Battle dolphins. Battle dolphins of the Crimea Dolphins demolitions during the wwii
Dolphins are still used for military purposes.
The US military is at the center of a storm of outrage from influential animal rights activists. The storm erupted as soon as it became known that the US military was using trained dolphins to clear mines off the southern coast of Iraq.
Honestly, the arguments of the representatives of the British Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) resemble the sacramental phrase "sorry for the bird" and smacks of completely nightmarish vulgarity.
"We strongly protest against the keeping of these animals in captivity and are not happy with their exploitation ... Animals can get hurt, and nothing can be justified" - threatening words of Cathy Williamson, spokesman for WDCS, thundered in the media.
She is echoed by Stephanie Boyles, a biologist with the American organization PETA (People for the Ethical Treaty of Animals). Boyles, however, stipulates that not only animals are at risk, but also those who rely on them.
"These animals are usually trained to perform various tricks, but such intelligent creatures as dolphins and sea lions are on their own, and the risk that they will not complete the task when life and death are at stake is very high," - says Boyles.
The military, however, think otherwise, and we dare to assume that the outraged statements of Williamson, Boyles and others like them did not cause them anything but funny laughter.
Why did it happen? - asks. Very simple. The use of dolphins for military purposes in the United States - and not only - has a fairly long history. We intend to tell some of its episodes to our readers.
Initially, the tasks of the dolphins included primarily the search for lost mines and torpedoes.
When exactly the idea of using dolphins in human conflicts arose is not very clear, although history knows many examples of cooperation between humans and dolphins (outside of hostilities), as well as the use of various animals - primarily horses and elephants - in battle.
According to some reports, the first experiments with dolphins of the US Armed Forces began in the late 1950s. Then the military was most interested in the location capabilities of marine mammals.
In the 1960s, a number of works were published on the intellectual abilities of dolphins. In this regard, the work of neurophysiologist John Lilly stands out, who suggested that the mind of a dolphin is at least comparable to that of a person, and perhaps even surpasses it.
The military, whose brains are always turned in the same direction, immediately decided that this property of marine mammals could and should be used. Why send humans on dangerous underwater missions when there are intelligent and trainable mammals who, pardon the pun, feel like fish in the water?
The main tasks that were set before the dolphins were to find and sometimes pull out lost ammunition, primarily torpedoes and mines, into the light of day.
The death of one kamikaze dolphin led to a quiet revolt of the others.
Then, already during the Vietnam War, dolphins began to be used as combat units. In other words, killers. Their duties included the fight against enemy underwater saboteurs. Dolphins either killed those, hitting them with poisoned stilettos, or tore off their breathing apparatus from their faces, and sometimes simply pushed them to the surface - under the sights of the sailors on the ships.
According to Soviet intelligence, dolphins killed several dozen Viet Cong saboteurs during the fighting in Vietnam ...
Naturally, the Soviets could not help but become interested in such a "weapon".
Valentin Zaitsev writes in his work "Battle Dolphins":
"... The main task was, of course, to adapt this ultra-sensitive biological system - a dolphin - to perform certain tasks. How, say, not to use its unique acoustic apparatus?
As a result of research, it turned out that it works for him - just imagine! - more than half of all nerve centers and cells in the dolphin brain. Experienced researcher Mikhail Polyakov even claims that by means of echolocation, a "competent" dolphin distinguishes almost identical objects from one another.
For example, coin-sized circles made of different metals - copper, zinc, tin, and so on. And from two cylinders with a diameter of 48 and 50 mm, by order, he is able to raise a concrete one. So the only contingent of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union had very capable servicemen. "
According to Zaitsev, in 1966 a special secret base was set up near Chersonesos, where experiments were carried out with dolphins - and a number of other marine mammals.
The fact that they tried to turn them into kamikaze is a well-known fact. And there is nothing unexpected in it: in the Soviet era, the attitude towards humans as a consumable was a commonplace (hardly anything has changed now), and even more so towards dolphins. A trained animal, albeit very smart ...
But this program had to be quickly curtailed: after the very first test "in conditions close to combat", that is, after the very first death of the dolphin, its relatives literally sent their instructors to hell and refused to follow their orders. Even for the fish.
However, despite the fact that it was not possible to make kamikaze from pinnipeds, the guards from them turned out to be excellent.
The photograph, which once went around the network media, proves that the United States is all right with military dolphins.
"During the last few years" under socialism, "the main base of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol was tightly closed from potential enemies by none other than the dolphins described above, taking individual warships under reliable protection.
Each dolphin shift carried its 4-hour watch at the concrete gate-alignment, entering a hidden position along a special water channel near Konstantinovsky Ravelin.
