In the fiery years of the Great Patriotic War, when the homeland was in danger, not only people, but also animals came to its defense. Dogs are a prime example. They heroically showed themselves on all fronts, coping with a wide variety of tasks. The role of dogs during the Great Patriotic War is widely described in this article.
Use of dogs during hostilities
The experience of using dogs in war has been known for a very long time. We learn about this both from written sources and from monuments of ancient art (rock art). Even in the ancient world, trained units of dogs were used for the offensive operations of the army. With the advent of firearms, the offensive role of dogs decreased significantly, they began to be used as signalmen, orderlies and cartridge carriers. For example, during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, in some parts of the Russian army, dogs were used insanitary and guard purposes. A separate and unique case is the heroism that dogs showed during the Great Patriotic War. Photos that cannot be counted are direct confirmation of this fact.
Use of dogs during WWII
On the fronts of the Great War there were a huge number of detachments of fighting dogs. In total, more than 70 thousand "friends of man" of various breeds passed along the soldier's military paths from Moscow and Kursk to Prague and Berlin. Dogs during the Great Patriotic War, performing combat missions, made a huge contribution to the overall victory over the enemy.
Four-legged fighters
Dogs participating in the hostilities were far from all of a good breed and did not have the best qualities for the reason that back in 1941, thoroughbred dogs died while serving in tank destroyer units. Therefore, it became necessary to train new units of outbred dogs.
The first workout showed a good result. The mongrels were unpretentious, strong and, to the surprise of dog breeders, they were easy to train. They were used to perform a variety of combat missions: delivery of ammunition and food, security, removal of the wounded, mining of the territory, reconnaissance, destruction of armored vehicles, sabotage, establishing communications, etc. The exploits of dogs during the Great Patriotic War were widely known to the entire Soviet people, they are remembered to this day.
Front-line units of dogs
On all military fronts it was trained and formed into special combatunits:
- 17 battalions of miner dogs;
- 14 squadrons of armored dog destroyers;
- 37 sled dog battalions;
- 2 specialized units;
- 4 Liaison Battalions.
Sled dogs
Long before the start of the war, in 1924, a kennel was set up at the Shot military school for training military and sled dogs. The institution formed detachments not only of driving teams, but also of signalmen, orderlies and sappers.
For the first time sled dogs were used in the Winter War of the USSR against Finland. In 1940, sled dogs performed so well that the army headquarters established a new sled service.
Sled dogs during the Great Patriotic War were a very important part of the transport connection between army units in both winter and summer.
With the help of sledges, the wounded were taken out from the battlefield, reinforcements and ammunition were delivered to firing positions. Teams were especially effective in winter in off-road conditions and snowdrifts.
Dog units, which are about 15 thousand teams, during the war took out more than 6,500 thousand wounded from the battlefield, brought more than 3.5 tons of ammunition and ammunition to the positions, and also delivered an uncountable amount of food.
Order Dogs
Sanitary dogs had an excellent sense of smell and detective abilities, so they found the wounded not only on the battlefield, but also in the forest more often, in the swamp. Then they were brought to the military field hospital, while carrying emergency medicines. A dog nurse named Mukhtar carried about 400 seriously wounded soldiers from the battlefield during the fighting. Such records are unique in world military history.
Dog-orderlies during the Great Patriotic War acted very well-coordinated and quick-witted. They were admired even by Western war correspondents who visited the Soviet Union.
Demolition Dogs
"Subversive" dogs during the Great Patriotic War were perhaps the most selfless examples of defenders of the motherland. Already in the summer of 1941, dogs attacked German tanks - destroyers of such vehicles. The German troops did not expect such a tactical move and lost a significant amount of equipment. Their command even issued a special instruction to the tankers to fight the dogs - tank destroyers. But Soviet dog breeders expected this and began to train bombers more diligently.
Dogs were taught to quickly rush under vehicles from a short distance in order to immediately find themselves in the area of the tank inaccessible to machine guns. A mine containing 3-4 kilograms of explosive and a special detonator was placed in the demoman's pack.
During the years of bloody battles, demolition dogs destroyed a total of more than 300 enemy tanks, as well as armored personnel carriers, assault guns and other equipment. In the future, the need for such dogsdisappeared, since the tank and artillery power of the Soviet Union had increased so much that it could freely resist the German army without such expenses. In the autumn of 1943, the demolition dogs were liquidated. To understand how dogs helped people during the Great Patriotic War, we can cite the following fact. In the Battle of Stalingrad alone, sabotage dogs destroyed 42 tanks and 3 armored vehicles.
Mine detecting dogs
At the end of 1940, the first small detachment of miner dogs was created, and instructions for their training were developed.
