The Hell Hound of Mons - Halloween Special
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- Опубліковано 13 вер 2024
- The true story behind the tale of a strange dog-like beast that stalked No-Man's Land during WW1, preying on wounded soldiers.
Dr. Mark Felton is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.o...
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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.
Credits: US National Archives; Matthias; Bruce McKay; Nagaty Studio Sound Effects; Josh Plueger; Sidney Paget; Audrey; Tokyo Zoo; Mar3ef; Kij; Philco Ford
Music: 'March of Midnight' by Scott Buckley
When I was 10, my neighbours had a huge black Groenendael. One night as I was going back home he got lost in the street. I heard a low growl from like 10m behind me and as I turned around he emerge from the bushes (like in that Harry Potter scene). I was terrified of dogs and when that demon ran at me I just froze, no scream, noting! He was as big as me!
Then he started yapping and rolling on the floor, tail wagging like crazy.
When the shock was past, I just started crying because he didn't go away until his owner came to "rescue" me.
I learned years later that dog is a real teddy bear with childrens and the reason he didn't leave me alone crying was because he wanted to comfort me thinking I was hurt.
Ok but why did it growl at you then?
Dogs often growl when they play, especially if they like to roughhouse play.
@@Likexner I don't really know. Maybe a bit of stress because he wasn't supposed/used to be alone in the street.
Or maybe it wasn't an "threatening growl". Dogs can be quite vocal and I don't know him that well.
In my souvenirs, he didn't show signs of aggressivity before running.
I was just me who was terrified.
I guess that gentle nature is the reason the Belgians used them for rescuing the wounded (as Mark described).
@@duneydan7993 Ok. It is true that not every growl is a sign of hostility. My dog growls when she wants to play "who lets go of the thing first".
Nothing like the rumors that will spread among the ranks... the stories you'll hear. Stray dogs in combat zones are no joke though. In Iraq 2004-2005, we were constantly hounded, pun intended, by huge packs of stray dogs. They were mean... and were not looking for a handout. They definitely would have torn a wounded man to shreds if given the opportunity. They were also fearless. They would run right up to our humvees. In the early part of the deployment before we got armor kits, we took the soft skin doors off the humvees, so it wasn't unusual for a driver or TC to have his foot hanging out. The strays would bite at our feet, even while we were moving. I found an old sabre among a weapons cache somewhere and used to keep it in the truck to brandish at the strays. They weren't impressed. Then I started swinging it at any dog that got too close. They still weren't impressed. Another NCO in the platoon ended up having to shoot one as it was charging him and about to set off a trip wire. Forget about sneaking in anywhere, the dogs would give us away all the time.
I love dogs and own 3 of them... but these were something else. Amazing how they revert to primordial behaviors.
Had the same problem during Desert Storm. Large packs of dogs left feral months after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Came face to face with one myself while crawling into a bunker with flashlight in one hand and .45 in other. Face to face and he/she ran over my back and out. Scared the c--p out of me.
It doesn't help that the locals as a rule didn't treat dogs as pets - for many reasons, some good, some less so. In Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and elsewhere in SW Asia I found that dogs were for work - guarding mainly, either people or flocks. Not a lot of spare food or time to waste on pets, I'm afraid, so they weren't really 'pets' in most cases. That, and a distinct cultural feeling amongst many that dogs are unclean, and the poor things don't get the kind f lfe that most in the West do!
those are poor souls, those dogs.... animals don't belong in human conflicts and have to do what they have to do to survive in this environment, that is hell for them.
When Israel invaded Lebanon in the early eighties, the had special snipers to shoot the stray dogs before entering a village, so as to not have the dogs give away their assault on the village.
Wow what an interesting story! They sound quite the evil lot!
The timing of this couldn't be better. We are covering WWI in my class right now. I showed this to my students and they loved it. Thank you Dr. Felton.
This guy would be an awesome History class supplement
I used several of his videos two years ago when I was teaching 9th grade US history during our ww2 lessons! Teaching 6th grade ancient world right now.
