculous worm would be my guess.

They say he only glows for those with a soldier's heart.

Really?

No.

WOMAN: 'Dear

Arthur, it was lovely

to receive your last letter.

'I'm glad you have a new friend.'

VOICEOVER: 'Sometimes the greatest friendships

'are forged in the most testing of times.'

MAN: 'We shall fight and be victorious, whatever the cost.'

You'll be torn to pieces.

It's just a worm, for Christ's sake!

Arthur!

TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN

GUNSHOTS

Yes,

Tresor, I expect it would

get some GLOWING reviews.

And, finally, with so many horses off to the front,

farmers and traders in some parts of the country

looked to more exotic animals to undertake their tasks.

Yes, our last animal is the exotic elephant.

And this is Lizzie, a travelling circus elephant who was enlisted

to haul scrap metal from merchants

and became a regular sight down the cobbled streets of Sheffield.

She's

even had a bus

named after her.

That's it from us.

It's goodbye from me.

And Tresor would say goodbye if he could talk!

GUNFIRE

SHELL WHISTLES

EXPLOSION

PLANE PASSES OVERHEAD

MILITARY DRUMS