War Work For Animals

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 58, 2 August 1940, Page 8

War Work For Animals

Strange Tasks Fall To The Lot Of Birds And Beasts In Wartime

(Written for " The Listener" by

RONALD

McINTOSH

HE outbreak of the war witnessed the opening of the strangest recruiting centres on record — for x the enlistment of dogs for active Service. All over France Alsatians and sheep dogs between one and five years old were accepted as gifts to the nation or on loan "for the duration." Their service in war consists of helping ambulance bearers to seek the wounded and in the carrying of despatches. Needless to say, their training is as rigorous as that of any soldier. In Germany also, dogs became con-scripts-but for a different reason. Their carcasses can be rendered down to make soap, while their bones are turned into fertiliser. When the war broke out, Gergman dogs were classified into three cate-

gories--those fit for military service, dogs trained for leading the blind, and pets. The third class went into the refineries, at the same time helping to ease the nation’s food problem. Dogs are not the only animals capable of playing a part in total war, as the Germans were quick to discover. Toward the end of the Great War the edible animals in German zoos went into the butchers’ shops to feed a starving population, but this time the elephants, zebras and camels have joined the land army, pulling tractors and ploughs and thereby saving valuable oil for the air force and mechanised army. In this role, too, the horse hag come into its own again in every warring country.

Pigeons Called to the Colours England has not found the need for conscripting exotic animals from her zoos, but thousands of pigeons have been called to the colours, the first to volunteer being the King’s famous racing Pigeon loft. To-day 600,000 homing pigeons are performing valuable work for the Royal Air Force. They carry vital messages when the need for secrecy demands that the aeroplane’s radio must not be used. They are also of great value when a seaplane is forced down at sea with its radio out of action. The pigeons have adapted themselves remarkably to their new duties. When first released from an aeroplane travelling at high speed the birds are tossed about in the rush of air and momentarily lose their sense of direction. The experienced campaigners, however, -have learned to drop like a stone, with wings folded, until they are clear of the air currents. Miniature cameras have been designed enabling pigeons to act as valuable reconnaissance units, but the Royal Air Force has demonstrated its ability to carry out such duties satisfactorily

without the aid of its feathered allies. The canary is another bird which has its war duties to perform. Its heartbeat is so rapid that the inhalation of the minutest quantities of gas results in instant death. These birds have therefore been much in demand both in Germany and England, to give warning of gas attacks. Silkworms, Too Even the humble silkworm is doing its bit as a war worker. The need for parachutes has created an unprecedented demand for silk, and at ancient Lullingstone Castle, in Kent, each of 3,500,000 silkworms is busy spinning its quota of 1%4 miles of silken thread annually. Perhaps the strangest war work it has ever been the lot of animals to perform was assigned to seals during the Great War, when the British Admiralty was willing. to try any scheme which might help to counter the submarine blockade then starving Britain. The seals were coaxed by rewards of fish to detect the motors of submarines under water and proved apt pupils, but the war ended before any of the trainees had been put into active service.