There were about 6,000 dogs that cleared minefields in the Soviet Union. For the entire duration of the war, they cleared about four million charges of various kinds. These actions saved the lives of tens of thousands of people. Hero dogs cleared mines in Kyiv, Novgorod, Warsaw, Vienna, Berlin and Budapest.
Prominent cynologist and officer A. P. Mazover, who commanded a battalion of mine-detecting dogs during the war years, came up with the legendary “plate 37”. Seeing this inscription on the road, everyone understood that safe movement is guaranteed by a sensitive canine scent. Among the most talented dogs were champions who cleared about 12 thousand mines during the entire war. Having comprehended this figure, you will appreciate the huge role that miner dogs played during the Great Patriotic War.
The tasks of mine detecting dogs
During the war years, detachments of miner dogs performed the following combat missions.
- In preparation foroffensive operations, miner dogs were used to make moves in minefields. Thus, infantry units and armored vehicles could pass through them.
- One of the main tasks of the mining dogs was to clear transport roads, which the enemy, retreating, constantly mined.
- If time and situation allowed, the units were used to completely clear settlements, individual buildings and the area in general.
Sabotage dogs
This type of detachment, like sabotage dogs, was used during the Great Patriotic War in SMERSH detachments to search for enemy saboteurs, especially German snipers. The sabotage detachment consisted of several dogs, a rifle squad, a signalman and an NKVD worker. The deployment of such a detachment was preceded by careful and painstaking preparation, selection and training. Saboteur dogs successfully performed not only search tasks, but also undermined German trains, even while moving.
Shepherd Dina
A striking example of a saboteur dog is Dean's shepherd dog. She served in the 14th sapper brigade and went down in history as a participant in the "rail war" on the territory of Belarus. While still young, the shepherd was very well trained in the military school of dog breeding. After that she worked under the command of dog handler Dina Volkats in the 37th separate engineering battalion.
The shepherd successfully applied her talent in practice. So, in mid-August 1943, Dina blew up the enemy train on the Polotsk-Drissa stretch. The shepherd literally flew onto the rails right in front of the approaching train, inwhere the German officers were, dropped the pack with the charge, pulled out the detonator with her teeth and fled into the forest. As a result of the explosion, about 10 wagons of enemy manpower were destroyed, and the railway was also disabled.
Din's dog during the Great Patriotic War carried out dozens of successful sabotage operations, and also helped clear the mines of the city of Polotsk.
Scout Dogs
The scout dogs have been more than excellent, especially in operations such as "Rail War" and "Concert". This type of fighting dog ensured the inconspicuousness of the passage of scouts to the rear of the enemy's defense and the success of their activities among the overwhelming majority of opponents. If there was a scout dog in the search group, then it was not difficult to prevent an unwanted clash with an enemy ambush. Scout dogs were specially trained and never barked. The fact that a detachment of enemy forces was discovered, the dog informed the owner only by specific movements of the body. The legendary scout dog named Fog was able to silently knock down sentries at the post and make a death grip on the back of the head, after which the scouts could safely operate behind enemy lines.
Also, scout dogs could detect enemy sabotage groups that tried to covertly penetrate the Soviet defense line.
Feats of dogs during the Great Patriotic War
Archival information of the history of the Great Patriotic War keeps the names of man's true friends. Demolitionists Raid and Dick, scouts Sailor and Jack, miners Boy, Yelik, Dick. They all died…
For a better understanding of the role that dogs played during the Great Patriotic War, one should know their exploits.
- Shepherd Mukhtar has already been mentioned. She was trained (and later became a guide) by Corporal Zorin. For all the years of the war, the dog took out more than 400 seriously wounded soldiers from the battlefields. He also saved his guide, shell-shocked by the shell explosion.
- A guard dog named Agai dozens of times discovered German saboteurs who tried to get into the rear of the Red Army.
- A dog named Bulba worked as a liaison at the front. For the entire duration of the war, he sent over 1,500 dispatches and laid hundreds of kilometers of cable. And the camp leader Terentev taught him this craft.
- A dog named Jack with his guide, corporal Kisagulov, went through the whole war as scouts. On their common account, dozens of captured "languages", among which were officers. In such a combination, a man and a dog could do amazing things. As you can see, service dogs during the Great Patriotic War played an important role.
- Laika, whose name was Bobik, together with his guide Dmitry Trokhov, took out about 1,600 wounded from the front line during three years of military service. The conductor was awarded the medal "For Courage" and the Order of the Red Star. Which is a little unfair, since the orderly for 80 soldiers taken out of the battlefield was given the title of Hero.
- Dog signalmanRex crossed the Dnieper three times in one day under heavy machine gun and artillery fire, delivering very important documents. And it was all in cold November water.
The volleys of guns have died down long ago. Many people who trained military dogs are no longer in the world, as are the legendary participants in the Great Patriotic War. But in the people's memory the feat of four-legged friends of warriors is alive.
