by Alison Hart
The Battle of Messines Ridge, 1917
As described in Darling, the Battle of Messines Ridge began with the explosion of nineteen underground mines. Rocks and dirt blasted high into the air. The earth shook and heaved. The explosions killed about ten thousand German soldiers. The noise and force even shocked the Allied soldiers (British, French, Australians), since the mines had been kept a secret.
Germany had controlled Messines Ridge, located in Belgium, since 1914. With the help of planes and tanks, the Allies were able to advance to the German front lines and capture the area. It was a bloody battle and a hard-fought victory for the Allies. It is estimated that over 42,000 lives were lost.
Interesting Facts about the War
World War I lasted from 1914 to 1918.
It was named The Great War because it was the first war to use massive weapons such as tanks and two-ton howitzers.
“Bomb” is what the British call a hand grenade.
A British soldier was called a “Tommy.”
Each soldier carried a ten-pound rifle, a bayonet, sixty pounds of ammunition, a digging tool, and a gas mask. Survival gear might also consist of eating utensils, bootlaces, a blanket, a razor, and iron rations.
Bibliography
Adams, Simon. Eyewitness Books: World War I. New York: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2001.
Cooper, Jilly. Animals in War: Valiant Horses, Courageous Dogs, and Other Unsung Animal Heroes. Guilford, CT: Lyons Press, 2002.
Cummins, Bryan D. Colonel Richardson’s Airedales: The Making of the British War Dog School, 1900–1918. Alberta, Canada: Brush Education, 2003.
Currie, Stephen. Life in the Trenches. San Diego: Lucent Books, 2002.
Freedman, Russell. The War to End All Wars. New York: Clarion Books, 2012.
Hamer, Blythe. Dogs at War. London: Carlton Books, 2001.
Jager, Theo F. Scout, Red Cross and Army Dogs. Rochester, New York: Arrow Printing Company, 1917.
Lemish, Michael G. War Dogs: A History of Loyalty and Heroism. Dulles, VA: Brassey’s, 1996.
Passingham, Ian. Pillars of Fire: The Battle of Messines Ridge, June 1917. UK: Sutton Publishing, 1998.
Ross, Stewart. Technology of World War I. New York: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 2003.
Ruffin, Frances E. Dog Heroes: Military Dogs. New York: Bearport Publishing, 2007.
Strachan, Hew. The First World War: A New Illustrated History. London: Simon & Schuster, 2003.
For Further Reading
Adams, Simon. Eyewitness Books: World War I. New York: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2001.
Freedman, Russell. The War to End all Wars. New York: Clarion Books, 2012.
Goldish, Meish and Ron Aiello. War Dogs. New York: Bearport Publishing Co., 2012.
Patent, Dorothy Hinshaw. Dogs on Duty: Soldiers’ Best Friends on the Battlefield and Beyond. London: Walker Childrens, 2012.
Ross, Stewart. Technology of World War I. New York: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 2003.
Ruffin, Frances E. Dog Heroes: Military Dogs. New York: Bearport Publishing, 2007.
Websites
Military Working Dog Foundation, Inc.
www.militaryworkingdog.com/history
A Multimedia History of World War I
www.firstworldwar.com
The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century
www.pbs.org/greatwar
The Worcestershire Regiment
www.worcestershireregiment.com
World War One Battlefields
www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/flanders/messines.html
Great War Photos
www.greatwarphotos.com
Royal Army Medical Corps in the Great War
www.ramc-ww1.com
Published by
PEACHTREE PUBLISHERS
1700 Chattahoochee Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30318-2112
www.peachtree-online.com
Text © 2013 by Alison Hart
Illustrations © 2013 by Michael G. Montgomery
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Cover design by Nicola Simmonds Carmack
Print book design by Melanie McMahon Ives
Cover illustration rendered in oil on canvas board; interior illustrations in pencil. Title, byline, and chapter headings typeset in Hoefler & Frere-Jones’s Whitney fonts by Tobias Frere-Jones; text typeset in Adobe’s Garamond by Robert Slimbach.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Hart, Alison, 1950–
Darling, mercy dog of World War I / by Alison Hart.
pages cm
Summary: In Cosham, England, in 1917, Darling, a mischievous collie, must leave the children who love her when she is chosen for training as a mercy dog, seeking out injured soldiers on the battlefield and leading medics to them.
ISBN-13: 978-1-56145-705-2 / ISBN-10: 1-56145-705-1
1. Collie—Juvenile fiction. 2. Search dogs—Juvenile fiction. [1. Collie—Fiction. 2. Search dogs—Fiction. 3. Dogs—War use—Fiction. 4. Soldiers—Fiction. 5. World War, 1914–1918—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ10.3.H247Dar 2013
[Fic]—dc23
2012050991