Thursday 30 April 2020

Keeping Spirits Up!

Animals are extraordinary creatures with amazing abilities, including keeping our spirits up while many of us are staying safe at home during difficult times.

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

Mission Briefing

Mission Briefing

Part of the Family Mission series created during the UK lockdown in Spring 2020

Get a closer look at the amazing animals from IWM’s collections with the photographs below.

Don’t forget to share your animal investigations on IWM’s Facebook and Twitter!

Photographs

Tiddles

Photographs

Tiddles

Tiddles the cat.

See object record
© IWM (A 10647)

Adam and Benji

IWM’s Customer Services Executive, Adam and Benji the cat.

Adam and Benji

IWM’s Customer Services Executive, Adam and Benji the cat.

Photographs

Pet Rabbits

Photographs

Pet Rabbits

A little girl feeding rabbits in Britain during the First World War.

See object record
© IWM (Q 31147)

Kirsty, Flo and Mac

IWM’s Public Engagement and Learning Producer, Kirsty with her rabbits Flo and Mac.

Kirsty, Flo and Mac

IWM’s Public Engagement and Learning Producer, Kirsty with her rabbits Flo and Mac.

Photographs

Little One

Photographs

Little One

Little One the cat.

See object record
© IWM (D 2380)

Jennifer and Bix

IWM’s Business Development Manager, Jennifer and Bix the cat.

Jennifer and Bix

IWM’s Business Development Manager, Jennifer and Bix the cat.

Curious to investigate more amazing animals in IWM’s collections? Take a look at our collections online!

EXPLORE FURTHER

A Lewis gunner of the 6th Battalion, the York and Lancaster Regiment with the Regiment's cat mascot, in a trench near Cambrin, 6 February 1918.
© IWM (Q 8463)
First World War
15 Animals That Went To War
Over 16 million animals served in the First World War. They were used for transport, communication and companionship. Horses, donkeys, mules and camels carried food, water, ammunition and medical supplies to men at the front, and dogs and pigeons carried messages. 
Pet dog of the Middlesex Regiment with its catch of rats in the trenches on the Western Front during the First World War.
Animals At War
12 Ways Animals Have Helped The War Effort
Throughout history animals have accompanied men into combat as modes of transport and communication, protectors and companions. Here are some of the ways animals have helped the war effort from the First World War to the present day.
Adventures in History: Amazing Animals graphic
Amazing Animals

Sponsors

Family Mission has been created with the generous support of Old Possum's Practical Trust