Animals have been used in war ever since humans learned how to tame and train them. The use of horses in war goes back over 5,000 years. Elephants have been used as early as 1,100 B.C. Ever since the ancient times humans have been coming up with new tasks for different kinds of animals. Some have been as simple as using the power of oxen to pull supplies. Other relied on the animal's unique abilities, such as using cats to get rid of rats on warships.
But some have been much crazier:
War Pigs
Pigs were used during ancient warfare as a countermeasure to war elephants. The idea was that pigs would be set on fire than let loose on the enemy. The elephants would panic at the sight and sound of flaming and squealing pigs which would cause them to ran away, crushing their own troops. In practice it didn't always work. Burning pig cannot be controlled, so a lot of times the pigs would cause harm to the army that deployed them.
Bat Bombs
Using bats as bomb was an idea developed during the Second World War.
The premise was that at dawn, a bomber plane would release bomb casings containing bats with small bombs attached to them. The casings would release a parachute and open mid flight, releasing the bats which would then nest in attics of Japanese houses which were mostly made of wood and paper. The bomb would then go off and burn down the building.
The tests showed that it was much more effective than standard incendiary bombs used during World War II, starting 3625 to 4748 fires as opposed to 167 to 400 fires of a regular bomb.
This idea, which was named Project X-Ray did not see execution because of the slow development, and the invention of atom bomb.
Anti-Tank Dogs
Dogs were used as anti tank weapons by the Soviet army during World War II. The idea was that dogs would be starved then trained to run under tanks in search of food. This would trip a small level on their back which would detonate a bomb strapped to them. In practice it didn't work so well.
First of all, the dogs were trained on Soviet tanks, so once let loose on the battlefield they would run under the wrong tanks. Sometimes the dogs would be scared by the tank engine's ramble and refuse to proceed. The Nazis also started putting flamethrowers on top of the tanks to be used against the dogs.
Despite all these setbacks, the Soviet dogs managed to disable 300 German tanks.
Navy Dolphins
US Navy used dolphins as early as the 60's to detect mines, enemy divers and recover objects. There are also rumors that the military uses dolphins to lay their own mines and destroy ships and submarines in kamikaze attacks.
The craziest use of dolphins comes from the Soviet Union. The dolphins there were trained to attack enemy divers with harpoons attached to their back and drag them to shore so they could be captured. These dolphins have been actually sold to Iran in 2000.
Voytek the Bear
While this isn't a story about military training bears, but rather a single incident, it was so crazy that I had to include it.
Voytek was a Syrian brown bear adopted in Iran by the 22nd Artillery Supply Company of the Polish II Corps. At the time the bear was less than a year old, and became an unofficial mascot of the units stationed nearby. It was later officially drafted into the Polish Army. He would drink beer, smoke cigarettes, wrestle and sleep with the other soldiers. During the battle of Monte Cassino, Voytek helped the soldiers move ammunition crates.
After the war Voytek lived in the Edinburgh zoo, where he was visited by Polish veterans until his death.
