Monday 27 April 2020
  • Home Front
  • Age 9-11 (KS2)
    Age 11-14 (KS3)

Did you know animals play an important role in wartime?

Join IWM expert Clare as she shares real life stories about courageous animal heroes. Clare will tell us about animals that are super smart and can do amazing things that modern equipment and highly skilled people cannot!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more of our next Adventures in History films. 

Amazing Animals

Amazing Animals

Part of the Adventures in History series created during the UK lockdown in Spring 2020.    

Curriculum Links and Learning Objectives

  • KS3/4 - Challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day. 

  • GCSE - Warfare and British society, c1250-Present.      

  • To learn about the roles animals play in war and conflict.                         

Animal Investigators

Animal Investigators

Animals are extraordinary creatures with amazing abilities, including keeping our spirits up during difficult times.

IWM experts Clare and Roly show you photos from IWM’s collections of animals in wartime. Each had a very specific job… but what were they?

Watch the mission briefing

Animals and the war effort

Private John Rudd of the 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment sitting at the roadside in a Korean village with his dog, which has been trained for guard duties.
Private John Rudd of the 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment sitting at the roadside in a Korean village with his dog, which has been trained for guard duties. © IWM BF 491

Animals and the war effort

From a tiny mouse to a huge elephant - see 12 amazing photographs that show show some of the different ways animals have helped humans in wartime. 

EXPLORE FURTHER

Poster for IWM's learning content Adventures in History: The World's Best Den
History
The World’s Best Den
Why were air raid shelters needed in the Second World War? Join IWM expert Ngaire as she tells real life stories of how people passed the time—whether they sheltered in their back garden or in underground tunnels.  
Poster for IWM learning content Adventures in History: Cakes Made from Carrots
History
Cakes Made From Carrots
Join IWM expert Ngaire as she tells real life stories of how people satisfied their sweet tooth despite rationing in the Second World War.  
Adventures in History: VE Day: Parties in the Street graphic
History
VE Day- Parties in the Street
Join IWM expert Vikki as she shares real life stories of celebration and revelry in the wake of the VE Day announcement of 1945
Family Mission - Mathematical Menagerie - graphic
History
Family Mission: Mathematical Menagerie

Book A Visit to IWM

IWM London Exterior shot
IWM
IWM London
School visits to IWM London
From the moment you step into the iconic atrium, to the countless discoveries awaiting you in the award-winning galleries, IWM London examines the continuing influence of war on our world.
IWM North landscape view
IWM North
School visits to IWM North
Purpose-built to tell the powerful stories of over a century of war, IWM North makes full use of its extraordinary exhibition space to deliver an award-winning immersive experience.
IWM Duxford Showcase
©IWM
IWM Duxford
School visits to IWM Duxford
Walk through the same hangars and buildings as those who served at RAF Duxford. See aircraft take to the skies from the airfield that Spitfires first flew. And get up close to over a century of aviation with hundreds of aircraft and objects on display.