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05-17-2006, 01:43 PM
| #1 |
| Senior Member  Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Cracow
Posts: 4,191
|  Anti-Tank Dogs The Soviets were unable to address the looming tank problem with any new technologies right away, thus they were forced to contemplate tackling the issue with the means at hand. Landmines were a viable option, but because one couldn’t count on the Nazis seeking out the mines, they had to figure a way to make the mines seek the tanks. The answer laid in the dog division. The trainers would starve the dogs, then train them to find food under a tank. The dogs quickly learned that being released from their pens meant to run out to where the training tank was parked and find some vittles. Once trained, the dogs would be fitted with a bomb attached to the back, and loosed into a field of oncoming German Panzers. When the dog climbed underneath the tank–where there was no armor–the bomb would detonate and gut the enemy vehicle.
__________________  "A good fighter pilot, like a good boxer, should have a knockout punch..... You will find one attack you prefer to all others. Work on it till you can do it to perfection... then use it whenever possible." - Captain Reade Tilley, USAAF 7 Victories, WW-II - |
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05-17-2006, 01:58 PM
| #2 |
| Senior Member  Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 472
| Quite cruel, but needs must! Interesting tactic though!
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05-17-2006, 03:31 PM
| #3 |
| "World Traveller"   Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Royal Deeside/St Andrews, Scotland, UK
Posts: 15,080
  | Yes, it is an interesting (but cruel) tactic, but then they were desparate...
__________________  "Success is not Final, Failure is not Fatal, it is the Courage to Continue that Counts" Sir Winston Churchill "To him the People of the World Largely owe the Freedom and Liberties they Enjoy Today" Enscription on Hugh Dowding's (AOC Fighter Command 1936-40) statue in London WW2 Talk: A WW2 Discussion Forum My Photo Collections on Flickr |
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05-17-2006, 09:43 PM
| #4 | |
| Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 580
| Quote:
1. There is armour underneath a tank! (belly armour) 2. The dogs were smarter than expected - they sought out T34's and KV1's, completely ignoring the Panzers!
__________________ Like WW2 tanks? Then please visit the Panzer Front: http://p208.ezboard.com/bthepanzerfront | |
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05-19-2006, 03:17 PM
| #5 |
| Senior Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Kiev, Ukraine
Posts: 251
| As far as I know dogs were able to release those bombs and run away from the tank but in reality their chances to survive were minimal.I've seen somewhere that they've destroyed approximately 300 tanks. |
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05-19-2006, 06:22 PM
| #6 |
| Senior Member  Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Vivian, Louisiana
Posts: 316
| Everything I have read has said that the dogs were not released around Russian armor to minimize confusion, but "friendly fire" was still an issue. I will also agree with marconi's 300, as I have seen that somewhere else as well, but I think it was successful attacks, not destructions. |
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05-19-2006, 10:13 PM
| #7 |
| Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: niagara falls
Posts: 5,548
| well you could always train illegal immigrants and save the dogs |
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05-21-2006, 06:12 AM
| #8 | |
| Senior Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Kiev, Ukraine
Posts: 251
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05-25-2006, 03:53 PM
| #9 |
| Senior Member  Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 19,945
| in the case of the ruskies it'd proberly be whoever they bloody well wanted......
__________________  "Reminds me of the time I sank the Tirpitz" comments a Spitfire pilot, "One pass of course, old boy." |
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01-22-2007, 12:33 AM
| #10 |
| Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Queensland
Posts: 1,249
| I think the problem was that they were trained on Russian armour and thus they would see the T-34s and KV-1s as the target and not the German tanks. In other words they were more of a liability than an asset to the Russians... |
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01-22-2007, 02:45 PM
| #11 |
| aka Dickcheese   Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Washington State
Posts: 13,335
| 300 tanks destroyed? I had read that this tactic was a complete bust. During the din and confusion of battle the dogs were loosed upon the advancing tanks and they just ran behind friendly lines and dove in with seek shelter. I had even read that they caused some casualties amongst friendly troops. Anyone else hear of the 300 tanks destroyed stat?
__________________  "Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the [U.S.] Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan Master of Duplicate Posts |
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01-22-2007, 05:45 PM
| #12 |
| Senior Member  Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Kiwi Land
Posts: 850
| As an ex MP Dog Handler. The 300 is a complete bollocks myth. Yes the dogs did dive for cover under Russian tanks, vehicles etc, and the project was completely dropped. Not by the Japanes however, who used their own men in similar tactics. At least it was cheaper than feeding and medical costs for dogs.
__________________ 4 out of 5 voices in my head say I am normal. Majority rules. You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me. |
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01-23-2007, 02:21 PM
| #13 |
| Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 117
| Just for info: The image is postwar (probably during the 1960s) ,the T-34/85 is a model 1945 or later with dummy gun and gun mantlet. |
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01-23-2007, 11:23 PM
| #14 |
| Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Queensland
Posts: 1,249
| Still one wonders what the actual statistics were because there is no doubt that it would have been hazardous for the Soviet tanks having had dogs trained using Soviet Tanks... |
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01-30-2007, 02:55 PM
| #15 |
| Senior Member  Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Bristol, UK
Posts: 2,386
| The reports regarding the use of these sobaki are sketchy at best - as far as I know it was tried and the Germans simply shot all the dogs as they went for the tanks, and the idea was quietly dropped. The whole 'Pavlov's dog' theory and them going straight for the Soviet tanks instead... Well, I suspect it's a more a case that the dogs simply ran amok to anywhere but the advancing Panzers. In any case, they were certantly not used after 1942. Here's a pic of one we saw in the Artillery museum in St. Petes. If you wish to use the picture it's no problem - but we'd really appreciate it if you could credit it to the 2nd Guards Rifle Division. In Russian museums, you have to pay to take a camera in, not to mention the fact we've gone out there.  Last edited by Medvedya; 01-30-2007 at 03:10 PM. |
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