Animal magic

It’s hard to resist a story of animal heroics and cinematic history has been littered with brave beasts such as Lassie, Flipper and Black Beauty.

But it’s not just on the silver screen where animals have lent a helping paw, it’s in real life situations too. The family exhibition Animals’ War at the Imperial War Museum North explores the remarkable role of animals in conflict from the First World War to the present day. The exhibition uses hands-on interactives, photographs, film and sound clips, paintings, touchable sculptures, and memorabilia from the Imperial War Museum collections and private and public lenders from all over the world.

It is estimated that 16 million animals served during the First World War – by 1916 alone the warring nations had raised 103 cavalry divisions with over a million horses. Despite increasing mechanization and advances in technology, animals have continued to play their part in the front line.

Amongst the animals who are celebrated for their achievements are Winkie the pigeon who saved the lives of a ditched aircrew by carrying a vital message revealing their location; Sefton, the cavalry horse who survived the Hyde Park terrorist bombing by the IRA; and Roselle, the Labrador who led her blind owner to safety from the 78th floor of the World Trade Center after it was attacked on 11 September 2001.

See these animals plus ones that have been adopted officially and unofficially as pets and mascots by the armed forces such as Simon of HMS Amethyst, the only cat to have been awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal known as the “animals’ Victoria Cross”.

Get hands-on designing your own dog with the Kennel Club’s interactive computer game and see just how much a camel can carry in times of war. Discover how some animals have a remarkable sense of smell and see if you are brave enough to sniff out a few smells yourself.

The Animal’s War Exhibition runs from 26 May – January 2008 and is supported by The Kennel Club and PetPartners plc.

There is also an accompanying exhibition book, The Animals’ War, written by the historian Juliet Gardiner, with a foreword by Jilly Cooper, published by Portrait, priced at £20.00. A children’s book, Animals at War

Admission is free and the exhibition is on until January 2008