Dogs during the Great Patriotic War. The feat of dogs during the Great Patriotic War

In the fiery years of the Great Patriotic War, when the motherland was in danger, not only people but also animals became its defenders. A vivid example are the dogs. They heroically displayed 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.

The use of dogs during hostilities

The experience of using dogs in the war is known for a long time. About this we learn both from written sources, and from the monuments of ancient art (rock art). Even in the ancient world, used trained detachments of dogs for offensive operations of the army. With the advent of firearms, the offensive role of dogs declined significantly, they were used as signalers, orderlies and cartridges of cartridges. For example, during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, in some parts of the Russian army dogs were used for sanitary and sentry purposes. A separate and unique case is the heroism that the dogs showed during the Great Patriotic War. Photos that do not count, are a direct confirmation of this fact.

The use of dogs during the Second World War

On the fronts of the Great War, there was a huge number of detachments of fighting dogs. In total, over 70,000 "human friends" of the most diverse breeds passed through the military trails 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 military operations were far from being all good breeds and did not possess the best qualities for the reason that in 1941 pedigree dogs died, serving in detachments of tank destroyers. Therefore, it became necessary to train new detachments from mongrel dogs.

The first training showed a good result. The Dwarves were unpretentious, strong, and, to the surprise of the dog breeders, easily succumbed to training. They were used to carry out a variety of combat missions: delivery of cartridges and products, protection, removal of the wounded, mining of territory, reconnaissance, extermination of armored vehicles, sabotage, establishing communication, etc. The exploits of dogs during the Great Patriotic War were widely known to the entire Soviet people, They are remembered and still.

Front units of dogs

All military fronts were trained and formed into special combat units:

• 17 battalions of dog-miners;
• 14 detachments of dogs - fighter armored vehicles;
• 37 battalions of sled dogs;
• 2 specialized detachments;
• 4 battalions of connected detachments.

Sled dogs

Long before the outbreak of the war, in 1924, at the military school "Vystrel" a nursery was set up to train military and sled dogs. The institution formed detachments not only of sled teams, but also signalers, hospital attendants and sappers.

The first time the sled dogs were used in the Winter War of the USSR against Finland. In 1940, sled dogs showed themselves so well that the army headquarters established a new riding service.

Sled dogs during the Great Patriotic War were a very important part of the transport connection between the army units both in the winter and in the summer.

With the help of sled teams, the wounded were taken out from the battlefield, reinforcements and ammunition were delivered to the firing positions. Especially effective teams were in winter in off-road conditions and snowdrifts.

The driving units of the dogs, which are about 15 thousand teams, during the war, took out more than 6500 thousand wounded from the battlefield, brought to the position more than 3.5 tons of ammunition and ammunition, and delivered an uncountable amount of food.

Dogs of the orderlies

Dogs of sanitary purpose possessed an excellent scent and abilities of the detective, so they found the wounded not only on the battlefield, but also in the forest more often, the swamp. Then they brought them to the military field hospital, while carrying the emergency medicine. The nurse, nicknamed Mukhtar during the fighting, brought from the battlefield about 400 seriously wounded soldiers. Such records are unique in world military history.

Dogs-orderlies during the Great Patriotic War acted very harmoniously and wisely. They were admired even by Western military correspondents who visited the Soviet Union.

Breeding dogs

"Subversive" dogs during the Great Patriotic War were, perhaps, the most selfless examples of defenders of the motherland. In the summer of 1941, German tanks went to dogs - fighters of such vehicles. The German troops did not expect such a tactical move and lost a considerable amount of equipment. Their command even issued a special instruction to tankmen to combat the dogs - tank destroyers. But Soviet dog breeders expected this and began to more diligently train demolitions.

The dogs were taught to quickly rush under the technique from a short distance to immediately be inaccessible to the machine gun zone of the tank. In the pack of the Demoman, a mine was laid, which contained 3-4 kilograms of explosive and a special detonator.

During the years of bloody battles, demolition dogs destroyed in total more than 300 enemy tanks, as well as armored personnel carriers, assault guns and other equipment. In the future, the need for such dogs disappeared, as the tank and artillery power of the Soviet Union grew so much that it was free to resist the German army and without this kind of spending. In the autumn of 1943 detachments of demolition dogs were liquidated. To understand how dogs helped people during the Great Patriotic War, the following fact can be cited. Only in the Battle of Stalingrad, subversive dogs destroyed 42 tanks and 3 armored cars.

Dog-detectors

At the end of 1940, the first small detachment of dog-miners was created, and instructions for their training were developed.

Dogs that were engaged in minefield clearance in the Soviet Union, there were about 6,000. Over the course of the war, they cleared about four million charges of various kinds. These actions have saved the lives of tens of thousands of people. Dogs-heroes cleared Kiev, Novgorod, Warsaw, Vienna, Berlin and Budapest.