I wish my history teacher could have been as good as u.
@@TriZaba What do Americans call the fighting prior to Pearl Harbor? I know that WW2 started on Dec 7th, 1941.
@@peace-now lol ww2 started in 1939 if you were in Europe. 41 if you were in America. And the early 30s if you were in China. It’s all the same war though.
“A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles
Aoooooo!
Anyyway
Bought myself the book after watching Mark Felton's video.
Just lacked the phosphorous for the full Baskerville effect.
Flashbacks of Mark’s tale of the tiger in the vietnam jungle. Amazing as always, thanks Mark.
@Human Rights 💩
@Human Rights tf
I like the Holloween intro music! You are certainly the most creative historian I've ever heard of. I only wish I had been born in the UK or quite a bit younger then I currently am so I could request a student visa to your college so I could take your classes.
You have to be a hoot in class! Thanks for yet another entertaining and informative video.
Video title?
Or the story about the tiger in the former Dutch-East-Indies, told by far too many Dutch veterans when they came back.
Mark, a story from grandpa from Okinawa. He said the Japanese had sentries walking back and forth at night to try and get the marines to fire so they would give up there position. He heard an order go in for one of the Dobermans to be sent in. Complete silence and the dog came back with a bloody muzzle. He said they didn’t send out anymore men to draw fire. And he’s still scared of dobermans to this day.
-C.B Kelley 6th marine 22nd infantry 1945
@Lork Hahahaha yeah and the Japanese were obviously model gentlemen
I doubt that would have happened in Burma. General Renda Mutaguchi (Japanese 15th Army) solved his over-extended supply line problem by ignoring it. Japanese troops were told to just live off the land. No supplies. Any Dobermann would have been cooked and eaten before you could say 'chop chop'. Field Marshall Slim's British 14th Army is credited with inflicting on the Japanese army their greatest military defeat in history. In fact, it was Mutaguchi killed most Japanese - through disease and starvation.
@@lurk7967 lol nanking look it up
@@lurk7967 what,you mean japanies war crimes against ,US,AUSTRALIAN,ETC🇭🇲
@@henrykeyter53 sorry not funny,japanies war crimes 🇭🇲
How does it amaze me that you’ve been at this for years and there are still so many stories to tell …. God bless you Mark Felton.
Well there were tens of millions causalities and survivors of the wars throughout history. Made up of both soldiers and civilians each with a life and perspective further shaped by these events to tell about. Many unfortunately, will never be told about because their experiences are lost to history. I'm glad Mark tells of the lives of these people.
I agree completely. Unbelievable and great that you give this to us!
amazeballs
Belief in Hell hounds in the UK and Ireland goes back much further then the Middle Ages. The Celts had many stories of such creatures dating back to the Iron age. It is likely these folk beliefs were still prevalent into the 20th century.
Irish wolfhounds are probably the most likely explanation for the middle ages and iron age stories from Ireland although The Eurasian wolf is probably more likely in France
Dogman is seen not only black though and walking upright like a werewolf so I think it's a completely different demonic entity that manifests
He always finds us something to hear about. This man is amazing.
And he always will be, what a legend
Well, he is THE Dr, Mark Felton afterall, isn't he? 🦇🦌🦇
And this one is a fairy tale *
@@DaveSCameron yeah no shit
Good profile pic
The reason no one ever actually saw it:
It was actually stealthy Dachshunds....nobody ever suspects the Weiner dogs!
And the British created corgis to fight back
@@HubertofLiege 😂
lol
Aye the cunning little buggers trip you up and then have your throat out in a flash!
Allegedly.
piraña weiner dogs is terrifying
My grandad was part of a snatch squad the 3 of them went into no mans land to to catch German troops to question and bring them back his wife had a telegram saying presumed dead after he was missing for 2 weeks all this time he was in a bomb crater with a German prisoner every time they tried to move they were shot at so they waited till shelling started and made it back .He was a tough bloke had scars on the side of his head from bayonet fights ,got buried in a trench after a shell exploded and pulled out by his boots ,a chunk of shrapnel the size of a match box in his arm and lived till 85.
