HISTORY:
** Animals, especially dogs, have served in all the wars of men since time immemorial. In World War II, most combatant nations employed dogs on the battlefield in a number of ways. Armed forces quickly discovered that different breeds of dogs were suited to different tasks; the U.S. Marine Corps, for example, preferred Doberman Pinschers, while larger breeds like Great Danes and Newfoundlands were used by German mountain troops to transport supplies. Training programs were developed to equip canines to undertake unique and complex tasks to aid their handlers, including jumping out of aircraft alongside their paratrooper trainers, ready to scout at the head of patrols as soon as they landed. Mascots, and even family pets, also did their bit for the war effort, improving morale and providing comfort to their human companions. Their part was recognized by the creation of medals, including the British Dickin Gallantry Medal, presented to animals who provided outstanding service, gallantry, or devotion to duty.
This illustrated book recognizes and details the service of dogs like Rob, a Collie who made over 20 parachute jumps in North Africa, Imma, who detected people who had been buried alive on bombsites; and Barss, who would sniff out German sharpshooters for his Soviet handlers. **
** Man’s best friend has long been following him into battle, and in World War II most armed forces deployed canines to support soldiers in the field; their tasks included searching for injured men, detecting mines, carrying messages, transporting supplies, and sentry duty. Packed with photographs, this book provides an overview of how dogs were trained and used in World War II by different countries, and recounts the stories of the individual animals that served. **
** Quoted from the book’s dust jacket.
THE BOOK:
Casemate Publishers has released Military Dogs of World War II as part of their Men, Battles and Weapons series of books. It is a 128-page softcover book, 7 x 0.5 x 9.75 inches in size. Included with the text are black and white and color photographs. The book has a 2023 copyright, a publication date of August 3, 2023, and the ISBN is 978-1-6362-4325-2.
CONTENTS:
Introduction
The United States
Great Britain and the Commonwealth
The USSR
The Axis
Going Home
Sources & Further Reading
Index
THE TEXT:
Author Susan Bulanda provides a well written and informative text detailing the use of dogs by different militaries during World War II. I personally feel that Susan Bulanda has covered all areas and aspects of military dogs of the period from the selection and qualification process, training, use and the successes of the various programs by both the allied and axis powers. There are many stories of individual dogs and their handlers and their actions both in combat and on the home front. The author has provided the information in an easy-to-read format which the detailed oriented reader will benefit from. One of the main things that I found to be particularly helpful with the information provided by Susan Bulanda is that it is written in a no-nonsense type of writing that provides the history and information on military dogs and she does not use what I would refer to as fluff writing where a large amount of non-essential extra text is provided just to help fill the pages. In addition to her own words, Susan Bulanda has also provided an excerpt from “War Is Boring” by James Simpson from February 6, 2014, which discuses canine heroes of the Imperial Japanese Army. The text in the book is nicely written and well detailed. As I read through the text, I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors. Grammar and spelling might not be an important factor to everyone however it is something that I take notice of and pass on my findings. I feel that if the text is well written then it shows that the author has taken the time to be professional with their writing. Anyone wanting to add an excellent history book detailing the use of dogs in military service during World War II with the allied and axis militaries to their personal library will be pleased with this informative and interesting book.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS:
A total of 148 black and white photographs and 8 color photographs are included in this volume. Author Susan Bulanda stuck to the title of the book and chose subject specific photographs and did not include photographs that strayed from the main subject of the book. The photographs range from wide angle photographs to close-up detailed photographs. They contain a combination of in-action photographs, photographs taken from motion pictures to photographs that have been staged for the photographer. Most of the photographs are clear and easily viewable; however, a few have an out of focus look to them and some appear to be too dark, and others appear too light. Some of the action photographs are a little blurry but this is due to the fact that the dog in the photograph is in action. This is typical for the discussed period of history and the quality of the photographs are not the fault of the author and do not take anything away from the book. The majority, if not all, of the photographs will prove to be of great interest to anyone interested in the use of dogs by the military and by civilians during World War II, or to the reader who is a dog enthusiast, due to the details they contain.
PROFILES:
There are 48 individual profiles included in this volume. However as opposed to other books on historical figures, these included profiles are of individual dogs, not human subjects, that are listed by name and their stories and actions, and some are accompanied by the individual dogs photograph.
THE CAPTIONS:
The captions are well written and explain the accompanying photographs nicely. The captions go into very specific detail as to the actions taking place, specific breed of dog shown, the specific names of dogs and individuals shown, branches of military shown, military units, countries, dates and locations and other such pertinent information. As I read through the captions, I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors. I was impressed by Susan Bulanda’s captions as they are very helpful to the reader due to their detailed content as opposed to other captions that I have seen that are very brief and lacking in detail.
Casemate Publishers’, Military Dogs of World War II, is also available digitally from:
Amazon
Apple
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
PRICE
US $28.95 / UK £24.95
https://www.casematepublishers.com/
This book was provided to me by Casemate Publishers. Please mention that you saw the book reviewed here on the KitMaker Network when you make your purchase. Thank you.
