Tommy's Ark: Soldiers and Their Animals in the Great War. Richard Van Emden

by Richard van Emden

For soldiers in the Great War, going over the top was a comparatively rare event; much more frequently, they were bored and lonely and missing their families at home. Needing an outlet for their affection, many found it in the animal kingdom. "Tommy's Ark" looks at the war through the eyes of the soldiers who were there, and examines their relationship with a strange and unexpected range of animal life, from horses, dogs and cats to monkeys and birds - even in one case a golden eagle. Animals became mascots - some Welsh battalions had goats as mascots, some of the Scots had donkeys. And then there were the animals and insects that excited curiosity amongst men drawn into the army from the industrial heartlands of Britain, men who had little knowledge of, let alone daily contact with, wildlife. Civilians turned soldiers observed the natural world around them, from the smallest woodlouse to voles, mice and larger animals such as deer and rabbit. Richard van Emden explores his subject far more radically than previous attempts, revealing how, for example, a lemur was taken on combat missions in the air, a lion was allowed to pad down the front line trenches and how a monkey lost its leg during the fighting at Delville Wood on the Somme. This title is illustrated with more than sixty previously unseen or rarely published photographs, drawn mainly from the author's own extraordinary collection.

Genres: History, World War I, Animals, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2010

About the author

Richard van Emden is a British author and television documentary producer who specializes in the First World War.

Reviews

[P.J. Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst not as good as the Forgotten Voices books that depict WW1 and WW2 through the voices of those who were actually there, this is still an interesting, and enjoyable read.

[George Foord · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great book about the animals in ww1, I just wish there stories were longer

[Bookweasel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did not finish due to being very painful reading about animal suffering. However 5 stars because of the importance of documenting non-human animals' history and presence in the war.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it was quite an interesting and enjoyable book I would have liked there to have been more stories about dogs and cats.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Think most people are now aware of animals role in the war due to the success of the play/book War horse and also the splendid memorial which was unveiled in 2008, in London to commemorate all the different animals who took part in the war and part of the moving inscription on this memorial is "they had no choice".
This book is a series of letters written by soldiers serving at the front written to their loved ones where they mention their pets or relationship to animals or nature. Even the sight of butterflies hovering over the hell which was called No mans land was something wonderous.The soldiers adopted stray dogs, cats, or had pigeons and canaries ( who were used in gas attacks)as pets, but you also got the mascots which included pigs, a lion !goats and even a chimpanzee! The letters tell how the soldiers in many cases sickened by the violence could not kill wildlife even for food and although by now de-sensitised to the slaughter around them would still feel anger and compassion for unwarranted acts of cruelty towards animals, such as the leaving behind of dogs chained in their kennels to starve to death when the local population fled the onslaught.
Horses had been commandeered from Britain,shipped over in horrible conditions to work at the front, they were looked after by people who knew nothing about horses, worked until the dropped not fed or watered properly,many of them drownded in the mud of the battlefields, and in fact only a quarter died from enemy action the rest because of the above factors.The final blow to all these animals was if they made it alive throught the war because of Britains expensive quarantine laws these animals which had brought so much comfort to the troops could not be taken home unless smuggled, until a charity stepped in to help,but poor horses were sold for meat or to work to death in foreign lands.
The book does become a bit repetative as it goes through the years of the war, as there is only so much the soldiers can say about the animals.However it is worth reading to see how much the animals meant to troops serving in France maybe a bit of normality in a mad world, and heartbreaking letters to remind us how animals suffered along with humans in human conflicts.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling exploration of attitudes towards animals and the natural world by soldiers on the front line and how these changed during the course of the first world war. The book almost exclusively comprises extracts from letters and memoirs of soldiers, interspersed with a brief but invaluable contextualising narrative by the author. The tales that are told are of beauty amongst the horror, and the prose with which some of these soldiers wrote is truly astonishing. There are tales of antipathy (especially towards ectoparasites and rats!), but also moving, compassionate accounts of relationships and interactions with animals that shared the truly abominable conditions of the trenches, and reflections on the contrasts between the horrors of warfare and the uninterrupted rhythyms of the natural world.

[Ana-Maria Bujor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book must have needed a lot of work to write and I respect that. The voice of the author is barely heard,just enough to clarify some things, while the rest of the book includes the memories and letters of the soldiers who fought in WWI and encountered animals along the way. Some of the stories are very powerful, such as the one of the Germans sending a dog back to the British with the message "why can't we make peace?". Others are funny or just revealing about one of the worst times in history. I felt some of the stories were not really necessary, but otherwise, I recommend this book - it is a very human perspective on war.

[Finrod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, well written and researched book on animals, nature and soldiers during WW1. Imho just one negative point: we can’t follow any story from the beginning to the end, each and every one is divided by year… and as there are quite a few characters in the book, we end up reading a bit of what happened to one in 1914, then many others, than again we find the same guy again in 1915… 16… etc. and every time we must remember who he is and what happened him one year earlier. Anyway: a book to recommend!

[TheGood ByeGirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not for those with a vivid imagination, this took so long to read because the descriptions were harrowing, so much suffering for all the horses, mules and donkeys used in the great war :-(

[Jeff Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book by the author on a subject usually overlooked. Well worth a read if you love everything First World War.