Props to your Grandad for his service during this bloody hell hole of a place. I'll bet he could spins some yarns and provide a proper story or two.
Glad to hear that your grandad actually talked about his War*
What a tank, respect
There is a book called "Poor Bloody Infantry", written by the grandfather of a friend of mine. He wrote a number of his experiences in the trenches and no-man's-land. Assuming these were the 'publishable' experiences, I hesitate to consider the others. I don't think Hell could be as terrible as what existed then. On a side note, he was never 'quite right' after the war and didn't talk about it. No wonder ....
If your grandfather was around twenty during WWI, he would have been born in the late 1890s. So how could he be your grandfather? Did the events you describe happen in WWII, rather than WWI? Or was he your great grandfather?
Whatever. If he spent up to two weeks in a bomb crater with his German prisoner, what kind of 'conversation' did they have, given the language barrier? They must have shared intimate details, like having to relieve themselves. And didn't your grandfather have to sleep at some time and did they have any food?
It's a fascinating story that cries out for more detail.
I’m Belgian, World War history enthusiast and I’ve never heard this story. Dr. Felton, I salute you. Best UA-cam channel out here. ✌🏻
Ok... Mark is an immortal being who wants to tell stories from his past.
YES FINALY SOMEONE FIGURED IT OUT
Nah - He's a human imbued with the mystical spirit of PostMan Pat. Its *obvious*
You know what Groenendal translates into English as? *Greendale*
What more *proof* could you ask for?
Perchance Mark Roamed the Mons?
He's actually Goebbels turned English, now telling history stories! :P
But seriously, he does look a hell of a lot like Goebbels.
Pagan
"They sent the hounds, but they too will find only death!" - Wehrmacht Announcer
Fetch me their souls - Samantha and every other announcer
It’s the red army announcer* lol but yes I get the reference lol good one
You and I thought we were knowledgeable nerds who knew everything.
And then Mark loads THIS.
The funny thing is that when I was playing with my firend an pen-and-paper lovecraftian RPG taking place in late 20s my made up character was an WW1 veteran, who was a drunk monster hunter who meet such wolf creatures during the war as a soldier. And I never heard about story of The Hell Hound of Mons till now. :)
I had a Groenendael and it was one of the smartest dogs I have ever seen. They are very family-friendly, social, have a quick grasp and defend "family members" without hesitation in case of danger.
My sister has raised, and trained Belgian Malinois. I'm gonna see if she is up to raising a Groenendael.
@@HollywoodMarine0351 Oh, Malinois are very beautiful dogs too. I think both Belgian Shepherd breeds are excellent dogs and can perform a wide range of tasks.
@@patrichausammann the Malinois is the preferred breed of a lot of police agencies in the U.S. Beautiful animals.
@@HollywoodMarine0351 I thought Border Collies were high energy but Malinois are like rubber balls in a rubber room.
@@LuvBorderCollies LOL. Malingators definitely are energetic.
Imagine being in a trench at night. Telling each other ghost stories to then hear those wolf like howls. That'd freak me out.
Happy Halloween Mark 🎃
Mons seems to have been a fertile ground for the fantastical. There was an Angel hanging around too, apparently.
Mons is to the supernatural as New York is to extraterrestrials. Always striking there first no matter what the story.
Lots of tortured men who were constantly under extreme stress. Not surprising that stories like this spread around. It really was hell on earth in those damp, cold and muddy trenches.
@@signoguns8501 ... Unimaginable..I have read Many Accounts...
Sounds like that place has a lot of history behind it.
The one problem with Mons in that regard is for most of the war it was well behind German lines. Fighting only occurred in that vicinity on 23rd and 24th August 1914 and not again until the last day or so before the Armistice.
