Abstract
Up to ten million horses, donkeys and mules were used by the armies of the First World War; dogs were also used for various tasks. Soldiers in the trenches often adopted a stray kitten that provided affection and posed as a mascot of their unit.
The talk will present the different uses of animals in the war as well as the fate that awaited them on the battlefield. You will learn why elephants were used in the First World War or why soldiers dedicated memorials to mice and canaries.
The talk will be accompanied by many unique archival photographs.