Animals in Combat

Reviewed By  Janet Mawdesley       July 13, 2014

 

Author  Nigel Allsop

Distributor:     
ISBN:                 9781742575131
Publisher:         New Holland Publishers
Release Date:    

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Animals have been used in combat for many years; many more than realised, going back to times of Hannibal using elephants to cross the Alps to do battle with the Romans, which resulted in huge losses of animal life in the process. Bees have been used to break sieges by being catapulted over the walls in their hives. Bees were also used in World War1 and then again in Vietnam. Snakes were also used in psychological warfare, long before the term was coined.

A vast and unusual range of animals have been used over the centuries, including Bats, and are still used today in modern warfare to carry out and complete roles which have saved many lives; transferred messages, in the case of carrier pigeons, with marine mammals such as sea lions and dolphins being trained in mine detection and used as recently as the Middle East conflict.

As you wander thought the chapters of this amazing and informative look at animals in conflict, you are amazed and astonished at the extent and ingenuity used to involve animals in warfare.

We are all conversant with the use of mules and horses, along with dogs, but when you begin to read about the Yaks and llamas, which have also been drafted into service by one army or another, you realise how very little you know about such things.

The title does not really do justice to the contents of the book as the book is simply so much more. Commencing with Animals at War Today, this sets the tone with each chapter detailing various animals which have been used over the years and their rolls in the various conflicts. This gives a greater understanding of the love and professionalism soldiers worldwide give to the animals that work beside them on daily basis.

The final segment of the book looks at Countries Using Combat Animals Today which is a fitting conclusion to a work that started with Hannibal and rounds out with where armies and animals are today.

Some beautiful tributes to combat animals grace the pages coupled with a selection of photos which are perhaps more telling than the written word, making this a wonderful collection of history, animals and their contributions to the world in which we are fortunate to live.