Animals that helped Soviet soldiers to win
During the Great Patriotic War, not only people brought the victory closer as best they could. At the front, side by side with the fighters there were always animals: signalmen, orderlies, sappers.
Soviet soldiers with demolition dogs
Carrier pigeons delivered reports. These birds were indispensable when communication was interrupted, there was not enough technology capacity. Pigeons caused a lot of trouble for the Germans, so in the occupied territories they confiscated birds from local residents, and snipers were taught to shoot pigeons.
Cats are remembered with gratitude in St. Petersburg, which was besieged Leningrad during the war. On the most difficult days, pets were close to the Leningraders – they warmed them with their warmth, warned them about the bombing by their behavior. Later, when there were no cats left in the city, rats began to attack him. And then more than 5 thousand cats were specially brought to Leningrad, which the townspeople were happy with almost more than provisions.
And then there were horses, deer, camels. And, of course, dogs. According to official data, more than 68 thousand of them were drafted into the army during the war years. They had many different tasks. And although the four-legged and birds did not receive any military awards for their merits, their memory speaks better than any orders and medals.
Signal dogs delivered important orders and pulled communication lines. The number of dispatches delivered by a person’s friends is in the hundreds of thousands. Medical orderlies with a medical bag on their belly found the wounded soldiers. We crawled up to them, waited for the man to bandage himself, crawled on. If they were unconscious, they licked their faces so that they woke up, lay next to them and warmed the soldiers. At the same time, they accurately determined whether a person was alive or had already died.
There were mine detectors. Dozens of cities cleared of mines, millions of defused ammunition. A keen dog’s nose helped to almost accurately determine where a mine or land mine was planted. Mistakes here cost the life of both the person and his pet.
The most difficult fate was for saboteur dogs, demolition dogs. Their only combat mission entailed the inevitable death of the animal. The dogs, hung with explosives, were trained to throw themselves under enemy tanks and undermine them. During the war, about 300 units of fascist armored vehicles were destroyed in this way. In the same way, sacrificing themselves, the dogs blew up bridges and trains.
We remember by name
Julbars – mine detector dog. It is said that he became the only dog to be awarded the Medal of Military Merit, although there is no information about this in the official documents. On account of Dzhulbars, 7,5 thousand mines and more than 150 shells were found. Austrian cathedrals, Czechoslovak castles, Romanian palaces – Djulbars saved the sights of many countries of Western and Eastern Europe. And he was honored to go in a parade on Red Square in 1945.
They say that Dzhulbars was supposed to go as part of the military dog school. But he was wounded and could not walk. Then Stalin ordered to carry the dog in his arms across the square on his tunic. So Dzhulbars in the hands of the country’s chief dog handler, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Mazover, led the column of the Central School of Military Dog Breeding.
Nursing dogs underwent rigorous training
Alma -Connected dog. Was badly injured on mission. The German sniper hit her twice: the first time he shot both ears, the second shattered the jaw. Bleeding to death, Alma carried important documents to her destination. But this task turned out to be the last for her, the shots of the German became fatal.
Mukhtar – orderly dog. He pulled more than 400 wounded soldiers from the battlefields. Saved Mukhtar and his guide – corporal Zorin, who was shell-shocked by a nearby bomb.
Dick – mine detector dog. The Scottish Collie had an amazing instinct. His most famous find was a 2,5-tonne mine with a clockwork mechanism. The bomb was laid in the foundations of the Pavlovsk Palace in Leningrad. By the time Dick discovered the ammunition, there was only an hour left before the powerful explosion …
Jack – scout dog. Together with his guide, corporal Novella Kisagulov, he captured the Germans – languages. The story is known how a corporal, thanks to a dog, was able to unnoticed get inside the impregnable German fortress Glogau, take an enemy officer prisoner and take him out, without catching the eye of any of the posts.
Rex – a signalman. He was the pet of the signalman Nikolai Bolginov, he served with a rifle battalion. During his military biography, he delivered more than 1600 dispatches to his destination. In February 44, Rex had to swim across the Dnieper in order to deliver a report on the counterattack of the fascists. The dog was carried away by the current, by the wind, but he traveled three times from one side of the river to the other, delivering important documents.
Dinah – saboteur dog. She was taught to leave explosives in front of the train – to throw off a special combat bag – and hide from the place. In August 43, Dina blew up a German train in Belarus. The explosion destroyed ten cars, destroyed a large section of the railway track, and started a fire. And Dina survived – this was the only such case.