My family have a Belgian Shepherd named Keni, He is huge! Took a lot of training but he's a gentle giant.
Weird twist, my father served in the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers for 18 years (obviously a long time after WW1!) Which is a strange connection to the Hell Hound of Mons story!
Compared with this description of no man’s land, hell hounds sounds like fluffy puppies. I can’t imagine ‘patrolling’ no man’s land in WWI
Don't worry about artillery shrapnel machine gun tracers barbed wire poison gas or drowning in mud, theres hell hounds out there!
My grandad was a sniper in the first world war, so in effect he volunteered to spend his nights in no man's land, being hunted by German patrols. This was either incredibly brave or monstrously stupid, because although snipers were paid a shilling a day more than the other troops, a sniper's life expectancy was two weeks.
Obviously he never came across this hell hound ! Or maybe he did, but was the one that walked away. 😉
Seems like suicide.
I *can* ....... but mostly because as a tiny lad my grandpa used to tell me stories about it
Fictional ones when I was small. Very much the real thing when I was bigger.
One of the most memorable was the time he saw file of Uhlans comming toward him down a communicating trench.
He assumed he would die but had pulled the pin of a Mills Bomb and was just about to throw it when something seemed incongruous about the way they were moving.
They had been pretty much blinded by Gas and one Tommy was at the rear herding them along.
With a sigh of deep relief he lobbed the Mills bomb out into no man's land.
But
My mum tells the tale of a night in the 1930s he threw my Gran out of bed and threw hiimself on top of her shoutng 'They're over the top - They've broken through. Get down get down for god's sake *get* *down* '.
Pure PTSD type flashback
@@Kevin-mx1vi _“The street is no longer measured by meters but by corpses ... Stalingrad is no longer a town. By day it is an enormous cloud of burning, blinding smoke; it is a vast furnace lit by the reflection of the flames. And when night arrives, one of those scorching howling bleeding nights, the dogs plunge into the Volga and swim desperately to gain the other bank. The nights of Stalingrad are a terror for them. Animals flee this hell; the hardest stones cannot bear it for long; only men endure.”_ Max Hastings, The World at War.
I'd imagine the Western Front would've been similar, if the "Hell hounds" had any sense they'd be long gone.
Dr. Mark Felton never ceases to impress everybody, no he even howls like a wolf/dog. Impressive
As an owner of a Belgian Shepherd, I can certainly attest to not wanting to be near a feral, hungry one. Even well trained they can be bit of a handful.
The scariest dog I ever saw was a doberman great dane mix. It was a doberman the size of a great dane. If there was ever a hell hound that was it right there. It came running at me from out of nowhere and I just stood stock still. Then the owners came up and called it off. I'm not normally afraid of dogs but that one gave me some pause.
My good friend had a Belgian Sheppard and it was the most calm,lovable, beautiful animal on the planet...he got it as a puppy and never really trained it at all except the basics and it was still so very, very, calm...she was so beautiful, black and rust colored.her name was Hilda...RIP Hilda,you were great.
HAd many run in's with a Belgian in a park close to my home. The owner was irresponsible and let it loose. Would pin my black lab and growl with teeth out.....legitimately scary felt like it could kill my dog if it wanted to and there was nothing I could do. That dog was beautiful though maybe one of the best looking dogs I have ever seen.
I got high content wolf dogs, Black, Run into one of them feral and not recognizing me oh crap :)
Abu Bakar Al Baghdadi would agree with this statement. If he wasn't..... y'know...... dead.
We have two Groenendale shepherd's. The male frightens grown men just by being himself and could easily pass as a hellhound.
Are they cuddly like German Shepherds?
About to fall asleep then I see a new Mark Felton video. Looks like I'm staying up longer. Thank you for all the fantastic content Dr. Felton. I could listen to you talk about dirt and still be interested.