Any suspicious object floating on the surface or in the depths, she detected as much as several kilometers, immediately transmitting the appropriate warning signal to the central console.
And there, an experienced operator, accustomed to surprises, decided on his own what measures to take. Whether to order the disciplined dolphins to push this "something" to the surface, as if for public display, to unmask, whether to send a fast armed boat to intercept or neutralize it with dolphin forces right away.
Fortunately, by that time the Simonov couple of honored gunsmiths had invented lethal underwater weapons for "carrying them by animals" - from pistols to machine guns. For example, a powerful three-barreled gun from a dolphin's nose easily hit the target with a 12-gauge bullet at a distance of 20 meters ... "
Now what?
After the collapse of the USSR, the "dolphin" programs for the most part were curtailed. Moreover, over the Crimea and the entire Black Sea Fleet, the Russian and Ukrainian authorities are constantly playing in different tricks, which in no way can divide the former Soviet property. However, some research, fortunately, continues to this day.
According to some reports, part of the dolphins trained in the USSR (I can't dare call them "trained") dolphins were sold to Iran.
In the USA, judging by the latest data, dolphins continue to be actively used to this day.
Fighting dolphins in the USA
The Navy has conducted many tests with a variety of marine mammals to determine which one is best for training. The tests were carried out on more than 19 species, including sharks and birds. In the end, bottlenose dolphins and the California sea lion were found to be the most suitable. The bottlenose dolphin's advantage is their highly developed echolocation ability, which helps them find underwater mines. Sea lions can see flawlessly underwater, allowing them to spot enemy submariners. In 2007, the US Navy spent $ 14 million on the use of marine mammals as a weapon in its training programs, such as site restoration and mine detection.
Military dolphin training included detecting underwater mines, locating enemy combatants, and finding and destroying submarines using kamikaze techniques. There were even assumptions about the possibility of installing complex equipment, for example, sonar jamming devices, search engines, and so on. The US Navy denies ever training its marine mammals to harm or harm humans, or deliver weapons to destroy enemy ships.
In 2005, it was reported in the press that some of the US military were training dolphins at Lake Pontchartrain. And one of them fled during Hurricane Katrina. The US Navy dismissed these stories as foolishness or deception, although they may be considered quite true.
At the training bases, marine animals are cared for by professional veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and highly qualified marine biologists and xenosurgeons. They are monitored by doctors and staff around the clock, so the animals receive assistance when needed. The goal of the staff is to keep dolphins and sea lions in a healthy and fit shape, for which they conduct constant medical examinations, special meals, as well as collecting various kinds of data and training.
Dolphins and sea lions were divided into five teams that make up the Marine Mammal Fleet. One team specializes in detecting sailors, three teams in detecting mines, and the last team in detecting other objects. The quick response challenge of this fleet is to mobilize the team and be in the right place within 72 hours. Dolphins are trained more thoroughly than police or hunting dogs. Dolphins also receive rewards such as tasty fish for completing the task correctly.
In the USSR and the CIS
In the early 1990s, the training of dolphins for military purposes was discontinued. In 2000, the press reported that dolphins from the Sevastopol Dolphinarium were sold to Iran.
In October 2012, it was announced that the Ukrainian Navy was reopening the Sevastopol base for training combat dolphins. The main task of the last trainings was the detection of an object under water.
see also
Sources of
Links
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
- Battle Anthem of the Republic
- Battle information post
See what "Battle Dolphins" is in other dictionaries:
Fighting animals- Fighting animals - animals, in one way or another, used or used in hostilities. These can be work animals used to transport military supplies and transport soldiers; many pets such as ... Wikipedia
Fighting dogs- - were used in the battles of the armies of the period of antiquity and the Middle Ages with the aim of directly killing enemy soldiers. At a later time, dogs in war were used for various purposes, but directly to kill soldiers ... ... Wikipedia
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Anti-tank dog- Parade on Red Square. Moscow, May 1, 1938. Anti-tank dog is a specially trained dog with an explosive charge attached to it ... Wikipedia
The anniversary date is approaching - the 70th anniversary of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The heavy burden of the war, along with people, was borne by our "smaller brothers" - animals. It will be interesting and useful for preschoolers to learn how animals helped people, served them during the war. In this post, I have collected various information on this topic from various sources and adapted it for older preschoolers.
Cats
The Great Patriotic War turned out to be terrible and heroic, as well as for people, for cats. Thanks to their amazing sensitivity and intuition, cats have saved lives countless times.
