The story took place in the Novgorod region. During one of the stages of the Memory Watch in the Starorussky district, the Novgorod search party "Courage" came across a unique find. Animal bones lay next to the remains of Soviet soldiers, Novgorod search engines write.
The excavations were carried out near the former military positions of the Great Patriotic War. According to the found straps with buckles identical to the dog harness, ampoules, pillboxes, an aluminum case with powder and ointment, the search engines assumed that a canvas pouch or a bag with medicines was strapped on the dog. That is, in front of them were the remains of not a simple tailed one who could have joined the squad, but a specially trained dog-orderly who saved the lives of the fighters.
- We often find the remains of animals, these are usually horses, cows, birds, and they (bones) are fragmentary, most likely these animals were eaten, - said Dmitry Toporkov, commander of the search party “Courage". - But here are the remains of a dog orderly, and even in full uniform, we found for the first time. Of course, it touched us all to the core.
The search engines decided to perpetuate the memory of the four-legged soldier. We chipped in money, ordered materials and made a full-length monument to the dog. We installed this memorial sign not far from the place of discovery so that everyone could see - not only our guys died here, but also another full-fledged fighter of the medical unit - an orderly dog.
In total, during the years of the Great Patriotic War, more than 68 thousand dogs were called to the front. These are sappers, saboteurs, bombers, signalers, scouts, and, of course, orderlies. Orderly dogs searched for wounded soldiers on the battlefield, in forests and swamps and brought help to them. They also carried small backpacks with medicines for first aid. According to official data, orderly dogs pulled more than 700,000 wounded soldiers from the battlefield.
Photos from the personal archive of Dmitry Toporkov and the search party “Courage".