War Memorial to honour war animals

In every war where Australians have fought, animals have played their part.

Most recently in Afghanistan, dogs sniffed out bombs and insurgents.

To mark the contribution of man's four-legged and feathered friends, the Australian War Memorial will stage its special Of Animals in War commemoration on Sunday.

Launching the event on Friday alongside the Memorial's statue of Simpson and his donkey, director Brendan Nelson released a pigeon from the Canberra Racing Pigeon club.

The commemoration will feature an overview of the role of animals in Australia's military history by renowned animal trainer Nigel Allsopp and there will be songs about war animals by country musician Tania Kernaghan.

Concluding the day will be the Memorial's Last Post Ceremony which will tell the story of Sapper Darren Smith and his dog Herbie, a border collie cross, who along with Sapper Jacob Moerland, were killed by an insurgent bomb in Afghanistan in June 2010.

Forming an honour guard along the Memorial's pool of reflection will be soldiers from the School of Military Engineering with their explosives detection dogs.