Among the legends of wartime there is also a story about a ginger cat-"rumor" who settled at an anti-aircraft battery near Leningrad and accurately predicted the raids of enemy aircraft. Moreover, as the story goes, the animal did not react to the approach of Soviet aircraft. The battery command appreciated the cat for its unique gift, put it on rations, and even assigned one soldier to look after him. This story was mentioned by Anna Borisovna in the Director's blog. ru
Cats accurately detected the approach of an impending bombardment and, showing concern, warned their owners about it. But not only because of their sensitivity of the impending danger, cats saved people, very often they had to do this at the cost of their own lives.
So, for example, it is known that in besieged Leningrad, cats brought all their prey to their owners, and they themselves died of hunger. During the Great Patriotic War, cats warmed freezing children with their little bodies, while freezing themselves. And when all food supplies ran out, their cats became food for people.
And after the blockade of Leningrad was broken, the first thing, along with food, was delivered to the city a cargo that had a strategic purpose - four wagons of smoky cats, since smoky cats were considered the best rat-catchers. Those who survived the blockade said that huge queues lined up for cats, so great was their need for a city occupied by completely insolent rats.
Many Siberian cities participated in the mobilization of cats for Leningrad, which is dying from an invasion of rats. Siberian pets not only protected the inhabitants of Leningrad and the priceless food supplies from rats, but also took control of the storage facilities of the Hermitage and other Leningrad palaces and museums, which were of great historical value not only for the residents of Leningrad, but for the whole country.
In Tyumen alone, more than 250 cats were collected to help after the siege of Leningrad, volunteers themselves brought their pets to the collection point, contributing to the fight against hordes of rats. In total, more than 5 thousand fluffy pets were brought to Leningrad from Omsk, Tyumen, Irkutsk and other cities, which coped with the task set before them with honor. And since then there are no local cats left in Leningrad, they all have Siberian roots.
The cats that saved the greatest number of human lives during the Great Patriotic War were awarded a special award. The medal "We also serve the Motherland" was established especially for them., which is considered the most honorable in the animal world. True, she, unfortunately, did not return the lives of cats ...
And in Tyumen in 2008, in memory of the cats who saved the post-blockade Leningrad from rats, the Siberian Cats Square was opened.
Twelve sculptures of cats and kittens, cast from cast iron and covered with special golden paint, confirm the statement - "Nobody is forgotten, nothing is forgotten" ...
DOGS
During the War, the four-legged friends made their important contribution to the common Victory. Being a loyal friend to man, dogs carried out a variety of assignments.
Dogs took the wounded from the line of fire (about 700 thousand wounded were rescued by dogs during the war) and delivered ammunition to the battlefield.
Through the scorching heat, signal dogs got out important assignments (over the years of the war, they gave over 120 thousand such assignments).
In the forests and swamps, the dogs looked for our wounded soldiers and brought doctors to them.
With the help of tetrapods, 303 large cities and towns were cleared of mines, including Pskov, Smolensk, Bryansk, Lvov, Minsk, Kiev, Stalingrad, Odessa, Kharkov, Voronezh, Warsaw, Vienna, Budapest, Berlin, Prague, as well as 18394 buildings and discovered over four million mines.
The dogs also struck a direct blow at the enemy. Tank destroyer dogs are not the most pleasant canine profession that appeared during the war. These dogs were trained and prepared for the only task in their life - to blow up enemy tanks.
To do this, they were trained not to be afraid to crawl under moving tanks. Before the assignment, they were put on special bags with mines. And as soon as the dog was under the armored vehicles, the mine exploded.
In this way, during the war, about 300 enemy tanks were destroyed. The reason for the termination of the use of dogs in this way was the fact that such dogs began to throw themselves under the tracks of not only German, but also Soviet tanks.
HORSES
Despite the fact that the Second World War is called the war of motors, horses played an important role in the battles. In the Soviet Army, the number of horses during the war was about 2 million
During the war, horses were used as transport, especially in artillery. A team of six horses pulled the cannon, changing the firing positions of the battery.
It was the horses that delivered the food wagons and field kitchens to the positions. The fighters appointed as liaisons also often preferred the horse to the motorcycle.
Despite the fact that the horse could not overcome more than 100 km in a day, but it could go where no equipment could pass, and moreover, it could be done unnoticed. Therefore, horses were often used for rapid raids on the rear of the enemy, for raids and sabotage.
Often, the wounded owed their lives to horses: most of the infirmaries were horse-drawn.
In turn, people did not forget about their friends either. The wounded horses were not abandoned on the battlefield, but taken to veterinary hospitals. The seriously wounded horses were taken to the infirmary by car, where they underwent complex operations and nursed them to full recovery.
There is no exact data on how many horses died during the war. But it is believed that during the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Army lost more than a million faithful horses.
DEER
I learned about the participation of deer in the Great Patriotic War from Irina Kotkina's blog "ChUMoteka". By clicking on the link, you can read the article "The Deer Army Goes Into Battle".
