Thousands of wartime animals performed valuable work during the global conflict, while others provided comfort and joy to servicemen who were far from home.

Wartime Animals

Beginning with one of the cutest photographs in history, Corporal Edward Burckhardt poses with the kitten that he said “captured” him on the battlefield of Iwo Jima.

(This photo appeared in a book titled Buddies: Men, Dogs and World War II, by L. Douglas Keeney, published in 2001.)

A smiling young American soldier wearing a helmet covered with camouflage holds a kitten on top of his helmet with both hands.

Straddle, the 422 Squadron RCAF mascot, takes the co-pilot’s seat in a Short Sunderland flying boat that flew on coastal and submarine patrols. This dog went on a number of operations with the crew, and his favourite place was the navigator’s table. I didn’t realize that wartime animals were taken into combat.

(Photo Credit: Pembroke Sunderland Trust/Boxbrownie3)

The cockpit of an aircraft shows a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot looking over his shoulder, while a black spaniel with long, floppy ears is seated in the copilot's chair.

A French patrol with a Saint Bernard dog makes their way through a beautiful snowy valley in France, in February 1940. No doubt a St. Bernard was a handy thing to have along on a winter expedition, one of the more useful wartime animals.

(Photo Credit: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

A group of six soldiers wearing greatcoats and helmets climb a snowy hill, a large St. Bernard by their side, while a village church is seen in the valley below.

No information is available, but note how intently the kitten is watching the soldier take aim! It’s an incongruous combination, the cute kitten and the deadly weapon.

A soldier in an earthen trench aims a machine gun over the side, while a tiny white kitten can be seen underneath the gun, watching intently.

American pilot Robert W. Biesecker and his crew posed on October 18, 1943 with not one, but TWO mascots. The pilot is holding a dog named Scrappy, and the guy on his left is holding a monkey named Joe! We may have heard about Squadron Dogs, but Squadron Monkeys? These were unusual wartime animals.

(Photo Credit: M. McNeill/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Wartime animals — A group of ten men in flying uniforms pose in front of the propellers of a large bomber, with a bicycle and two animals, one little black and white dog, and one monkey.

This life jacket-wearing spaniel is Butch O’Brien, mascot of the U.S. navy, on board his ship in the Sea of Japan, taken in 1944.

(Photo Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Wartime animals — A black and white spaniel with a spotted face has his front paws on the edge of a ship railing, looking back over one shoulder, wearing a life jacket bearing his name, Butch O'Brien.

Judy, an English pointer, was truly a war hero. A ship’s dog on board the HMS Grasshopper, she helped save the lives of servicemen after the Grasshopper was sunk. She then spent three years in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps, narrowly escaping death many times. She was the only dog to be registered as a Second World War Prisoner of War.

Judy received a Dickin Medal for her heroism. The medal was instituted in the United Kingdom in 1943 to recognize the work of wartime animals. Fifty-four animals have been awarded the medal, including 32 pigeons, 18 dogs, and three horses.

(Photo Credit: Fred Morley/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

An airman in uniform smiles lovingly as he washes a black and white dog with a cloth, the dog seated on a bunk bed, dishes of food and water at his side.

Oleg of the Glacier, a Samoyed dog, on a 1941 patrol with one of the Canadian soldiers who adopted him as a mascot.

(Photo Credit: Fred Ramage/Keystone/Getty Images)

A Canadian soldier in a greatcoat and metal helmet stands on a dirt road, trees with bare branches in the background, holding a beautiful white Samoyed dog on a leash.

Hoy was the dog mascot of a minesweeper HMS Bangor. Here he is being held by a member of the crew on May 1, 1941.

(Photo Credit: Arthur Tanner/Fox Photos/Getty Images)

A grinning sailor with a missing tooth, wearing a cap with the insignia Bangor, holds a panting brown and white dog in his arms.

Size doesn’t matter when it comes to saving lives. Smoky, a four-pound Yorkshire terrier, was found in the jungle of New Guinea by American soldier Bill Wynne and served as a mascot with the U.S. 5th Air Force in the Pacific.

Surviving a parachute jump, air raids, living in primitive conditions and through combat missions, the little dog was awarded eight battle stars for her bravery and devotion. She has six memorials dedicated in her honour, the most decorated of wartime animals.

(Photo Credit: MNN)

A tiny adorable dog with bright eyes and fluffy white hair sits inside a soldier's metal helmet.