Same
I agree
Bet you were up all night after this one 😳
Oh, dear God, all the yeses! I have watched this multiple times and still get chills. True "real life" terror during a time of unbelievable horror of war. As humans, we are not afraid of being alone in the dark, but of NOT being alone in the dark.
Imagine a creature so foul, so hellish, it manages to instill terror in men who are involved in one, if not the worst, conflict ever suffered by humanity in terms of cruelty
Yeah. We call em Marines. See also: Teufelhunde.
@@ab5olut3zero95 pff marines...
Or imagine young men, some barely out of their teens, not as worldly wise and cynical as we think ourselves. Now imagine them taken from their normality and plonked down in an unimaginable hell. What's one more weird and hellish story piled onto those already overwhelmed minds?
These dogs weren't foul nor hellish, they were hungry, because humans decided they needed to have a pointless war.
And to add ontop. Troops telling each other scare stories about devilish hounds stalking them in a nightmarish battlefield. To hear those haunting howls at night would give anyone the shivers.
I had a Groenendael Belgian shepherd, he was a good dog. Smart, loyal and kind.
Looking forward to this one. Loved the Halloween special last year!
Uh, I'm a new subscriber so what was it?
@@cornbreadfedkirkpatrick9647 It was about the Red Baron.
@@cornbreadfedkirkpatrick9647 The video here is about animals like a cross of powerful Shepherds and crossed with Wolfs that attacked soldiers, ate the helpless wounded and the dead. It even mentioned that a breed of powerful Wolf/doglike powerful animal, black with red eyes may have been created by the Germans to attack the British.😨
Even now this happens. I'm a delivery man and once I was delivering to a school in Detroit. Suddenly the teachers were rushing kids back inside the school. One teacher said I'd better get in too. Seeing my confused face she pointed to several large dogs coming in the road and said "wild dogs" I was obliged to hide in the school with them.
The History channel could learn a LOT from Dr Felton.. Fantastic content as ALWAYS. 👍👍👍👍
"It weren't hell hounds in the no man's land.
It were ALIENS." 🙃
Feral dogs were common in the war torn cities of Iraq. I had a soldier tell me of him witnessing a feral dog pack chase down a man on a bike to attack him in Falluja. Said they would see the packs roaming regularly.
Dogs ain't dumb. They know what it takes to survive.
Many of them had rabies, many soldiers had the job of shooting any on sight.
@@ScouserLegend shooting mad dogs is more of a calling than a job.
@@1pcfred Its a public health service.
@@LuvBorderCollies and a personal health service too.
I swear that Dr Felton dreams of an imaginative tale, uses his time machine to go back in time and make it happen so he has more tales to enthral us with.....
Either that, or he's doing a fantastic job teaching us about stuff we never realised we needed to know about!
Nice pfp
Pretty decent theory, would explain both where Die Glocke ended up and how Dr Felton researches his videos to such accuracy.
In other words horsesheiss *
Mark felton orchestrated ww2 so he had content for yt
So incredibly sad for the innocent pets & animals abandoned by human agression, cruelty & general thoughtlesness.
Thank you for ur stunning video's.
You can always count on Mark to piece together an obscure and fascinating tale from the annals of history. Fantastic video as always sir!
Halloween episode *
Dang. That intro music is absolutely ominous. Great job Mark. Another fantastic video.
I simply cannot get enough of Dr' Feltons videos. This is amazing
This is a true treat as Dr. Felton entertains us with a story that is true military history within a Halloween framework.
The western front.
Imagine the worst place in the world at whatever time in history to be......Then the hell hounds come out.
The demonic Dogman creatures are attracted to mega death and slaughter on a colossal scale, who would've thought.
I'm sure it was a far worse place to be than a city in the Great Plague...
These documentaries are absolutely AMAZING. The best I've ever seen. OEF Veteran
I did an article about the Hell Hound of Mons for a website a while back. Always loved these kinds of military stories.
Cod 1 much
@@youngsandwich2792 what?