I will cite excerpts from the article in a form that children can understand.
Older preschoolers already have an idea of the map and the globe, so at first it is advisable to tell and show the children where the Nenets Autonomous Okrug is located and about some of its natural features (this information can be found in the ChUMoteka blog). To accompany the conversation by showing photographs. A rough conversation with children can be like this.
From the Nenets Okrug, 6 thousand reindeer were sent to the front, accompanied by several hundred reindeer herders.
3 bulls (riding deer) were harnessed to the cargo sled, 4-5 to the passenger sled. How much load you could put on one sled depended on the strength of the reindeer, the state of the snow cover, the length of the route and how fast you had to move.
In November-December, up to 300 kg of cargo could be loaded onto the sled, in January-February - no more than 200 kg, and in the spring - only 100 kg.
On a cargo sled, it was possible to carry, for example, 5,000 rifle cartridges, or 10,000 submachine guns.
The team could pull one hundred and fifty "lemon (grenades)" or three dozen mines, or four boxes of 45-mm shells.
On a reindeer road (worg), argishis are able to overcome 35-40 kilometers per day at an average speed of 5-6 km / h. With a fast march, reindeer teams could walk up to 80 km per day, but such trips were made only in exceptional cases, after which the animals needed long rest and feeding.
The most important task of the reindeer units was to rescue the wounded and deliver them from the battlefield.
To the regimental medical center. Yes, the wounded were shaking, painful, uncomfortable, but then there was simply no other transport in the North.
Soldier's word (Andrian Semenovich Durkin)
“From the front line, the wounded were taken out on reindeer through the mountainous, rocky areas of the Kola Peninsula. crumple, although a deer (called a brake) is tied to the argish (wagon train) for the last sled, it does not allow the reindeer to roll on. It hurt to the point of nausea. They barely brought me to the Murmansk hospital. "
In total, reindeer transports were taken out (and thus saved lives) from the front line and from the deep rear of the enemy 10142 wounded soldiers - a full-fledged division of the Red Army.
No less important for reindeer transport units was considered the task of delivering goods to distant garrisons, border outposts, and airfields.
The word of a soldier (S.P. Sherstobitov, platoon commander in which our fellow countrymen served):
“Once, in early winter, a sled train loaded with cargo was crossing the reservoir, in which up to 300 reindeer were involved. About in the middle of the reservoir, the train caught up with a herd of about 500 reindeer. trouble soldiers: -The deer do not drown, they keep the sledges! Stand on the sledges! Drive the deer forward! Just forward! " Young soldiers from the former reindeer breeders stood firmly on the sledges and worked as nimble chores. Deer made their way to the solid ice, jumped onto it and pulled the sled. No people were hurt and the cargo was saved. "
Reindeer battalions transported 17 thousand tons of ammunition, 8 thousand soldiers to the front line.
In off-road conditions, reindeer were widely used for communication. Once the record for the delivery of an urgent package was set by Sergeant Nikolai Nikolaevich Ledkov. A good reindeer breeder has a compass in his head, therefore, even without roads, he accurately, like an airplane, delivered urgent mail to units.
Soldier's word (Sergeant Nikolay Ledkov):
“Somehow at the end of December (1942) Colonel Tulchinsky summoned me to the headquarters. Shows the location of the division headquarters on a map. An urgent package must be delivered there,” he says. I left the headquarters and thought: how to deliver? It will be sixty kilometers on the road, I will not be in time. When the colonel showed the location of the headquarters, I noticed in this direction a chain of lakes with small bridges. If the lakes are thirty five kilometers. I decide to go straight ahead. The weather is disgusting, there is no visibility, snow is falling from above. True, the wind is not a head-on, but blows from the right in the back. But the team was good! When I was driving along the lakes, it seemed as if I was flying in the dark, the runners were not on the snow, they were sliding through the air. I want to go even faster! I'm chasing, chasing deer! ... Not far from the headquarters I went on the road. And immediately - the sentry. The package, I say, to the general. The guard officer is taking me to the headquarters ... The general offered to sit down, the envelope printed out. , hand time he wrote and handed it to me. He shook his hand, "thank you" said. There was no need to hurry back: the deer were tired. Colonel Tulchinsky looked at the envelope. It turned out that I delivered the package in half an hour. Was surprised:
How did you manage? Or did you fly by plane? Well done!...".
The main enemy of the reindeer transports was German fighters and attack aircraft, who literally hunted the horned handsome men and their dashing riders. Our reindeer herders remember the malicious smiles of the Luftwaffe experts who shot defenseless reindeer from cannons and machine guns.
