Companions in the Trenches: The Effects of the Animals on the Soldiers of World War 1

Abstract

War is a hellish experience for any individual to ever have to go through. It takes a toll on both the mind and the body. To try to counter the mental hardship of war, many battalions and platoons adopt animal mascots to represent the soldiers. For this paper we define a mascot as a person, animal, or object adopted by a group as a symbolic figure, especially to bring them good luck. In the case of World War 1, these mascots were very commonly living breathing animals that the soldiers would commonly interact with. Animals did not only hold the position of mascot in the Great War though, and held many other supporting jobs for the armies of the time. This paper is a comprehensive literature review of how animals affected these soldiers at war mentally and physically, as well as how they went on to affect the common public perception of animals in the decade following the war.