Anti-tank dog

[spangy]

The Russians used dogs during world war 2. They bred them in great numbers for there skins which were used for boots and gloves for their soldiers.

As well many dogs were trained for anti tank warfare. The dogs were starved and only recieved food underneath tanks. Continual failures brought about a simplification. The bomb was fastened on the dog and detonated upon contact with the target, killing the animal.



Whereas in the first program, the dog was trained to locate a specific target, this task was simplified to find an ENEMY tank. Dogs were trained by being kept hungry and their food was placed under tanks. The tanks were at first left standing still, then they had their engines running, which was further combined with sporadic blank-shot gunfire and other battle-related distractions. This routine aimed to teach the dogs to run under the tanks in battlefield situations.

Each dog was fitted with a 10–12-kilogram (22–26 lb) mine carried in two canvas pouches adjusted individually to each dog. The mine had a safety pin which was removed right before the deployment; each mine carried no markings and was not supposed to be disarmed. A wooden lever extended out of a pouch to about 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in height. When the dog dived under the tank, the lever struck the bottom of the tank and detonated the charge. Because the underparts of the chassis were the most vulnerable area of these vehicles, it was hoped the explosion would disable the vehicle.



The use of anti-tank dogs was escalated during 1941 and 1942, when every effort was made by the Red Army to stop the German advance at the Eastern Front of World War II. In that period, the dog training schools were mostly focused on producing anti-tank dogs. About 40,000 dogs were deployed for various tasks in the Red Army.

The first group of anti-tank dogs arrived at the frontline at the end of the summer of 1941 and included 30 dogs and 40 trainers. Their deployment revealed some serious problems. In order to save fuel and ammunition, dogs had been trained on tanks which stood still and did not fire their guns. In the field, the dogs refused to dive under moving tanks. Some persistent dogs ran near the tanks, waiting for them to stop but were shot in the process. Gunfire from the tanks scared away many of the dogs. They would run back to the trenches and often detonated the charge upon jumping in, killing Soviet soldiers. To prevent this, the returning dogs had to be shot, often by their controllers and this made the trainers unwilling to work with new dogs. Some went so far as to say that the army did not stop with sacrificing people to the war and went on to slaughter dogs too; those who openly criticized the program were persecuted by "special departments" (military counterintelligence). Out of the first group of 30 dogs, only four managed to detonate their bombs near the German tanks, inflicting an unknown amount of damage. Six exploded upon returning to the Soviet trenches, killing and injuring soldiers. Three dogs were shot by German troops and taken away without attempts by the Soviets to prevent this, which provided examples of the detonation mechanism to the Germans. A captured German officer later reported that they learned of the anti-tank dog design from the killed animals, and considered the program desperate and inefficient. A German propaganda campaign sought to discredit the Red Army, saying that Soviet soldiers refuse to fight and send dogs instead.

Another serious training mistake was revealed later; the Soviets used their own diesel engine tanks to train the dogs rather than German tanks which had gasoline engines. As the dogs relied on their acute sense of smell, the dogs sought out familiar Soviet tanks instead of strange-smelling German tanks. This effectively meant that the Soviets had trained the dogs to sabotage their own army.

And who says Ivan doesn't have a sense of humor. German Shepherd Dogs were favored for the program for their physical abilities and ease of training, but other breeds were used as well.



THE END

I wish to emphasize that under no circumstances do I approve of using man's best friend for suicidal missions.

[DonVoigt]

Who says the Russians are not nice guys?

Diesel tanks- great, sounds like the Ruskies got just what they deserved.

[Fla.Mallard]

Soviets sucked! Putin Russians aren't much better.

I hate to admit it but I am 25% Belarusan. I didn't know it until my daughter put my saliva in the Ancestry website.

[spangy]

I had heard of the use of dolphins trained and used as mines by the US Navy years ago.
I had no idea if that was true or not but i could see it.

The other day I was offered a deal on a streaming site called Curiosity Stream.
https://curiositystream.com/
Its a documentary streaming site and covers everything you can think of for $15 / year ... I couldn't resist.

The first thing I watched was a 6 part series on WW1. In part 3 they were covering the Germans trying to capture Stalingrad. They covered the dogs being used as mines by the Russians .... with actual footage of poor little pups blowing themselves to pieces under German tanks hoping to be fed .... It was heartbreaking to watch.

I love dogs and was deeply affected as I lost my dog of 14 yrs just 3 yrs ago.
It got me doing research into the disgusting use of our best friends as weapons.
There is a lot of information out there on the subject and I thought others might want to know of this atrocity.

War IS HELL that much is certain and I wonder if we will ever truly learn.

[Mark1]

It was a very bad time for animals, as well as people, on both sides of the eastern front in WW2.
It's well documented that the 200,000 survivors of the German 6th Army trapped at Stalingrad, faced starvation. By the first week of January 1943 they had eaten all 23,000 of their draught horses, some thousand or so bullocks and camels and all 600 of the military police dogs. Total losses of Wehrmacht horses during the failed Stalingrad campaign was over 150,000 animals.
That the German Army of the Nazi era was so dependent on draught animals was a surprise to me.

[4 Scale]

Originally Posted by Mark1

That the German Army of the Nazi era was so dependent on draught animals was a surprise to me.

I was also surprised to learn this. I've learned that 80% of German Army transport during WWII was by horse.

I was further surprised when I learned that German pistol production was on allocation to their service branches from the beginning of re-armament in 1933 to the end of the war.

The reason this information surprised me was, I had been taught in school that one of the reasons the U.S. entered WWII was to prevent the Germans from taking over the world. Reliance on horses and a shortage of pistols seemed odd for an adversary with such ambitions.

[4 Scale]

In Beevor's Stalingrad book,he discusses the brutality of the Eastern Front and how it impacted German moral. German troops going home on leave were instructed not to appear negative about conditions in the USSR.

Probably in response by late 1941 some German soldiers created a sarcastic "Notes For Those Going on Leave". One piece of advice (p.46):

"Defense Against Animals: Dogs with mines attached to them are a special feature of the Soviet Union. German dogs in worst cases bite, but do not explode. Shooting every dog you see, although recommended in the Soviet Union, might create a bad impression".

[Mark1]

The true picture of what happened on the Eastern Front didn't begin to emerge till 50 years later, at least to western historians. Relying on horse-drawn transport to invade Western Europe, with advanced road and rail systems, was a successful strategy. But when that strategy encountered the Russian Steppe and an enemy who would simply not give in, the results were very different. That's not a reflection of the other European nations who were forced to face Nazi aggression, only that the Red Army was willing to pay any price to defend the homeland.

[gunbugs]

The Germans were defeated as soon as the snow fell. The Russians had overwhelming superiority in numbers of all weapons. There was no reason for the US to get involved in Europe in WW2. Plus Roosevelt baited Japan into attacking the U.S. When the fleet was moved from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, the Admirals knew it was a very bad spot to put the Pacific fleet, that basically, in the course of an attack at Pearl Harbor, the ships would be trapped, with only a narrow path of escape. It took 40 years for Admiral Kimmel to be exonerated. The only good thing that came out of our involvement in Europe, is we get to play with the losers guns.

[JONABI]

I saw a documentary about ten years ago, and yes dolphin were trained to carry magnetic mines and to "attach" them on the hull of enemy boat

[JONABI]

I saw a documentary about ten years ago, and yes dolphin were trained to carry magnetic mines and to "attach" them on the hull of enemy boat
"All wars are Bankers wars"