Page 9 - Chiron Calling Spring 2017

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Animal Health Trust
Equine Clinic
Experts in:
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Small Animal Clinic
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Whilst in the Omaha beach area, we visited a US Cemetery called the Colleville Sur Mere. This cemetery was one of the largest we visited on the study and it put into perspective for many people the scale of the loss of life on D-Day. The Colleville Sur Mere was very similar to a Commonwealth War cemetery in that all the graves were the same design, shape, distance apart and more importantly, rank, gender and race free.
At Gold Beach we studied the Arramanche 7 Armoured Division Landings and the construction of the Mulberry Harbour guided by Staff Sergeant Turnbull. Sword Beach was the nal visit of the day where we discussed the British and French commando operations. We went on to discuss the use of MWDs during a beach assault, using the experience we had gained from the recent Lead Commando Group Exercises we had supported. Although we thought there would be scope to use High Assurance Search Dogs and Arms Explosive Search dogs to add a level of assurance to assaulting troops, it would not have been possible during this highly kinetic operation.
Day 3
The culmination of the battle eld study was to follow the paths of two MWDs Glen and Bing. Bing, or Brian as he was originally known, was enlisted into the ranks of the 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion as a ‘paradog’ and was trained to locate mines, keep watch and warn of the presence of enemies. As a side job, he also served as something of a mascot. Bing, who was trained and handled by Lance Corporal (LCpl) Ken Bailey, was just one of the many dog teams that took part in D-Day. Travelling to Normandy by plane they were to parachute into enemy territory at the speci ed Ranville Drop Zone. LCpl Bailey and Bing were the last to jump from their plane in the dead of night, surrounded by Anti-Aircraft re. As Bing parachuted on his own and not tandem like modern day dogs it is impossible to speculate on how his descent into occupied territory went, but what we do know is that Bing was found hanging in the branches of the tree his parachute had got caught in with two deep cuts in his face, most likely from German mortar re. Although wounded, Bing still proved to be very useful, especially for locating mines and booby traps. Bing survived the war and went on to receive the Dickin Medal, but that was not the last honour for Bing’s service. When he died in 1955, the former ‘paradog’ was buried in a cemetery of honour for animals in Northeast London. Glen was another ‘paradog’ who parachuted into Normandy with his handler Private Cortiel and dropped in just West of Amfreville. We again followed the route of Glen, which ended in Ranville where Glen and his handler lost their lives and were subsequently buried. The site is now Ranville Commonwealth War Graves and in this case the Commission decided to leave them in the grave. To date this is the only MWD known to be buried in a British War Cemetery.
The Battle eld study ended with a Barbeque cooked by Captain Young and a D-Day related quiz by Private Wilson and Private Phillips on everything we had learned. Everyone enjoyed the night’s events and it was a good end to the study. The festivities did not last late into the evening as we all had to endure the long drive back to camp and be reunited with our dogs.
CHIRON CALLING 7