dogs in the old days.......
When the Japanese Army war dog Saburo was deployed to the front lines in 1937, he received all the encouragement and honor that a soldier would.
"In 1937, when Japanese and Chinese forces were fighting their bitter fight around the Shanghai area, a rumor went the rounds that the Japanese were using fierce, bloodthirsty dogs to fight the Chinese troops. Humorous Shanghailanders replied that the dogs must have been employed as a retaliation against the Chinese guerrila bands roaming the district. Though thought of as only another strange story connected with the hostilities in China, few Western observers fully realized that truth lay behind the circulating rumor.
That there were dogs assisting the Japanese forces was correct. That they were bloodthirsty or that they were used to devour the enemy were untruths...
As necessary to the Japanese forces as the coming of the wireless has been to the armies of the West is the adoption many years ago by the Japanese to the mobilizing of the country's dog power, who after a vigorous training have been in various campaigns to act as scouts, message bearers and guards...
These dogs of war are... equipped with bandages, disifectants, and other medical equipment which in smart business like leather cases are fastened on their backs, ready for instant use to the wounded on the battlefield.
Bomb and shell, mud and mire hold no terror for these brave friends of man. A dauntless spirit, an unfailing courage see them through where men would grow weary and afraid...
With a training school firmly established in Nanking, a tradition began to grow up around its barbed wire compound and low rambling gray brick kennels. In the center of a spacious compound, dogs gather round an elaborate stone monument, as if by some unknown force they are attracted to the grave of one of the corp's bravest members.
Above a stone pedestal, a concrete statue of a Alsatian police dog stands. It is Nikko, a dog who was shot by an enemy bullet in Kiukiang. Nikko was born and reared in the city from which she got her name...
After the commencement of the hostilities, Nikko was sent out together with other members of the Canine Corps to the front lines of battle, which were then near Kiukiang. Soon after her arrival, a message of the utmost importance was ordered to be dispatched to another detachment of the force some distance off. As telephone lines had been cut off, the commander of the battalion entrusted Nikko with the message.
Securing firmly a pouch around her neck, the commander bade Nikko be off. Somehow realizing the importance and danger of her mission, Nikko wagged her tail sadly and licked the commander's outstretched hand. 'You must succeed, Nikko,' was all the commander could say.
Without further delay the dog crepe into the blackness of the night. The sky was lit up with the flare of both armies pounding with heavy guns at each other's defenses. Past shell holes and barbed wire entanglements Nikko made her careful way... Many hours passed, the anxiety of the commander and his men grew as each minute ticked wearily by.
The day dawned at last. Away in the distance they could see reinforcements coming to their assistance. Nikko had not failed! But where was she? Soldiers later found her body, stiff and prostate, on the field of battle. A bullet had found a resting place in the gallant warrior's heart. Locks of her hair were cut as takens of her heroism by mournng soldier friends.
A lieutenant in charge of the Canine Corps in Nanking, who had originally been a sculptor in Toykyo modeled a likeness of the gallant dog in concrete. In it were enshrined the locks of hair cut by the grateful soldiers. Hair from two hundred more dogs who had died gallant deaths shortly found their way into the shrine...
From all parts of Japan, dogs are sent to be trained in the canine training school in Nanking. Most dogs sent to this school come from school children in Japan. All dogs received, however, are not recruited, only those well able to stand the rigors of war... Ten months of rigid training is given each dog, who is assigned under the care of a soldier trainer..."
"In 1937, when Japanese and Chinese forces were fighting their bitter fight around the Shanghai area, a rumor went the rounds that the Japanese were using fierce, bloodthirsty dogs to fight the Chinese troops. Humorous Shanghailanders replied that the dogs must have been employed as a retaliation against the Chinese guerrila bands roaming the district. Though thought of as only another strange story connected with the hostilities in China, few Western observers fully realized that truth lay behind the circulating rumor.
That there were dogs assisting the Japanese forces was correct. That they were bloodthirsty or that they were used to devour the enemy were untruths...
As necessary to the Japanese forces as the coming of the wireless has been to the armies of the West is the adoption many years ago by the Japanese to the mobilizing of the country's dog power, who after a vigorous training have been in various campaigns to act as scouts, message bearers and guards...
These dogs of war are... equipped with bandages, disifectants, and other medical equipment which in smart business like leather cases are fastened on their backs, ready for instant use to the wounded on the battlefield.
Bomb and shell, mud and mire hold no terror for these brave friends of man. A dauntless spirit, an unfailing courage see them through where men would grow weary and afraid...
With a training school firmly established in Nanking, a tradition began to grow up around its barbed wire compound and low rambling gray brick kennels. In the center of a spacious compound, dogs gather round an elaborate stone monument, as if by some unknown force they are attracted to the grave of one of the corp's bravest members.
Above a stone pedestal, a concrete statue of a Alsatian police dog stands. It is Nikko, a dog who was shot by an enemy bullet in Kiukiang. Nikko was born and reared in the city from which she got her name...
After the commencement of the hostilities, Nikko was sent out together with other members of the Canine Corps to the front lines of battle, which were then near Kiukiang. Soon after her arrival, a message of the utmost importance was ordered to be dispatched to another detachment of the force some distance off. As telephone lines had been cut off, the commander of the battalion entrusted Nikko with the message.
