Messengers, deminers or moral support… Animals also took part in human wars. And if, over time, many of them have been forgotten, the City of Paris is inaugurating a monument this Tuesday to pay tribute to the animals sacrificed during the conflicts of the 20th century. In parallel with this ceremony, planned at Square Baucicaut, in the 7th arrondissement of the capital, 20 minutes invites you to look into the history of some of these furry and feathered heroes.
The Vaillant pigeon
Decorated with the Croix de Guerre 1914-1918, Vaillant is probably the best-known pigeon in France. Proof of his fame, an animated film was dedicated to him in 2005 – even if it takes many liberties with reality. The bird is known for having carried a message at the risk of his life, in order to inform about the critical situation of Commander Sylvain Raynal and his men, surrounded at Fort Vaux in 1916. “In France, Vaillant was made a hero in the interwar period, we built a whole legend around him,” confirms Eric Baratay, historian.
“In reality, he did not accomplish his task,” specifies the specialist in the history of human-animal relations. It took him about fifteen hours to deliver his message to Verdun, but he no longer had much interest when he arrived. To his credit, he was released when the bombings were most intense! » During the siege of the fortress, telephone communications were cut and Commander Raynal only had four carrier pigeons. Vaillant is the last to set off and the only one to have managed to transmit this SOS. Severely intoxicated, he died almost immediately after completing his mission. It is today stuffed in the military dovecote of Mont Valérien, in Suresnes.
The Warrior horse
Horses played a vital role in the Great War, and it is estimated that more than 10 million of them were killed. “It was the height of horse-drawn carriage in the West, horses were omnipresent,” emphasizes Eric Baratay. And among these hoofed warriors, the United Kingdom has especially remembered the story of Warrior. “Here too, his legend was created after the war, he paraded with medals and even the Queen [Mary] visited him,” recalls the historian. Unlike Vaillant, it was not a heroic act that made him famous, but rather his longevity. Warrior followed its owner, General Jack Seely, to the front and lived through the entire conflict.
“From 1917, Warrior became a model of survival, a good luck charm. Whereas for ordinary soldier horses, the rotation is enormous, it survives the entire war,” explains Eric Baratay. In 2014, one hundred years after the start of World War I, Warrior was posthumously awarded a Dickin Medal, a military decoration designed to honor the actions of animals in war. Warrior’s fame owes a lot to his master, General Jack Seely, former Secretary of State and great friend of Winston Churchill. He wrote a biography of her in 1934, entitled My Horse Warrior. And, above all, he “protected him on the front and left him at the back in case of a hard blow,” slips Eric Baratay.
The Wojtek Bear
In 1942, the Polish army adopted a bear in Iran. Wojtek quickly became a real mascot and officially joined the 22nd Artillery Supply Company of the Second Polish Army Corps. With his unit, the ursid sees the country: he crosses Iran, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and even Egypt. Wojtek carried ammunition during the Battle of Monte Cassino, which pitted the Allies against German forces from January to May 1944.
“It was common for there to be bears in the English colonial army and in the armies of former British colonies”, adds Eric Baratay. This is notably the case of the Winnipeg black bear, which was purchased by a Canadian cavalry regiment. The soldiers smuggled her into Britain and then left her behind, “because a bear is obviously difficult to move.” “They are animal mascots,” notes the historian. Wojtek, however, has moved beyond totem status. Because in addition to drinking beer and smoking cigarettes, he obtained the status of corporal.
The cat Mourka
During the Battle of Stalingrad, between July 1942 and February 1943, Mourka slipped between the bombings and the urban combats. The cat delivered messages for the Russian army, opposed to the Wehrmacht. The soldiers took him on reconnaissance with them, attached a message to the feline’s collar, and the latter always returned to headquarters – where his bowl was. “There are also many stories of cats during the First World War,” Eric Baratay tells us. The soldiers took in many dogs and cats in the trenches, many of which had been abandoned by the population when they fled at the start of the war.
Some are cared for by the fighters, who quickly become attached to them. “Animals are an image of peace and happiness. It was extremely important for the soldiers,” notes the historian. They also have a special place. “A doctor, at the front during the First World War, recounted this memory of a cat which was lounging on the front line on the parapet, washing itself there, sitting in the sun. Nobody was shooting at him. He wrote: “if I had had the misfortune to move a quarter of my head forward, I would already have a bullet in me,” says the specialist.
The Boss Dog
Much more recently, last May, the whole world followed the presentation of a dedication medal to the Patron dog. This little Jack Russell terrier weighing 4.5 kg detects unexploded mines in Ukraine. “Boss speaks to the Ukrainian population which is becoming Westernized. We also saw many Ukrainians fleeing with their pets at the start of the war. The Russians do not have this relationship with animals,” analyzes Eric Baratay.
Patron has become an icon of Ukrainian resistance, from street art to TikTok, where the little dog has more than 716,000 subscribers. Feathered or furry, animals therefore have an important communication role. Because “by showing them in one’s camp, we are implicitly saying that it is the right one, since animals instinctively know the truth,” deciphers the historian.