Praise for wartime companions

Horses, donkeys, pigeons and even cats played their part, writes Guy Barnett

TASMANIA, along with many other parts of the world, will be commemorating Remembrance Day today.

Remembrance Day marks the end to World War I when at 11am on November 11, 1918, the guns of the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare.

The war claimed more than 16 million lives, including more than 60,200 Australians.

More than 15,000 Tasmanian men enlisted to serve their nation.

Of these, more than 3000 lost their lives and many more suffered physical and psychological injuries.

On the first anniversary of armistice in 1919, two minutes’ silence was instituted as part of the main commemorative ceremony in London.

The practice was adopted for Armistice Day and large crowds attended commemorations, as historic photos illustrate.

Less well known today is the efforts of animals alongside our servicemen and women in the Great War.

Many millions of animals, none more so than horses, camels, mules and donkeys, played a part in military operations.

The most well known of these today would be the horses of the Australian Light Horse regiments.

Alongside the horses of the Light Horse regiments were many thousands of mules and donkeys which were used for transport and in pulling artillery or bringing stores and munitions to the front lines.

Perhaps the most famous of these was Simpson’s donkey, which along with Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick, carried wounded men to safety at Gallipoli.

A statue of Simpson and his donkey stands at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, a reminder not just of Simpson and his heroism but the animal that went with him each and every time.

Other animals including pigeons, dogs and even cats played a major role.

Tasmanian historian Reg A. Watson says: “Dogs were used to help soldiers when they were out patrolling to give them warning of an enemy approaching, thus saving their lives. “The pigeon was used to carry messages between the soldiers and their officers when it was not possible to lay telephone lines being too dangerous. It was not only the pigeon which served our soldiers; it was also canaries. When digging underground, poisonous gases appeared which would suffocate the men. Canaries, as they had been used in mines during peaceful times, were put to work to detect these gases. Mice also were employed in the same way. If the canary or mice died from these gases, the soldiers were forewarned, so that they could put on their gas masks preventing their death.”

Cats were also used to help control the mice and rats found in trenches at Gallipoli and on the Western Front.

There is evidence also that Australian soldiers often took native animals with them to war as regimental mascots including kangaroos, wallabies and even, by some reports, koalas and wombats.

This Remembrance Day, I encourage all Tasmanians to attend a service, wear a poppy in remembrance, and take a minute’s silence to remember the service and sacrifice of our servicemen and women.

Lyons Liberal MHA Guy Barnett is the Tasmanian Minister for Veterans’ Affairs.