Poem ~ War Dogs in Belgium Army Thursday, 22 October 1914

Belgian Carabineers’ with their advanced head gear

and war dogs, walking towards battle - 1914

Available at: http://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryPorn/comments/2ir2s3/belgian_carabiniers_with_their_advanced_head_gear/  [Accessed: 22 October 2014]

Recognition for the role of the dog in war,

Became evident from the Belgium campaign.

The ‘brave little Allies’ were being employed

In working with sentries during night duties

Even in transporting weight of machine guns.

The use of dogs had then been adopted within

Previous two years – A Belgian Service paper,

Approvingly noted how the animal was popular 

Being competent and docile, with the soldiers.

A number of facts marked out the Dog’s abilities.

With little effort dogs can cover rough ground

Moving in silence and at a few hundred yards,

Being almost invisible.  The article’s writer says 

How Great Danes could easily be called to play

An effective part in any new military machinery. 

This treatise being written prior to the war,

Would soon be proved true – their abilities 

Were yet to be fully realised – a given example 

Being dog teams in the Arctic, where explorers,  

Employ a dog’s strength to pull up to 150 lbs.

The fact was shown that within Belgium, dogs

Are economically valuable - a number quoted

Was of 175,000 then employed in order to pull

Small carts; baker’s milk sellers, butchers, farmers 

All had their own working teams of such dogs.  

12 years prior to 1914 an organisation formed, 

Looking into breeding more powerful dogs –

Annually paying two francs, subscribers of these 

Bred dogs, would be given an equal replacement, 

Of any such animal, that died in their service. 

The organisation entitled National Federation 

For the Breeding of Draught Dogs, had benefits 

From controlled breeding is to give an Improved, 

Well-conditioned dog – Economically, the value

Of a dog to the owner was regarded important.

The range of such an animal’s value was a franc 

To sixpence - The NFBDD was controlled by each 

Province of 9 syndicates, having more than 2000 

Members - while Governments both Provincial 

And Belgian also contributed to the organisation. 

In the recent Antwerp evacuation it was reported

That dogs helped their owners to carry belongings

Assisting in the moving of old people and children. 

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Belgium’s War Dogs – Value of their work. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 9 Aug. p.2. Col.3. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11166586/Daily-Telegraph-October-22-1914.html [Accessed: 22 October 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 22 October 2014).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11166586/Daily-Telegraph-October-22-1914.html

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered 

Belgian Machine Gun Team - 1914

Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Armed_Forces [Accessed: 22 October 2014]