While these British anti-aircraft gunners scan the sky for incoming enemy planes, the dog is also keeping watch.

(Photo Credit: London Express/Getty Images)

Two British soldiers in uniform search the skies for incoming German aircraft, one with binoculars and one through his gun site, while a little brown and white dog stands on a wall beside them, also scanning the skies.

Sergeant Stubby has been called the most decorated war dog of World War One. The only dog to be promoted to sergeant, he was the official mascot of the 102nd Infantry assigned to the 26th Yankee Division.

Stubby participated in seventeen battles on the Western Front. He saved his regiment from surprise mustard gas attacks, comforted the wounded, and once caught a German soldier by the seat of his pants, holding him there until American soldiers found him. Wartime animals had their uses!

(Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

This bull terrier cross Sergeant Stubby stands on a grassy field looking off to one side, wearing a coat that is covered with medals earned for his wartime service.

Coupie, the canine mascot of a squadron in the Allied Expeditionary Air Force, used to visit each aircraft and pilot before take-off. Here the shaggy dog is lending moral support to one of the pilots on April 24, 1944. Wartime animals often welcomed aircrews as they arrived back at the base.

(Photo Credit: Reg Speller/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A handsome dark-haired pilot wearing his flying vest stands on the wing of his aircraft with one arm around a huge, black shaggy dog.

During World War Two, the United Kingdom used about 250,000 homing pigeons to send messages across enemy lines. The Dickin Medal, the highest possible decoration for valour given to animals, was awarded to 32 pigeons. Here a member of the crew of an RAF Coastal Command Lockheed Hudson holds a carrier pigeon in 1942.

Color photo of young rosy-cheeked flier wearing his leather flying jacket, his hair lifting in the breeze, cradles a grey and white pigeon in both hands.l

Royal Air Force Captain Eric Stanley Lock boards his Spitfire on July 31, 1944 with his adorable dog.

(Photo Credit: J. A. Hampton/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A British pilot in flying gear stands on the wing of his Spitfire, a row of swastikas painted on one side of the aircraft, holding a little brown and white dog in his arms.

Canadian spectators cheer at a baseball game between the United States Army and the Canadian forces, at Wembley stadium in London, on August 8, 1944. Their canine companion is also enjoying the spectacle.

(Photo Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images)

A group of Canadian soldiers wearing Highland bonnets and kilts sit in a grandstand, all laughing and cheering, while a little white curly-haired dog sits on the wooden bench between two of them.

British actress Gracie Fields hands out tea to the troops in a village near Valenciennes in northern France, on April 26, 1940. There are two monkeys in this photo! Surely these among the most unusual wartime animals.

Blonde British actor and comedienne Gracie Fields hands out drinks to a group of soldiers in uniform wearing helmets, two of them holding monkeys.

This Royal Air Force pilot enjoys the company of a little tabby kitten, just hanging around.

(Photo Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)

A grinning pilot in full flying gear is seated in his open cockpit while a tiny kitten is perched on one shoulder.

This is the English bulldog mascot of a regiment from Quebec based in England. He looks quite at home on the motorcycle in this photo taken October 11, 1941.

(Photo Credit: Payne/Fox Photos/Getty Images)

A smiling Canadian soldier with a mustache is seated on a motorcycle while a large bulldog with drooping jowels sits on the seat in front of him.

Another bulldog named Venus was the sassy mascot of the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Vansittart.

(Photo Credit: Lt. H. W. Tomlin/IWM/Getty Images)

A bulldog with a sailor's hat tilted over one eye peers from the porthole of a ship.

When it comes to wartime animals, they weren’t all dogs and cats and monkeys and pigeons. A Royal Air Force squadron adopted a lamb as a mascot, and named him Aloysius. The lamb and one of the sergeants quickly became best friends. Here he is feeding Aloysius from a bottle on December 18, 1939.

(Photo Credit: IWM/Getty Images)

A group of grinning airmen stand on the tarmac, watching while one of them holds a white lamb under one arm and feeds him from what appears to be a liquor bottle.

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STAR WEEKLY AT WAR

The Star Weekly was a Canadian newsmagazine published by the Toronto Star. During the Second World War, a colour illustration with a wartime theme appeared on the cover each week. None of these wartime animals could be more symbolic of British tenacity than the bulldog, and this one is tearing apart the Nazi flag. See my entire collection of Star Weekly covers here: Star Weekly At War.