Name/Title
At Practice with R. C. Dogs In The Trenches Near Luippes (Marine)Entry/Object ID
2018.18.133Description
Black and white stock photograph with the caption "AT PRACTICE WITH R.C. DOGS IN THE TRENCHES NEAR LUIPPES (MARNE)". The photograph depicts a winding trench lined with soldiers in uniform, each with a dog.
The dogs in this photograph are Red Cross ("R.C.") casualty or 'mercy' dogs. Casualty dogs were vital in World War One. Originally trained in the late 1800’s by the Germans, they were later utilized across Europe. Known as ‘Sanitatshunde’ in Germany, these dogs were trained to find the wounded and dying on battlefields and were equipped with medical supplies to aid those suffering. Those soldiers who could help themselves to supplies would tend to their own wounds, while other more gravely wounded soldiers would seek the company of a Mercy dog to wait with them while they died.
About the photographer, John A. McGill:
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At Practice with Red Cross Dogs in the Trenches near Luippes, Marne, France
Description
John A. McGill was an American soldier who served in the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I as a member of the 23rd Engineers. After training at Glen Burnie, Maryland, and at Camp Meade, Maryland, McGill deployed to France in the late spring or early summer of 1918. During his time in France, McGill compiled an album of 226 photographs depicting a variety of subjects, including battle scenes, wire entanglements, the interiors of trenches, machine-gun nests, gun emplacements, ammunition stocks, downed German and American airplanes, and damaged churches and other devastation to French towns and cities wrought by the war. Some of the views were taken by news photographers of the day and were used in postcards that McGill acquired and then pasted into his album. The photographs offer a vivid record of the war as experienced by soldiers on the Western front.Acquisition
Accession
2018.18Source or Donor
Feack, PamelaAcquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
Gift of Pamela Feack in memory of Floyd O. "Pa" and Samantha Minerva "Minnie, Ma" Saunders Burdick, Cecil May Burdick Goodwin, Grace Belle Burdick Yates, and Fern Ann Goodwin FeackMade/Created
Date made
1917 - 1919Place
City
SuippesCounty
Marne DepartmentState/Province
Grand Est RegionCountry
FranceRegion
Western EuropeContinent
EuropeNotes
Date: 1917-1919Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
PhotographNomenclature Sub-Class
Graphic DocumentsNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsDimensions
Height
3-1/8 inWidth
4-1/4 in