De Rochemont’s film career introduced Bouviers to both coasts and later Hubbard’s television career introduced Merv Griffin and Chet Collier to the breed. During the 1960s and 1970s, Collier imported Bouviers from the du Posty Arlequin kennel, including Raby, Naris, and Taquin, for Roy Holloway to campaign. Taquin won 40 Bests in Show and 105 Working Groups.
“Fanciers precisely know their breed has the essence of many breeds rolled into one: intelligence, loyalty, steadfastness, resoluteness, formidableness, spontaneity, mischievousness, and most of all, dependability,” says Walsh’s niece Claire McLean, who inherited the Deewal prefix when her aunt died.
The short-bodied, bobtailed dogs with heads shaped like a Flemish brick, cropped ears, harsher tousled coats, and the perfect guard temperament became the origin of the modern Bouvier des Flandres.
Though eligible for AKC registration in 1929, the first Bouviers-imports Hardix de Montreuil and Diane de Montreuil—were registered in 1931. It would be four more years before the third was registered.
Dedicated breeders smuggled some of the dogs underground. One of them, Edmee Bowles, of Antwerp, landed in America, where she had a tremendous influence on the breed’s survival and development.
On 24 October 1943, Headquarters, 3d Infantry Division, issued General Order No. 79, which included a citation for the award of the Silver Star to “Chips, 11-A, U.S. Army Dog.” A short time later, he was awarded the Purple Heart. Regulations technically prohibited such an award, and there was some controversy over whether awarding medals intended for humans to dogs was appropriate. In the end, the awards were rescinded, and future such awards banned. Chips went on to serve the Army for another two years and was discharged to his prewar owners on 10 December 1945.
For the invasion of the Philippines, the 25th, 26th, 39th, 40th, 41st, and 43d QM War Dog Platoons were attached to various infantry units. By this time, the effectiveness of the dogs was well known, and there were not enough to go around for all the units that requested them for their patrols. The dogs were invaluable in the jungle warfare that characterized much of the combat the Pacific Theater. The thick jungle limited human effectiveness, reliant on eyesight and hearing, but the dogs could smell the presence of the enemy despite the obstacles.
Even before all these issues had been addressed, army dogs and their handlers got to work assisting soldiers on the battlefield. The first unit to go overseas was the 25th Quartermaster (QM) War Dog Platoon which left San Francisco on 11 May 1944 and arrived at Guadalcanal on 6 June. By the end of June, they had travelled to Bougainville and joined the 164th Infantry in mopping up the Japanese forces on the island. The dogs performed well, and reports indicated that the infantry troops appreciated the dogs and the service they performed. The second platoon to arrive, the 26th, accompanied soldiers of the 41st Infantry Division on New Guinea and the surrounding islands. It was shortly thereafter assigned to the 31st and 32d Infantry Divisions. On Morotai, in the Dutch East Indies, the 31st Division used the 26th QM War Dog Platoon to help conduct 250 patrols in the course of two-and-a-half months. In this period, not a single one of these patrols was ambushed, proving the invaluable nature of the scout dogs who could alert soldiers to the presence of the enemy at distances ranging from seventy to 200 yards away. Often, the advanced warning of the scout dog enabled GIs to reverse the odds and surprise Japanese defenders.
Dogs were found to be much less effective in the open, fast-paced fighting in Europe, though they found use there as well. Artillery was more commonly used in Europe, and despite training, intense shelling still caused dogs to become skittish and lose effectiveness. Often Allied troops were making such rapid advances against the Germans, especially in the closing days of the war, that dogs were of little use, so they were relegated to sentry duties. Still, dogs did prove themselves useful in some situations.
This system was believed to be effective from the one demonstration carried out stateside in a controlled environment, and the 228th Engineer Mine Detection Company (Dog) was established in November 1943. On 5 May 1944, the men and dogs of the unit boarded a ship and embarked for Africa, arriving in Oran, Algeria, on 30 May. They then crossed the Mediterranean to Naples, Italy, and went to work. Unfortunately, the dogs did not perform as expected, and casualties, both of dogs and handlers, quickly mounted in the unit. Another controlled test was performed in Italy, and it was discovered that the dogs had a mine detection rate of only thirty percent. The unit did not perform any further mine clearing tasks, and by February 1945, the company had returned to the United States to be inactivated.
America’s Dog Paratroopers at the Bulge
One often overlooked war dog was the draft animal. Some of the minor warring nations had dogs trained to pull small, two-wheeled carts full of machine-gun ammunition or other supplies. Draft dogs were especially popular with the German Gebirgsjaeger (mountain troops), who utilized them to pull carts or sleds in rough, mountainous country. Canadian and American dogsled teams were used to locate and rescue many downed pilots in Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland, and Alaska where the treacherous northern weather made ferrying American-built aircraft to other fronts a hazardous undertaking. Often, messenger dogs carried small amounts of vital supplies on their return trips from headquarters.
In the deep snow, thick forests, and rugged terrain of the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge, the mechanized and motorized American forces found they could not find or get to the wounded in many tough areas. Colonel Norman Vaughan, already famous in sled dog circles, flew in 200 sled dogs, mostly Malamutes and Huskies, as well as their mushers, from Arctic commands, intending to use them as dog sled ambulances. The only way to get them quickly to where they were needed by the ground forces was to drop them by parachute. His superiors dismissed this ridiculous idea, but the personal intervention of Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., saved the plan and the dogs became paratroopers.
The first active duty airborne dog, however, was supposedly a British collie named Rob, who was purported to have made 20 combat jumps while serving with the British Special Air Service commandos in North Africa.
K-9 – Dogs in German Army during WW2
While the American Army had put war dogs to good use already, mainly for sentry and guard duties, World War II was the first organized deployment of canine warriors by the Marine Corps, and the Marines intended to bring the dogs into the field, sniffing out enemy positions to warn of ambushes and ferrying messages back and forth.
Dogs have been used in war since ancient times. There are many categories for which they were trained, Guard dogs, Messenger dogs, (collies only) Scout Dogs, Mine Detection Dogs, Mascots, and Parachute Dogs. The first British dog training school was set up by the military at the Greyhound Racing Kennels at Potters Bar near London. By May, 1944, some 76,000 dogs had graduated. During the war, 18 of these dogs were presented with the Dickin Medal (Animal’s VC). British SAS forces were the first to use parachute dogs in their operations in North Africa and France.
K-9 Corps German Shepherd aboard ship, enroute to Europe during World War II. Gas mask dogs Lieutenant Colonel E.H. Richardson, seen here pulling bandages from the kit of a British Red Emile Corteil a British para made the D-Day jump with his dog “Glenn” on the early hours of 6 June 1944 in the Orne River Valley to secure the flanks of the landings and knock out the Merville Battery, The British Paratroopers were attacked by friendly fire and Private Corteil, Glenn and other paratroopers were killed as well as some being wounded. Private Corteil and his dog “Glenn” are buried together. It is believed that this is the only war time grave burial with a dog handler and his dog.
Dogs mostly used were German Shepherds, Dobermans, Boxers, Bull Terriers and Labradors. Owners of dogs killed in action were presented with a Certificate of Merit. Anti-tank dogs were dogs trained to attack tanks with an explosive device strapped to their backs. The animals of course were killed in the process. This method was used intensively by the Russians in 1941 and 1942. Unfortunately many of the dogs were scared off by gunfire and ran back to their trenches where the jumped in and in the process detonated the charges killing their handlers and other soldiers in the trench.