The reindeer herders perceived the death of the leaders of the teams especially acutely, because they raised these animals for several years, loved and pampered them. And the deer loved their owners.
The word of the soldier (Ezdovoy Ivan Belugin):
“One deer-nurse became so attached to me that he constantly followed me. And in the war, as it turned out, this is a very dangerous neighborhood. More than once a devoted friend could cause the death of a reindeer herder. did not notice, the reindeer breeder puts on a white camouflage coat and goes on a mission. Suddenly a deer appears next to him, a deer-soldier who does not know anything about the war and the Fritz walks next to the sentinel, pokes his nose in the shoulder, as if saying: "Why are you crawling on the ground, rise. "The fascists in the Khibiny rocks immediately notice a deer-scout, begin shelling. How then the front-line comrades survived, God only knows! What can you say here, the animal is not accustomed to military discipline."
Only since 1943, when the Nazis became more active on the Karelian Front, did the reindeer teams also begin to disguise themselves: they were dressed in white blankets. In this form, the deer carried shells and wounded across the tundra. They were great workers.
The reindeer breeders were awarded extremely sparingly. Out of more than a hundred soldiers of reindeer transports, residents of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, two dozen could boast, coming from the front, soldiers' combat medals. Only two squad leaders were awarded the most honorable soldier's order of the Red Star - Sergeant Efim Ivanovich Kanev and Sergeant Major Amos Petrovich Vyucheysky. Sergeant Semyon Ivanovich Semyashkin was the only soldier-sled who was awarded the most honorable Order of Glory of the III degree, who throughout the war did not part with the talismans - the pillow and spoon of his little daughter. All other soldiers of the snow cavalry could be proud of their fellow villagers only in scars and prostheses. "
Having made the land an arena for wars, man soon transferred military operations to the sea. However, water is an alien environment for a person, and he began to look for an assistant in it.
The first was Russia
The first to suggest the use of marine animals for military purposes was the famous Russian trainer Vladimir Durov. In 1915, he proposed using dolphins and sea lions to combat German submarines. A secret base was established near Balaklava, where the famous trainer worked with sea animals.
The Germans soon found out about this. One day, Durov, having come to the base in the morning for another training, found that all the animals were dead. As it turned out, they were poisoned. The naval counterintelligence officers took up the case, but the 17th year broke out, and the investigation stopped by itself.
In 1939, work on the training of fighting dolphins was carried out in Sweden, but if Russia was prevented by the revolution, then Sweden - the Second World War.
Battle dolphins "made in USA"
The idea was revived by the Americans. Representatives of 19 species of animals, including sharks and sea birds, took part in the "casting". The most suitable for military service were all the same dolphins and sea lions. Having decided on the choice, the military launched a large-scale program for the training and use of marine mammals for military purposes. The United States first "tested" its "fighters" during the Vietnam War.
Vietcong combat swimmers regularly sank American military and transport vessels in the bays of Da Nang, Saigon and Cam Ranh. To ensure the safety of their ports, the Americans carried out Operation Quick Search, involving dolphins and sea lions. Six animals were delivered to Vietnam, trained at the San Diego (California) base. With their help, about 50 swimmers-saboteurs were caught and neutralized within 15 months. Two Soviet demolition scuba divers were killed.
In the Gulf War (1991), 75 American "combat marine mammals" took part. According to the Pentagon, the animals were used to search for mines, and only in the bay of the port of Umm Qasr, they found more than 100 pieces. A dolphin named Taffy was promoted to sergeant.
The US Marine Biological Program is ongoing, with $ 14 million allocated in 2007. Today, the US Navy has 5 units of marine mammals, which "serve" 75 dolphins and about 20 sea lions. The main tasks of these units are: search and destruction of anchor and bottom sea mines, detection of underwater saboteurs and enemy submarines, undermining sea targets, detection of sunken objects, protection of scuba divers from sharks.
Soviet fighting dolphins
The USSR also trained military dolphins. The project was under the control of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Gorshkov. In 1967, 50 animals were trained in the Cossack Bay near Sevastopol. Even while in the enclosure, the dolphins found the swimmer at a distance of up to 500m. Efficiency in the daytime reached 80%, at night - 60%. In the open sea, the indicator reached 100%. During the exercises to protect the port water area by dolphins, there was not a single breakthrough, all the "saboteurs" were "identified and destroyed."
The military was especially pleased with the ability of dolphins to find objects under water, the smallest ones, even nuts. A huge number of mines and torpedoes left after the Second World War and also unexploded during the exercises were found, raised and neutralized. With the help of their natural radar, dolphins found objects under a half-meter layer of silt, which was simply beyond the power of scuba divers. Once on their "tip" they lifted up an automatic mini-submarine, lost 10 years ago. The joy of the military, whom the authorities did not tire of reproaching the lost submarine for 10 years in a row, simply knew no bounds.
