National commemorations recognise that animals have been integral to Australia’s military operations throughout history. In the lead-up to Anzac Day, this FlagPost provides a brief overview of animals that have served in the Australian military, and the ways in which they are commemorated.

Animals’ war service

The Australian War Memorial (AWM) highlights that animals have served in all wars in which Australians have been involved, in roles such as ‘transport, beasts of burden, messengers, protectors, mascots, and pets’. The War Memorial’s collection of articles, photographs and stories of animals attests to their pivotal role in war.  

Animals have been associated with Australian war service since the Boer War (1899–1902) in which thousands of horses supported mounted operations and 500 horses died in battle each day.

In the First World War, horses, donkeys, mules, dogs, camels and pigeons were deployed across multiple theatres. Of the estimated 16 million animals that served, 1.8 million horses and 8 million other animals were killed. AWM records show Australians had 13,000 surplus horses at war’s end, of which 11,000 were sold and 2,000 were destroyed. Quarantine laws prevented pets and unofficial mascots that had been taken to the front from returning to Australia. Cairo Zoo consequently inherited one of the largest collections of Australian animals outside Australia.

Sergeant James Harold Martin’s wartime companion, Anzac mascot Digger the bulldog, returned to Australia in May 1918, a month shy of quarantine laws being introduced:

Digger ‘went over the top’ 16 times and experienced some of the worst battles in Gallipoli and the Western Front. He was wounded and gassed at Pozières in 1916, shot through the jaw - losing three teeth, was blinded in the right eye and deaf in the left ear. At the sound of a gas alarm, it was reported that Digger would rush to his nearest human companion to have his gas mask fitted. There are also accounts of how Digger would take food to wounded men stranded in no man’s land, sometimes bringing back written messages. (p. 1)

One of the war’s most enduring stories is that of Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick and his donkey. Believed to be the first stretcher-bearer in Gallipoli to use donkeys to transport wounded men, Simpson and his donkey are memorialised in a sculpture at the War Memorial. In 1997, Simpson’s donkey was posthumously awarded the RSPCA Purple Cross. 

Carrier pigeons played a vital role in military communications during both world wars. In recalling ‘stories of pigeons valiantly going forward and saving people’s lives’, historian Meleah Hampton detailed a ‘magnificent understory’ of the Second World War, where pigeon fanciers gave 13,500 trained pigeons to the Australian Army’s Corp of Signals pigeon service. In 1945, two pigeons were awarded the Dickin Medal, often described as the Victoria Cross for animals. One Dickin Medal recipient carried a message 40 miles in 50 minutes through a tropical storm, saving a boat and its crew. The other was attached to US forces at Manus Island and carried a message through gunfire to save a patrol under attack.

Awards and commemorations

The National Day for War Animals, marked each year on International War Animals Day (24 February), commemorates the ‘deeds and sacrifices of animals in war’. It was first marked in 2019, after being announced in a 2018 parliamentary speech, which also recognised the work of the Australian War Animal Memorial Organisation (AWAMO).

AWAMO has been at the forefront of honouring the ‘service, deeds and sacrifices [with] memorials at selected RSLs and parks’. It was founded in 2003 by police officer and Air Force reservist Nigel Allsopp, who argues that ‘Australia itself would not be the country it is today without animals’. AWAMO introduced the Purple Poppy as a symbol of remembrance for animals and established the Australian War Animal Memorial in Pozières, France.

Australian animals’ military service is also commemorated in numerous other ways, including on National Military Working Dog Day, through long- and newly-established awards and in more than 40 memorials around the world.

Since 2008, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Trackers and War Dogs Association has awarded the Canine Service Medal for military working dogs that have served at least 5 years, and the War Dog Operational Medal for 28 operational days served overseas.

In 2011, the RSPCA awarded the Purple Cross to explosive detection dog, Sarbi, who was found safe after going missing in action in Afghanistan for 13 months.

In June 2017, the ADF issued its inaugural Canine Operational Service Medal – the first defence force in the world to do so.

In 2018, Special Operations military working dog, Kuga, was awarded the Dickin Medal for detecting the presence of an enemy ambush in Afghanistan in 2011 and saving the lives of his patrol, while sustaining 5 gunshot wounds. Kuga survived, but died less than a year later. His canine companion, retired military working dog Odin, received the medal on Kuga’s behalf.

AWAMO established the Australian Animal Distinguished Service Award to recognise Defence/emergency service and civilian animals. In 2025, it was awarded to ADF combat assault dogs, Manic and Aslan, and to Second World War mascot and messenger, Smoky, the first documented therapy dog.

The War Memorial’s Roll of Honour includes the names of Sappers Darren Smith and Jacob Moreland who were killed in Afghanistan on 7 June 2010, along with Sapper Smith’s explosive detection dog, Herbie. Sapper Smith was the first ADF dog handler to be killed in action while working with a military dog.

Australia’s memorials to animals commemorate their legacy in war and their enduring partnership with humans. The AWM’s Animals in war memorial, unveiled in 2009, honours ‘those animals that served alongside Australians in all conflicts’. The Elevation of the senses sculpture commemorates the role and contribution of explosive detection dogs and their handlers. The Circling into sleep sculpture features a series of bronze paw prints and honours all military working dogs.

These commemorations form part of Australia’s growing tribute to animals that have served.