Befitting for the time of year. Gotta love it when truth is stranger than fiction
A stray Groenendaeler dog was my first thought as well.
Actually they're quite nice and loyal dogs, very much like their German Shepherd cousins. The Belgian army deployed them for a couple of tasks. But left on their own in the hell of the WW1 trenches they could regres into wolf like scavanger behavior. Any large dog breed probably would.
My friend had Belgian Shepherds - very nice dogs. As you say, left to their own devices they would regress. There are wild dogs in the mountains near here - they're descended from Malamutes and similar which escaped from farms many decades ago.
Are they as cuddly as German Shepherds? If so I might get one. I have always had German Shepherds and they have been equivalent to golden retriever or lab cuddly except with better hearing and smelling ability in exchange for subpar swimming ability.
@@hithere7382 I have had both breeds, and you cant really compare them, the belgian is way more its own and can be stubborn compared to the german that is much more submissive as a domesicated animal. Should i choose an opponent in the wild of the two, i would be much more affraid of the german than the belgian thou, due to the pure strenght difference between the two breeds (my german was over 60 kilos, the belgian around 45 kilos, but certanly more agile and way faster)
You sir are an international treasure, thank you for everything you do.
I really love Mr Felton's documentary the voice is soothing and calm keep it up sir! A subscriber from the Philippines
Nothing holds a student's attention like your content. History is brought to the fore by your riveting retelling and art of narration.
The Eastern Front was mentioned regarding wolves, yet nothing about German "sightings" on the Western Front, nor of the experiences of the French. If this means that they did not have the same "experiences" as the British and Commonwealth troops, then it suggests a close link with 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. Although the book would have been translated fairly quickly after 1901-02, Europe had, from 1905, their own detective, Arsène Lupin, who became more popular than Sherlock Holmes. However, the Germans would have had more experience of Sherlock Holmes because in 1915 'Der Hund von Baskerville' was a popular 4 part film (the world's first), so were they also seeing "hell hounds"?
The truth was probably as mundane as stray/feral dogs (I recently saw video of stray dogs wandering the "safe" areas of the exclusion zone around the La Palma volcano). The stories would have probably been spread so readily because of the influence of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles', which would have been popular and readily available to all classes of British and Commonwealth troops, as it was published in installments in the Strand (?) Magazine.
As you suggest, the truth was probably as mundane as stray or feral dogs. During the Italian campaign of WW2, Allied soldiers told how dogs would eat the throats of the dead at night.
BTW, nice _Known Space_ reference in your YT user name!
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
There are a lot of stories of "Black dogs" attacking people in the UK throughout history, so I think the English soldiers were more attune to what was going on and added in their own mythos.
@@vulpsturm Not to mention that in The Hound of the Baskervilles the plot is that the hound didn't bark therefore was familiar with the murder not that it did anything horrible.
In The Hound of the Baskervilles the plot is that the hound didn't bark therefore was familiar with the murder not that it did anything horrible.
Dangerous dogs but beautiful. Very sad. Thank you for covering this issue of feral dogs during wartime. Greetings from Canada!
5:29 On a side note, that is one courageous bagpiper to march at the top of the ridge while the column charged.
Noticed that too
Absolutely my favourite episode yet.
Best WW2 historian on the planet.-from Indiana, USA
Love the new intro music. Great menacing music for a scary hell hound.
You're such a great writer. Thanks, Mark.
Damn, that was a bit chilling indeed... seems like Halloween & history lessons really can go hand in hand :)
Dr. Mark has donned his “Count Floyd” cape for this scary story, kids. Well told, Dr. Felton, well told!
(Hopefully, I’m not the only one who still remembers SCTV. :-)
Dr. Tongue's 3-D house of Hellhounds. Ohhh, what a big dog. Really scary, huh kids?
Excellent job & with such creepy howls too!
Happy Halloween Dr. Felton! And concerning horror there's a great quote from WW1 veteran Basil Rathbone.
"Forget horror in films. If you want REAL horror, go to war."
