Tony the Terrier, killed in action

[rolnora]

Hi Everyone,

My dad was a gunner with the Royal Artillery during the Second World War. I have a photograph of him with his dog, a terrier named Tony. In the photograph Tony is wearing a dog tag but I can’t make out if there is any writing or numbers on it.
The story goes that Tony and my dad were together all through the war, starting out in Arbroath, Scotland through Africa and then Italy. Tony’s job was to run in front of the tanks and sniff out landmines. He did this job brilliantly until they arrived in Italy where he died when a landmine blew up.
I have always thought that Tony was my dad’s pet but have recently been told that some were army dogs and on the payroll at the rate of 2d a day.
Has anyone heard of other stories like this or know where I can look for more info?

Pat.

[AMBLY]

Hi Pat

Army dogs were definitely part of the 'forces' - here are a couple of links with information:

http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/br_dogs/index.html
http://warandgame.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/war-dogs-wwii/

Cheers
AMBLY

[rolnora]

Ambly, your a star,

Thanks very much,
I'm giong to have a look at the links you've given me now.

Pat.