Messenger Dogs in the Field 95 



25 mins. The 3rd day ' Ginger,' my other dog, was brought 

 back to me and I found he had shell-shock. I tried my 

 best to cure him but without success." 



"Ginger," however, greatly recovered later on and was 

 constantly in use in the field. Keeper Swankie's report 

 continues : 



' On one occasion the Div. General came to see the dogs 

 work. Their duty that day was to carry 2 messages sent 

 out by Message Rocket back to Brigade Hdqtrs., a distance 

 of 1,000 yds. — time taken 3J mins. 



" After we had got the kennels fixed up, orders came 

 for 8 men and 24 dogs to go up the line. I was amongst 

 them and next morning went to Gentilles Wood, where 

 I was attached to the 47th London Div. The dogs did 

 splendid work there, and were working day and night. I 

 lost one dog there, an old collie — he had carried 5 messages 

 that day and was on his way back with his 6th one, when 

 he was killed by shrapnel. By this time the French had 

 taken over that part of the line, and we had to go to a place 

 called Vignecourt where we were attached to the Australian 

 Corps. My first trip up the line from there was to a place 

 called Villers Bretonneux, where I was for 7 days, and 

 during that time my dogs were working day and night. 

 From there I went back to the Compound for 7 days' rest, 

 then back to Villers Bretonneux for another 7. This time 

 it was pretty rough in this part and the dogs had plenty 

 of work and did it well." 



The dog " Creamy " was a cream-coloured cross-bred 

 lurcher with a semi-rough coat — a most affectionate and 

 intelligent messenger. It did most of its work under Keeper 