As an infantry/intelligence officer Rathbone lead numerous patrols in No Man's Land and was eventually awarded the Military Cross for his efforts.
Great video mark. I just read a book about the trenches in Flanders and the descriptions of the horrors added to that
initial tale made me uneasy. I can’t imagine being there
Giving this a thumbs up even though I don't have time to watch it and will save it till after work, but I did want to be in before 50, thanks Mark
Have a good day at work! Its Friday!!
Hope you enjoy post-work, my friend! Don't forget ;) =) all the best
Worth waiting for, as the old beer ad used to say 🍺
As a Halloween lover, I salute you Dr. Felton, for the nod!
I love a good Halloween story! True to form, Mark is able to weave myth with fact in proportional amounts no matter the time of year or subject matter; always relevant and always interesting.
I never knew about this legend and I watched the video with morbid fascination. I'm sure I'll get flak for this, but another candidate for the Hellhound of Mons could've been wolfdog crosses. They can be massive canine hybrids, and research has shown they can be more aggressive than wolves. Combine ravenous hunger (during a war time setting), little or no fear of humans, and feral pack mentality they are definitely the stuff of waking nightmares.
Sounds a strong possibility. Combine that with soldiers telling each other spooky stories of these "hell hounds" to amp up the fear. You can see how this would put the men on edge.
I don't think that could be a strong possibility, as the last wolf seen in Belgium was killed in 1897, (not in the biggining of WWI as Mark says). And Mons isn't even in a forested region, but rather an industrial one. So it's unlikely it might have been a wolf or a dog/wolf hybrid.
Imagine being stuck in no man's land and hearing a howl or seeing a large dog prowling around... Too terrible to think about... 🐺🐺🐺
Imagine being wounded, spending hours fighting to stay alive, waiting to gather the strength to get up and return to the trenches only for a fucken dog to rock up and start gnawing on your arms
Imagine hoping it might be a rescue dog only for it to be a very hungry woofer
@@rwilson1197 seriously it would make for an incredible horror film, just the thought sends shivers down my spine...
Agreed the thought of mans best friend following him into a similar state of savagery and cruelty as the war and become a cruel unrecognizable monster with one instinct kill kill kill
@@palgameruk8996 Yeah, absolutely
Mark Felton is the best!
There's a 2-part graphic novel loosely based on this story called: Predator. The bloody sands of time.
Basically it substitutes the Hellhound for The Predator and has him stalking soldiers in no-man's land on the Western Front.
That sounds like an entertaining novel. I immediately thought of ww1 equivalents to iconic lines from the film.
And Cujo and so on..
@Hard R 2 D2 I’ll be sure to pass on your critique to Dark Horse Comics.
I might check that book out
Its just amazing how captivating and informative your video's are.
This is hands down my favorite channel. 🙌
Great intro music. Yes it was a surprise be very appropriate.
Thanks again! I start most of M.F. videos thinking that 'maybe this one will be the snoozer of the bunch". Yet every time, I feel satisfied by yet another amazing story I have not heard of. Well done...again..
You seem to amaze everyone with your awesome stories especially this year's Halloween special, thank you mark
The choice of music different from the into, the assault push up the tench in ominous, slow motion and notwithstanding the face of a ravenous dog...This video made me shudder of what you were about to describe in awe-some (Fantastical) detail; Horror lies in the witness, the one who could recant evil.
(Me looking at my greyhound) nahh
What was that song anyway?
I read a book where the author talks about were-tigers in Burma in WW2. Your story reminded me of that.
The book is Behind Japanese Lines, Sub titled With the OSS in Burma by Richard Dunlap.
Your video makes me glad I'm staying home handing out the candy.
That must have been terrifying knowing that tigers were lurking around the soldiers
Always a pleasure to come home on a Friday and see there is a new Mark Felton video! Keep up the great work
Always one to bring fact to the fictions and myths of the past, even on a Halloween special - that's our Dr. Felton!
