I am always trying to see a practical use for nice looking relics and shrapnel or grenade fragments makes great candle holders. Perfect for Christmas and the long dark winter days. I have cleaned them using electrolysis.
​

Ever since humans tamed the dog it has been used in warfare. Dogs has been used in combat, as guards,mascots, trackers, rescue dogs and messengers to name a few. The German Wehrmacht had a lot of dogs in their units and some even served by the frontlines and then mostly as messengers and rescue dogs.
While searching a capitulation site in Northern Norway this summer, where units from I.R 193 capitulated after having withdrawn from the fronts around Kirkenes-Murmansk, I found three brass tubes which was used by messenger dogs. 
They  wore it around their neck and carried messages between i.e the frontline and HQ. The message was written on paper, the tube was unscrewed in one end and the message scrolled up and the tube was closed. 

The next photo is the paper label from a german crate which had contained bangers used for training guard dogs.This was found near a coastal fortification in Nordland.