Securing firmly a pouch around her neck, the commander bade Nikko be off. Somehow realizing the importance and danger of her mission, Nikko wagged her tail sadly and licked the commander's outstretched hand. 'You must succeed, Nikko,' was all the commander could say.
Without further delay the dog crepe into the blackness of the night. The sky was lit up with the flare of both armies pounding with heavy guns at each other's defenses. Past shell holes and barbed wire entanglements Nikko made her careful way... Many hours passed, the anxiety of the commander and his men grew as each minute ticked wearily by.
The day dawned at last. Away in the distance they could see reinforcements coming to their assistance. Nikko had not failed! But where was she? Soldiers later found her body, stiff and prostate, on the field of battle. A bullet had found a resting place in the gallant warrior's heart. Locks of her hair were cut as takens of her heroism by mournng soldier friends.
A lieutenant in charge of the Canine Corps in Nanking, who had originally been a sculptor in Toykyo modeled a likeness of the gallant dog in concrete. In it were enshrined the locks of hair cut by the grateful soldiers. Hair from two hundred more dogs who had died gallant deaths shortly found their way into the shrine...
From all parts of Japan, dogs are sent to be trained in the canine training school in Nanking. Most dogs sent to this school come from school children in Japan. All dogs received, however, are not recruited, only those well able to stand the rigors of war... Ten months of rigid training is given each dog, who is assigned under the care of a soldier trainer..."
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Yes, when the luxury liner ship, Titanic sank April 14, there were dogs on the Titanic. The Titanic had excellent kennel facilities. Even a dog show had been planed for Monday April 15th. There were 10 dogs that boarded the Titanic but only 3 survived. Two small dogs were saved with their owners in the life boats. The third dog became a famous hero. The dog was a large Newfoundland dog owned by the ships first officer and his name was Rigel. The following is a story that was published in the New York Herald on April 21, 1912.
Not the least among the heroes of the Titanic was Rigel, a big black Newfoundland dog, belonging to the first officer, who went down with his ship, But for Rigel the fourth boat picked up might have been run down by the Carpathia. For three hours he swam in the icy water where the Titanic went down, evidently looking for his master, and was instrumental in guiding the boatload of survivors to the gangway of the Carpathia.
Jonas Briggs, a seaman aboard the Carpathia now has Rigel and told the story of the dog's heroism. The Carpathia was moving slowly about, looking for boats, rafts and anything which might be afloat. Exhausted with their efforts, weak from lack of food and exposure to the cutting wind, and terror stricken, the men and women in the fourth boat had drifted under the Carpathia's starboard bow. They were dangerously close to the steamship, but too weak to shout a warning loud enough to reach the bridge.
The boat might not have been seen were in not for the sharp barking of Rigel, who was swimming ahead of the craft, and valiantly announcing his position. His barks attracted the attention of Captain Rostron and he went to the starboard end of the bridge to see where they came from and saw the boat. He immediately ordered the engines stopped and the boat came alongside the starboard gangway..
Care was taken to take Rigel aboard, but he appeared little affected by his long trip through the ice cold water. He stood by the raft and barked until Captain Rostron called Briggs and had him take the dog below.
Two dogs survived the sinking of Titanic, yes that’s right,two DOGS survived. They escaped on early lifeboats carrying so few people that no one objected. Miss Margaret Hays of New York brought her Pomeranian with her in lifeboat No. 7, while Henry Sleeper Harper of the publishing family boarded boatNo. 3 with his Pekinese, Sun Yat Sen.
One of the most famous was called Becerrillo, that meant "bullock". While Becerillo were in the New World, his bloodthirsty reputation spread so widely that the enemy abandoned the field as soon as they saw him. "He attacked his enemies with frenzied rage and defended his friends with great courage," recounted the celebrated chronicle written by Bartolomè de Las Casas, a very short report on the destruction of the West Indies. "The Indians are more afraid of ten Spanish soldiers with Bercerrillo than a hundred by themselves."
After fighting in numerous battles, the body of the dog was covered in scars. As recognition for his service he was treated like any other soldier even receiving part of the spoils of war (even if it is difficult to imagine what a dog would want with possessions of the kind).
However, if the large war animal earned his terrible reputation in battle, it should be said that he never stooped to cowardly actions. The story goes, in fact, that after annihilating the natives at Puerto Rico, Becerrillo’s owner invented a nice little game to amuse his brothers-in-arms while they waited for the arrival of the Spanish governor, the legendary Juan Ponce de Leòn, on the island.
Salazar sent for an old native woman, he gave her a piece of paper telling her it contained a message for the governor and told her to take it to him immediately on pain of death. The terrified woman began to walk. A moment later Salazar ordered Becerrillo to attack her.
According to the tales of the time, the enormous animal threw himself at the prey bearing his teeth and the old women fell on her knees begging pity. Then something extraordinary happened. The terrifying beast that according to more than one account, had massacred dozens of people on the battlefield disobeyed his master’s orders. He sniffed the woman curiously and then turned and went away.
Its fellow soldiers were to put it mildly amazed: some were so shocked that they cried miracle, others were ashamed to see that an animal had refused to kill in cold blood when instead many of them would have done so without thinking twice.
A short time later, Ponce de Leòn arrived at the island and was told what had occurred. The warlord ordered the old woman to be released and returned to her people, then he prohibited any deed against the local population. "I will not allow the compassion and the clemency of a dog to overshadow those of a real Christian,” he is said to have commented.
Becerrillo undoubtedly killed. But, unlike his companions, was not a killer.