15 harrowing animal scenes that were essential in wars

Throughout history, armies have always found in the use of animals a way to gain advantage over their enemies. From Carthaginian troops made up of warriors and elephants who defeated the Roman Empire 2, 200 years ago to carrier pigeons that were crucial for communication during World War I, they were instrumental in the achievements that altered the course of humanity.

Behind the scenes, they also played equally important roles. According to reports from war veterans, it was common to see them on ships and military barracks being used not only to control pests, but also to help soldiers distract themselves from the horrors of battlefields. The following are some records of the poorly remembered performance of these animals in the conflicts that changed the world:

1. Wartime pack animal, in this record a donkey is seen with a rocket launcher strapped to his back in 1930 in Turkey.

2. Here, a donkey appears alongside two German soldiers in World War I in 1915.

3. In the same year, a German Army dog ​​crosses a trench carrying a message that was stuck to its collar.

4. Pigeons were an important means of message transport during World War I, as shown in this 1918 photo.

5. Two fighters and their canine partners east of Prussia - present German territory - in 1932

6. A kitten on the shoulder of the Royal Air Force pilot of the United Kingdom in mid-1944.

7. In Asia, elephants were used to transport people and supplies, as unlike jeeps and other vehicles, they did not get stuck in the marshes.

8. Camels were also used to transport people, as shown in this photograph taken in Egypt.

9. Here British soldiers put ammunition in a package that would be carried by a military dog ​​named Mark in 1941.

10. Even monkeys became pets, as seen in this 1918 image.

11. US Marines crossing with their dogs through the jungles of Boungainville Island in the Pacific Ocean

12. Circus elephants help clean up operations in Hamburg, Germany after the city was bombed in 1940

13. In this 1918 record we see a goat and a dog entertaining the American sailors.

14. Wojtek was a bear adopted by a Polish army platoon in 1944 in World War II; three years later he would be donated to the zoo in the Scottish capital Edinburgh

15. To this day, animals are used in various military operations: this rat, for example, is trained to detect, through smell, land mines in Tanzania.