A few words about myths and future prospects
Contrary to myths, dolphins were not taught to kill people, only to detect them. The point is not at all in the peacefulness of the military, just after the attack, which ended in the death of a person, the animals experienced severe stress, subsequently sabotaged the teams and became unusable for further use. It was not for nothing that legends were formed about the friendliness of dolphins. But the sea lions and seals did not suffer from sentimentality and calmly poked the scuba divers with poisoned needles and knives.
In 1991, the Crimean dolphinarium became Ukrainian, and this fact immediately affected its fate in the most mournful way. Dolphins raised by Soviet specialists were sold to Iran (as officials said, "for the use of animals for exclusively peaceful purposes!"). The coaches quit their jobs and left for Russia. But now, when the Sevastopol Dolphinarium has again become Russian, work on the training of combat dolphins will be resumed, this has already been announced by the responsible representatives of the Russian Navy.
V During the Great Patriotic War, animals fought along with people.
They were used by both the Red Army and the fascist units. The main burden of the war fell, of course, on the horses and dogs. But pigeons, camels, mice and even moose also helped. Cats, who were mainly responsible for the comfort and mood of the soldiers in the kitchens and in hospitals, but not only, did not stand aside. The cats "served" on submarines and in points of the "Civil Defense", warning about air raids ...
During the Second World War, the Nazis considered the cavalry obsolete. However, with a skilful command, the cavalry was an effective branch of the army. The fascists were especially afraid of horse raids on the rear. Here is what the German General Halder wrote in his memorandum: “We are constantly faced with cavalry units. They are so maneuverable that it is not possible to use the power of German technology against them. The awareness that no commander can be calm about his rear has a depressing effect on the morale of the troops. " The cavalry corps of General Dovator alone pinned down the rear of the three German armies. Although the Second World War is called the War of Engines, cavalrymen fought in it on a par with other branches of the military.
Of course, a horse is weaker than a motorcycle, but on the other hand, on a horse you can get through where a car or motorcycle will not pass.
Even in 1945, a job was found for the cavalry: the Cossacks took part in the Berlin operation, the cavalry division of General Blinov blocked the road to Dresden and rescued 50 thousand prisoners of war. The Cossacks of Baranov's corps were the first to come to the aid of the rebellious Prague. They made a march along with the tankers in an extremely short time.
Speaking about the participation of cavalry in the Great Patriotic War, one should not forget the horses of the front roads. And the infantry, and artillery, and communications, and the medical battalion, and especially the kitchens in the spring and autumn thaws were rescued by "horse traction". The carts often got stuck in the mud above the wheels, and then the goods were packed in bales, and a reliable horse dragged them on a pack saddle.
Guerrilla warfare, according to Commander Kovpak, would have been simply impossible without horses.
The number of horses was enormous - about three million. Even in a rifle regiment, the state was supposed to have three hundred and fifty horses. At the beginning of the war, the Germans had fewer horses, although there were cavalry units in the Wehrmacht. However, having got from Western Europe on the Russian off-road, the Nazis quickly realized the advantages of "four-legged" traction ...
We must not forget about camels and deer.
Dogs helped a lot. They performed various combat missions: border protection, delivery of ammunition and food, removal of the wounded from the battlefield, detection of snipers, signal dogs, mine detection dogs, guard dogs, reconnaissance dogs, sabotage dogs - dogs that destroy tanks and trains.
Regiments, battalions, detachments and companies of military dog breeding operated on all fronts of the war. In total, 68 thousand Balls, Bobiks and Mukhtarov, mostly mongrels, walked, drove and ran along the military roads from Moscow to Berlin, but they all made an invaluable contribution to the Great Victory over the enemy.
Probably everyone knows about 4 tankers and a dog ...
Already in July 1941, the first battalion of tank destroyers using demolition dogs was sent to the front. Several more followed. The successful use of demolition dogs came as a complete surprise to the enemy.
The German command has issued special instructions for dealing with tank destroyer dogs. Often, the mere appearance of dogs on the breastwork of the trench forced the fascist tanks to turn around, which, by the way, was sometimes used by the cunning infantry, taking the fascist "for fear." Service dogs-demolitions during the Great Patriotic War destroyed over 300 tanks (including 63 during the Battle of Stalingrad), assault guns and many other military equipment, weapons and manpower of the enemy.
Mine-detecting dogs - there were about 6 thousand of them, were found, and the sapper counselors defused 4 million mines, land mines and other explosives. Our four-legged mine detectors cleared Belgorod, Kiev, Odessa, Novgorod, Vitebsk, Polotsk, Warsaw, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Berlin.
