How the Movement Began 55 



pened was that, although both men and dogs wore the 

 Red Cross, the enemy brutally shot them all down whenever 

 they attempted to carry out their humanitarian work. It 

 was also found that, when the opposing forces settled down 

 into trench warfare, the opportunities on the Western front 

 were closed. The only ambulance dogs that were used 

 with any success were those with the German army when 

 the Russians were retreating on the Eastern front. 



I offered my services to the British Red Cross Society 

 with some trained ambulance dogs, and was sent by the 

 society to Belgium early in August, 1914. I made my 

 way as far as Brussels, only to find the enemy entering the 

 city from the east, and the Belgians falling back, while our 

 own army had not come up. I succeeded in getting out 

 of Brussels with the dogs and reached Ostend, but the con- 

 ditions on the Western front soon became, as I have said, 

 impossible for the successful use of ambulance dogs. The 

 French War Office entirely forbade their use with their 

 army after the first few weeks. 



After some months I received a number of requests from 

 officers for dogs for sentry and patrol work. I did my 

 best to supply these, and found Airedales answered the 

 purpose well. I also sent some to the Belgian army. 

 During this time I understand many officers were writing 

 to the War Office, asking that dogs should be supplied 

 officially for several purposes. In the winter of 1916 I 

 received a letter from an officer in the Royal Artillery, in 

 which he expressed a great desire for trained dogs to keep 

 up communications between his outpost and the battery, 

 during heavy bombardment, when telephones are rendered 

 useless, and the risk to runners is enormous. He asked if 

 I would train some dogs to carry messages, and I promised 

 to do so. I made many experiments with a large number 



