Lt.-Col. E.H. Richardson who ran the War Dog Training School was mainly responsible for theappearance of messenger dogs in the British Army in WW1.
Originally the idea to use dogs came from the Red Cross who wanted to use ambulance dogs on thewestern front, but this idea was deemed unsuccessful as early as the battle of Antwerp, the French infact banned the use of ambulance dogs within a few weeks of the war beginning. Lt-Col Richardsonthen started training sentry and patrol dogs around about autumn 1914 and found the Airedale to bewell suited for this task, he also supplied the Belgian Army with some of these animals. In the winter of1916 he trained and supplied two Airedales (Wolf and Prince) at the request of the Royal Artillery foruse as message carriers, they both served with great success with the 56th Brigade RFA, 11th Div. atWytschaete Ridge and prompted further investigation into the use of dogs as runners.
Behold a French warhound and his likewise visored handler in the throes of the Great War. The Vintage Photographs LJ community has a excellent post about the dogs used in World War I, from the note-carrying 'Meldehund' or German messenger-dog, to the benevolent bloodhounds of the Red Cross.