Sled dogs - about 15 thousand teams, in winter on sledges, in summer on special carts under fire and explosions, they took about 700 thousand seriously wounded from the battlefield, brought 3,500 tons of ammunition to combat units, and also delivered food to the front line of the front.
It is worth noting that the orderly for 80 people taken out from the battlefield was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. “Each team replaced at least three or four orderlies. The evacuation with the help of sanitary harnesses is quick and painless for the wounded. " Now our army and medicine neglect dogs, but in vain ...
Medical dogs found seriously wounded soldiers in swamps, forests, ravines and brought orderlies to them, carrying bales of medicines and bandages on their backs
« ... Because of the dense fire, we, orderlies, could not get to the seriously wounded fellow soldiers. The wounded needed urgent medical attention, many of them were bleeding. Only a few minutes remained between life and death ... Dogs came to the rescue. They crawled up to the wounded man on their bellies and offered him a side with a medical bag.
They waited patiently for him to bandage the wound. Only then did they go to another. They could accurately distinguish a living person from a dead person, because many of the wounded were unconscious.
A four-legged orderly licked the face of such a fighter until he regained consciousness. In the Arctic, the winters are harsh, more than once dogs rescued the wounded from severe frosts - they warmed them with their breath. You may not believe me, but the dogs were crying over the dead ... ".
Thanks to the invaluable help of his four-legged soldiers, only one private Dmitry Trokhov was able to take out 1,580 wounded soldiers from the front line.
Signal dogs - in a difficult combat situation, sometimes in places impassable for humans, they delivered over 120 thousand combat reports, and laid 8 thousand km to establish communication. telephone wire. Sometimes, even a seriously wounded dog crawled to its destination and performed its combat mission. From the report of the headquarters of the Leningrad Front: "6 communication dogs ... replaced 10 messengers (messengers), and the delivery of reports has accelerated 3-4 times."
German snipers hunted dogs: there is a known case when the dog Alma, while performing a combat mission - delivering a package with a report - was twice wounded by a sniper, in the ear and jaw. But with the third shot, the sniper, who wanted to finish off the dog, did not work: she dodged and, seriously wounded, still crawled to the Soviet trench. The number of combat reports delivered was numbered in the thousands: in one year, Mink was able to deliver 2398 reports, the dog Rex - 1649 reports. He crossed the Dnieper River several times, was wounded, but he always performed his combat mission.
Sabotage dogs were used in Smersh's detachments to search for sabotage groups of the enemy, especially to search for enemy snipers, "cuckoos". Most often, each of the detachments consisted of 1-2 rifle squads, an operative of the NKVD or NKGB organs, a signalman with a radio station, and a leader with a search dog.
Cats also helped to win. It was by the behavior of fluffy sensors - anxiety, rearing fur, that people determined the approaching danger of a bombing. While human-invented gadgets only scanned the air for a bomb threat, living fluffy "radars" were already alerting people to the danger, thanks to which countless lives were saved.
During World War II, cats were often taken aboard submarines to serve as air cleanliness detectors and warn of a gas attack. But not only this and the predictions of the bombing, they saved people. But also with their own lives.
There are cases when, during the famine of the siege of Leningrad, cats brought all the prey to their owners, and they themselves died of hunger. Cats with their little bodies warmed the children, and warmed them until they froze themselves. And it's not a secret for anyone that often cats themselves became food for people ... So, in the same besieged Leningrad, during a monstrous famine, almost all of these fluffy animals were eaten. I have a poignant story about a cat and its owner who survived the blockade together.
The need for cats during the war years was great - there were practically no cats left in Leningrad, rats attacked the already meager food supplies. Four carriages of smoky cats were brought to Leningrad. The train with the "meowing division", as the residents of St. Petersburg called these cats, was reliably guarded. The cats began to clear the city of rodents. By the time the blockade was broken, almost all the cellars had been cleared of rats.
About the lucky man who survived the blockade, the cat - Maxim - there were legends. In the post-war period, whole excursions were taken to the house of its owners - everyone wanted to see this miracle. Maxim died of old age in 1957.
During this monstrous war, no trace of the whole vast population of German dwarf cats - kangaroo cats - was left ... The breed was completely exterminated.
For the cats that saved the largest number of human lives during wartime, a special medal "We also serve the motherland" was established. This award is considered one of the most honorable in the animal world. True, she, unfortunately, did not return the lives of cats ...
Anti-tank mice fought their battles in basements, warehouses, and engine compartments of tanks, far from the well-known human battles. The formation of the first Soviet anti-tank mice units began in 1941. This was done by Dr. Igor Valenko from Smolensk University.
