Tank Destroyer Dog Handler

[desantnik]

Attached is a 2.7M Bravery Medal awarded to a tank-busting dog handler.
On this particular award order there was another similar citation to another individual.

For those who may not know, the Soviets experimented with training dogs equipped with a "backpack" full of explosives triggered by a tilt rod to run under tanks, thus creating a little WWII version of a "jihadi", albeit unwitting. The dogs were only fed under tanks and thus the ideal was that after starving the dogs, they would naturally run under the enemy tank in search of food.

It is noteworthy that neither human recipient was actually credited with destroying a tank, but was awarded for wounds received - testament to historical accounts that fortunately(?) the dogs were not very effective since they were scared by the sounds of the battlefield and the ominous tanks, as well as were equally prone to run and hide under Soviet tanks :idea so the program was stopped, resulting in happy, though malnourished dogs.

[CtahhR]

Excellent! So these are not just "legend". Year after year of British school science pupils hear about the "training" of Soviet Dogs. This really is a nice twist on Soviet military history. Desperation really brings out some interesting ideas and tactics.... I'd love to stumble upon one of these! I also know of some bad dogs that won't stop barking that would really like to participate in such a programme...... Either that or we can blast them into space....

[Pobeda45]

Really cool!! :thumbsup:thumbsup

Here's the wiki article, incidentally:
Противотанковая собака — Википедия

George

[CtahhR]

Walkies!

[CtahhR]

Muttley does it again....

[CtahhR]

Imagine being stuck in a tank with a BIG dog during a summer campaign? The smell alone.... I wonder if it was a fully paid up member of the party?

[Pobeda45]

Perhaps a relative of Belka and Strelka. :D

[Pobeda45]

..and a slightly gaudy monument to "150 dogs that fell defending Kiev." I assume these were service dogs instead of ant-tank dogs, though.

[desantnik]

Originally Posted by CtahhR

Muttley does it again....

Um, Muttley just got one shot at it...;)

[CtahhR]

That's not what the cartoons taught me! I'm going to have to have words with Klunk!