Hill - Animal Heroes

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First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2005

This revised edition published by Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd, 2017

Text copyright Anthony Hill, 2005, 2017

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

Cover design by Louisa Maggio Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Text design by Samantha Jayaweera Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Cover photographs: soldier and dog in Vietnam courtesy Australian War Memorial (COL/67/0552/VN); soldier and dog in Afghanistan Commonwealth of Australia 2015; stack of photos and paper texture Shutterstock

penguin.com.au

ISBN: 978-0-14378-461-6

Animal Heroes

Visitors leaving the galleries of the Australian War Memorial pass through a long corridor. On one wall hangs a series of large photographs of Australian servicemen and women of different eras, snapshots of lives given in the service of our nation and its values.

Visitors have taken to placing poppies on the photographs. One is more heavily laden with this symbol of love and memory than any other. It is a photograph of two young soldiers and a dog.

Photographed the day that all three were killed by a bomb blast in Afghanistan, Sappers Darren Smith and Jacob Moerland are leaning back in their gear smiling at one another, relaxing before going back in search of improvised explosive devices. Between them, looking attentively to camera, is Herbie, Sapper Smiths beloved explosive detection dog. Darren and Herbie died together. They are buried together. Darren and Jacob are among forty-one Australians who died in Afghanistan named on the Australian War Memorials Roll of Honour, which commemorates lives given for us and our freedoms. The list would be longer but for the service, devotion and skill of these remarkable dogs.

The most popular sculpture in the Memorials grounds since its installation has been Peter Corletts depiction of Simpson and his donkey. Competing closely with it now is Ewen Coates magnificent explosive detection dog and handler. It depicts the bond between man and dog and the dangers faced by both. Inscribed into it are the names of dogs killed or missing in Afghanistan. Darren Smiths name is alongside Herbies. The EDD sculpture is so loved by four-legged visitors we have designed and installed a bronze drinking bowl next to it.

Visitors to the First World War galleries can choose from a menu of six interpretive narratives to complement their tour. The most popular is animals in war.

Whether in our exhibits, statues, artefacts, relics or commemorative days, animals are increasingly regarded as a powerful way of telling the stories of the men and women whose lives and service stand behind the Memorial. Animals, so loyal and trusting, stimulate the imaginative capacity within us to see the world and its conflicts through the eyes of others.

The paradox of the Australian War Memorial is that it is, in the end, not about war. It is about love and friendship. Love for friends and between friends. Love of family and love of country. It is about men and women who devote their lives not to themselves but to us, and their last moments to one another. And then whether horses, dogs, pigeons or camels the bond between animal and man, the devotion to one another and the resources invested in them speaks to the innate good in all of us, even in the worst of all possible times.

Animal heroes for that is what they are.

Hon Dr Brendan Nelson AO

Director of the Australian War Memorial