ANIMALS AT THE FRONT

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2534, 7 August 1915, Page 7

ANIMALS AT THE FRONT

'AN EVENTFUL EXISTENCE. Mr. Porcival Phillips, an English war correspondent, gives the following interesting account of tho behaviour of four-footed animals at tho front. "Animals at the front on joy' o rather eventful existence. ltegimental mascots appear, to have the best time, for tliey stay in billots, livo on the fat of tli© laud, and are made much of hy tlio local inhabitants. I saw the pampered terrier of a certain famous regiment of foot guards on tho ; march the other day—l say on tho march advisedly, for ha sat on tlio top of a transport wagon at tho tail of'the battalion, and barked at all tho civilian dogs he passed. This terrier camo out from England, and liis campaign servico began with the Marne. I suppose he nas barked at more German prisoners than »ny other dog in tho field. . "There arc many degs serving with the Belgian and French colours, but those attached to British units are wholly 'unofficial.' I saw many dogdrawn machine gun batteries in Belgium in tlio earlier pliasbs of the campaign, and on one occasion two battery dogs, wounded by shrapnel, near Termondo, lay beside tlie road, receiving first aid from a surgeon who tended them as carefully as lie would a soldier. "You will find many 'civilian working dogs' in. tho villages behind tho British linos. They draw little carts for tlio peasants, and I Tiave known them to trot unconcernedly along a road woll within tho German artillery zone. They will not fraternise with tlio soldiers like ordinary dogs. Perhaps a life of hard work has Goured tnem. One 'Tommy,' who was nearly bitten when lie tried to a pat a milk-cart dog tliat looked like a nightmare blend of mastiff, Great Dane, and bulldog, said to me, 'I know what it is, sir. These dogs are ashamed because they arn't serving in the army. I suppose a war dog comes'homo on leave and "swanks"' about, and those slackers can't stand it.' '• "There have been instances _ of lost dog's and cats actually venturing into the, British tronches during an eiigage'ment. Some of them lived in cottages near the . firing lino—long sinco destroy- ■ ed—and clung to the remnants of their homes; others strayed a long_distance. .A nondescript dog, with an Armentireres address- on his collar, turned up near Wytscha-eto early ono morning, spent tho day with a Territorial battalion, disappeared at dusk, and was never seen again. A West Country Yeomanry contingent _ was adopted by a black cat in the thick of a fight near Fortuin in^ May, survived a bombardment which killed many men, and has sinco lived sumptuously in billots with an identification disc round its neck. "Bombardments affect different animals in different ways. Dogs, as a rule, show great distress when shells burst near them, and howl piteously. On the other hand, they havo been known to dash along the front of a trench during infantry firo, barking and apparently enjoying tho noise. Catsjudging by tho few instances related to mc —do not caro whether they aro shelled or 'machined' as long as tliey havo a dry corncr and food when they are hungry. i "Horses appear absolutely liicliuerent to shell fire. I have seen ploughmen— and ploughwomen—driving them down a furrow a few hundred yards from bursting, shells, and tliey did not show tho slightest concern. Tho other afternoon 1 stood at a certain observation post and watched tlio German Evening Hato which is expressed in high explosives. Shells sang wickedly across tho lields. Down a country lano camo an old fanner and his horses, tramping stolidly to tlio littlo wooden stablo, as they had done for years -at the closo of day. Tliey never looked up at tho suiu ■<'t sky whore a British aeroplane was also wending its way home, with balls of shrapnel smoko floating in its wako, or paused to regard tho greater bombardment just beyond tho next farm. Tlio farmer —and doubtless tho horses as woll—knew tho set programme of tho day, and it did not trouble them at all., Ono, can become accustomed to anything—oven to German sialls. "Of late stray dogs have been inspected in our lines with unusual core, 'The German? tried pace on tivies

use them as carriers for their spies; and thaio is an interesting although unofficial story of one cur .which wandered into a British trench bearing a message ill German which was hidden under a coat of false hair. .