The story of Jackie ( The baboon ) who served in WWI

Animal WORLD: Jackie was the name given to a baboon found by Albert Marr near his farm in South Africa around 1910. He decided to take care of the little monkey and made him a member of the Marr family.

Over the years Jackie was trained to behave quite "decent", he and Albert quickly developed a tight bond and became inseparable.WWI broke out in 1914, a year after, Albert enlisted and joined the 3rd South African Infantry Regiment.

Unwilling to leave his best friend behind, he asked his superiors if he could bring Jackie. First Jackie`s presence was ignored, but he was so well behaved that they couldn't deny him. He was treated like any soldier and receive a complete uniform, a pay book, and his own rations.

He trained with his comrades, and when he saw a superior officer pass by he would stand and salute them correctly. At the dinner table, he even used a knife, fork and a tea-cup.

Due to his excellent sight and hearing, he would keep the guard's company during the night and give an early warning of enemy movement. Jackie and Albert first saw action in Egypt, 1916.

Albert was hit in the shoulder and Jackie became desperate to do something to comfort his friend, he began to pat him and lick his wound until help arrived. After recovering from the wound, they went to Europe. They would now spend time in the hellish trenches on the Western front.

Both of them got injured in the Passchendale area in 1918.

As the shells exploded all around, Jackie was trying to get some protection by building a little shelter out of stones around himself.

Unfortunately, he didn’t manage to finish the shelter before being hit by shrapnel in the leg, shrapnel from the same shell also hit Albert.

At first, Jackie refused to be evacuated, he tried to continue with his shelter, hobbling around on what had once been a leg.

The doctors tried to save his leg, but it had to be amputated.

Near the end of the war, Jackie was discharged. He left with his discharge papers and a military pension. The two friends went home together, and a fire would destroy their house in 1921. Jackie would pass away shortly after and Albert would live on until 1973.

Sources [Picture 1]: https://allthatsinteresting.com

Sources [Picture 2]: https://allthatsinteresting.com

Sources [Picture 3]: https://dickens2015.files.wordpress.com

Sources [Picture 4]: https://img.bidorbuy.co.za