Up to 20,000 dogs were trained for front-line duties during World War One, newly uncovered records have shown. The canines carried aid to the wounded, took messages between the lines and sniffed out enemy soldiers. Their roles were deemed so important that in the early months of 1917 the War Office formed the War Dog School of Instruction in Hampshire to train them. They were also used for pulling machine guns and equipment. A collection of old newspapers, which has been made available on the family history website findmypast.co.uk, reveals how the animals lived in the trenches. Many, about 7,000, had been family pets, while others were recruited from dogs' homes or came from police forces. Sentinel dogs were trained to stand quietly on the top of the trench alongside their master's gun barrel, in order to let the soldiers know if anyone attempted to approach the barbed wire. 'Heart-wrenching' One report, from the Dundee Evening Telegraph in 1916, descr...
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