The British Army’s Paradogs
In times of total war, deep in the heart of enemy territory, few comforts are available to man. The threat of capture, injury or death either of oneself or of one’s comrades lurks around every corner making home seem a world away. But at least the men of the 13th Lancashire Parachute Battalion could say they had their best friends there with them. For in the lead-up to the Normandy landings of the Second World War, the British Army trained a unit of dogs that were to act as the eyes, ears (and tails) of the troops on the ground.
The training of these dogs was left to Lance Corporal Ken Bailey, a military man with a veterinary background. We are fortunate enough to have been left his official notes documenting how he went about doing this. These dog soldiers were taught to freeze if they heard loud sounds and were trained to familiarise themselves with the smell of the explosive powder, cordite. Before jumping, their food was considerably rationed so they would be hungrier than usual while up in the air. Then, once over the landing point, the men of the parachute division would jump out of the aircraft holding pieces of meat, leading their keen canine companions to throw themselves out after them.
“She looked somewhat bewildered but showed no sign of fear”, Bailey reported of one dog, Reena, who accompanied him down on a dummy run. Landing a few moments before Lance Corporal Bailey, she apparently made no attempt to resist the landing, rolling over once before getting to her feet, looking around, and wagging her tail. The real thing didn’t go quite so well. When Bailey landed in Normandy, he lost his Alsatian-Collie-cross, Bing, up a tree. Several soldiers of the regiment were needed to get him down.
The Paradogs fared better during Operation Varsity when the British landed over Germany. Sent to explore a house, Bing managed to alert British paratroopers to German soldiers within. Fortunately for bing, his valiant actions in Operation Varsity earned him a Dickin Medal: the canine equivalent of the Medal of Honour (or, in this case, Victoria Cross). Unfortunately for Bing, the medal wasn’t edible.