The mouse, with its ability to penetrate holes up to 4 times smaller than their own body diameter, and destroy electrical wiring and small parts, was an ideal tool for incapacitating tanks and other mechanized vehicles.
The mice were brought to the scene of action on small, almost noiseless Po-2 aircraft. The first operation was carried out in the spring of 1942 in the Kirov region. The result must have impressed the leadership of the Red Army, as the mice were used more than once in the battles of Stalingrad.
From the memoirs of the German historian Paul Karel, it follows that in the 204th regiment of 104 tanks, 62 units were disabled by rodents. According to some reports, in this way the Wehrmacht army lost up to 30 percent of armored vehicles ...
The German response to the "intrigues of the Russians" was the creation of feline units. They were thrown into battle against British tanks. Some time later, the British created cable insulation that was inedible for mice, and the feline guard units were dispersed.
After nullifying the successes of his mouse legion, Dr. Valenko was suppressed.
Until a new idea came to him: to provide mice with a dog escort from among the dogs already trained and ready to perform tasks. Dumping one or two dogs together with the mice will neutralize the cats and allow the mice to reach their targets. This was already a desperate attempt to preserve the idea of anti-tank mice, but still several dogs were allocated for this purpose.
Several of the actions carried out were of scanty success. Perhaps because the new German "Tigers" were practically invulnerable to mice - the fuel fumes killed them before they could cause any damage to the electrical wiring. In any case, by 1943, the USSR already had enough traditional anti-tank weapons and no longer needed such exotic versions of them.
There was even Wojtek the bear in the Polish army. This is the army of Vladislav Anders, formed from the Poles deported to the USSR in the Middle East in 1939.
He did not give precious moments of joy to the soldiers, but also proved himself to be a real warrior. The bear cub, who grew up among people, was very obedient and peaceful, did not show any aggression towards the soldiers at all.
He learned to drink beer, and he drank it, like other soldiers - from a bottle, holding it in one paw. Wojtek also liked cigarettes, only he, of course, did not smoke them, but chewed and ate them. It looked very funny, when he was treated to a cigarette, he made a grateful nod of his head. The Poles fought well ... with beer ...
One day, the 22nd company was busy unloading ammunition and delivering them to the guns on the mountain, the soldiers worked without rest. Wojtek first watched them closely, and then something completely incredible happened. The bear approached the truck, stood on its hind legs, and stretched the front ones forward. Overcoming his doubts, the distributor put a box of ammunition on his paws, and Wojtek carried them up the hill to the guns.
After that, he returned to the truck and began to take the next boxes on his own and carry them, without dropping a single shell.
On this day, Polish soldiers completed their mission and took the desired altitude. Wojtek was engaged in the delivery of ammunition and food for many more days, not afraid of either shooting or the roar of guns. Hundreds of people witnessed this miracle, many of whom at first did not believe the eyewitness accounts. And when the command "align to the right!" and he turned his head. He was just a soldier "... the bear was officially assigned to the 22nd artillery supply company of the 2nd corps of the Polish army and was on the unit's emblem.
After serving five years in the Polish army, the valiant bear was awarded the rank of corporal.
The troops actively used carrier pigeons. During the war years, over 15,000 pigeons have been delivered to the Red Army by carrier pigeons. Pigeons posed such a threat to the enemy that the Nazis specifically gave orders to snipers to shoot pigeons and even trained hawks to act as fighters. In the occupied territories, Reich decrees were issued to seize all pigeons from the population. Most of the seized birds were simply destroyed, the most thoroughbred were sent to Germany. For harboring potential "feathered partisans" their owner had only one punishment - death.
The enemy's radar service was improved and powerful mobile radar installations were sent to the front, naturally, the broadcast of our reconnaissance agents using radio stations in some cases was completely ruled out. The data of the reconnaissance groups were the main source of information for the preparation of military operations.
Therefore, almost every reconnaissance group included a pigeon breeder with 20-30 pigeons placed in wicker baskets made of willow. The experience of using carrier pigeons in the Great Patriotic War convincingly proved that in many cases winged couriers successfully replaced the most advanced technical means of communication, and in some cases were the only means of transmitting information from the front line.
The Nazis, among other things, did not disdain pigeon mail.
Animals in the war died and suffered no less than people. Many of them (dogs, cats, pigeons) were even awarded state awards.
During the solemn parade of 1945, the dogs marched in the columns next to their guides, and one of them, Dzhulbars, was carried in his arms, since he had not yet recovered from his wound received during mine clearing. This dog received the military service award for the discovery of 468 mines and 150 shells ...
Info and photo (C) Internet. I don't know if the first photo was Photoshop, but it hurt me to the very heart ...