Prominent cynologist and officer AP Mazover, who commanded a battalion of mine-hunting dogs during the war, invented the legendary "tablet number 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 the record holders, who cleared about 12,000 mines during the entire war. Understanding this figure, you will appreciate the huge role played by dog-miners during the Great Patriotic War.

Tasks of mine detectors dogs

During the war years, detachments of dog-miners performed the following combat missions.

• During the preparation for offensive operations, miner dogs were used to make moves in minefields. Thus, rifle units and armored vehicles could pass through them.
• One of the main tasks of dog-miners was the demining of transport roads, which the enemy, retreating, constantly mined.
• If time and situation allowed, units were used to completely demolish settlements, individual buildings and in general terrain.

Subversive dogs

This type of detachments, like subversive dogs, was used in SMERSH detachments during the Great Patriotic War to search enemy saboteurs, especially German snipers. The sabotage squad consisted of several dogs, a rifle squad, a signalman and an NKVD worker. The preparation of such a detachment was preceded by careful and painstaking preparation, selection and training. Dogs-saboteurs successfully performed not only the tasks of the search, but also undermined German trains, even during the movement.

Dean's Shepherd

A vivid example of a dog-saboteur is the shepherd dog Dean. She served in the 14th Saper Brigade and went down in history as a participant in the "rail war" in the territory of Belarus. Being still young, the sheep-dog has passed very good training in military school of dog breeding. After that she worked under the command of the cynologist Dina Volkats in the 37th separate engineering battalion.

She has successfully applied her talent in practice. So, in mid-August 1943, Dean blew up the enemy lineup on the Polotsk-Drissa stretch. Shepherd literally flew to the rails right before the approaching train, in which were the German officers, dropped the pack with a charge, pulled out the detonator's teeth and fled into the forest. As a result of the explosion, about 10 wagons of enemy manpower were destroyed, and the railway was put out of order.

Dog Dina during the Great Patriotic War carried out dozens of successful sabotage operations, and also helped to clear the city of Polotsk.

Scout dogs

Dogs engaged in exploration, have shown themselves more than perfectly, especially in such operations as "Rail War" and "Concert". This type of war dogs ensured the invisibility of the scouts' passage to the rear of the enemy's defense and the success of their activity among the overwhelming majority of opponents. If there was a reconnaissance dog in the search group, then it was easy to prevent an unwanted combat with an enemy ambush. Dogs-scouts passed special training and never barked. The fact that a detachment of enemy forces was discovered, the dog informed the owner only with specific movements of the hull. Legendary scout dog named Fog could silently knock off the sentry at the post and make a death grip in the back of the head, after which the scouts could safely act in the rear of the enemy.

Also, scout dogs could detect enemy sabotage groups, which tried to covertly penetrate the line of the Soviet defense.

The feat of dogs during the Great Patriotic War

Archival information about the history of the Great Patriotic War keeps the names of true friends of a person. Demolition Nalet and Dick, scouts Sailor and Jack, miners Boy, Elik, Dick. All of them died ...

For a better understanding of the role played by dogs during the Great Patriotic War, one should learn their exploits.

• Already mentioned was the sheepdog Mukhtar. Trained by her (and later became a conductor), corporal Zorin. During all the years of the war, the dog has brought from the battlefield more than 400 seriously wounded soldiers. He also saved his own, shell-shocked shell, explorer.
• The Watch Dog, named Agay, discovered dozens of German saboteurs who tried to get into the rear of the Red Army.
• The dog named Bulba worked as a liaison at the front. For all the time of the war, he handed over more than 1,500 dispatches and put hundreds of kilometers of cable. And the camp counselor Terentev taught him this craft.
• The dog named Jack with his conductor, corporal Kisagulov, went through the whole war as scouts. On their common account, dozens of captured "languages", among which there were also officers. In this combination, a man and a dog could create amazing things. As we see, service dogs played an important role during the Great Patriotic War.
• Laika, who was named Bobik, along with his conductor Dmitry Trokhov, for three years of military service, took out about 1600 wounded from the front line. The conductor was awarded the medal "For Courage" and the Order of the Red Star. Which is a little unfair, as the orderly for 80 soldiers, taken out from the battlefield, was given the title of Hero.
• Dog-signalman Rex for one day three times swam across the Dnieper under heavy fire of machine guns and artillery, delivering very important documents. And all this was in the cold November water.

The volleys of guns have long ago died down. Many people who trained military dogs are no longer in the world, like the legendary participants in the Great Patriotic War. But in the people's memory the feat of the four-footed warrior friends is alive.