Just brilliant, as always - anyone else hit Like before the adverts have even finished?
Reminds me of that Sherlock Holmes movie, the Hound of the Baskervilles. No wonder why the Brits were scared!!!
He did mention the book.
@@bantalee2002 I was going to say before it was a movie it was a story. The movie didn't come out until 1959. So 45 years after the battle was fought. The story was first published in 1901.
This episode was better than the Halloween special about Franz Ferdinand's cursed Graf und Stift limousine. Thanks for making my Friday morning scary!
Pretty cool story. Amazing how simple things can take on a life of their own.
Bloody hell, leave to professor Felton to give me nightmares on Halloween night. I thought "Hell hound" was a metaphor for some soldier stalking the other side at night. And I have to go to work tomorrow morning!
“In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.”
This was very good story for Halloween. And that creature was based upon real species of Dogs made it more Chilling. Thanks
Thank you!!!
Wouldn't be a good Halloween without a Mark Felton video
Animals tend to see a ship load of snacks when humans are fighting, like the crocodiles in Ramree island
Ooo, the howling sound effects are the creepiest part of this story. Time for bed on Halloween now. 😃
I feel for those dogs/wolves though. Great story.
I am a huge fan of the metal band The Darkness and my favorite song of theirs is called “Black Shuck.” I never knew what exactly they were singing about but I do now! Great spooky video! And great fodder for any horror writers imagination.
How some of these guys kept a smile on their face is beyond me.
“Hell” yeah brother!! Happy Halloween 🎃 my fellow history spooks 👻
Thankyou for rekindling this story in my memory and for your detailed handling of its probable origins.
I'm a middle school Librarian, whenever a kid asks me for a recommendation I immediately refer them to "The hound of the Baskervilles", it is one of my favorite books.
I wasn't ready for the opening music. Impressive. Great job Mark 👌
This still reminds me of one of your earlier Halloween video, about the "haunted" car the Archduke Franz Ferdinand rode on. Still can't believe that bombshell you dropped on us...
Great October tale. I really liked the spooky music! I also liked hearing about the doctor dog
During both wars there were accounts of werewolves sightings on eastern front, especially in Serbia,Montenegro and Ukraine.
Cool
@@KB8Killa Not really. Few times it turned out that werewolf was a soldier gone insane, living in woods and attacking people. Some of the last recorded cases of cannibalism in Europe were just that and both Soviet and German documents have them.
Awwwhh look at his fluffy little face! I just want to hug him and squeeze him and call him DAMIEN.
Imagine being back in those days as a soldier in the trenches, no man's land. I've been twice at the Ypres front, Tyne Cot Cemetary, German cemetaries, museums, the last post at the Menin Gate in Ypres (with tears in my eyes.) What happened there was beyond horror.
I too have visited this area almost the same itinerary. I saw a French grave site so vast that the parallel lines made by the grave stones caused an optical illusions. First I saw the straight lines then I became aware of the diagonal lines and then the whole thing started undulating like a wave out at sea. I presume it was my brain trying to reconcile the straights and diagonals. Anyway I lasted three days before I left profoundly depressed. However the gratitude of the Belgian people was a lovely counterpoint to the grim reminders of mass stupidity and of course the criminal culpability of the rulers of the day.
Somme...100, 000 Killed or Wounded...in one Day...British General Haig ..Thought that was Normal...
Seeing Mark Felton's ongoing popularity and success makes me smile. The definition of original content. Thoroughly deserved.
Imagine robbing a house and you see this thing in there
I knew a guy that did that. He punched the dog and killed it. Dude was just criminally insane. Doing the wrong thing came to him naturally. He really wasn't that bad a guy to know either. The last we saw him he was in the back of a corrections van. I wonder where James is today? Jail probably.
mark knows enough facts to keep us entertained for years to come!
Chilling. But now you need to add counterpoint to this tale by giving the dog its due recognition as a hero by having saved many soldiers in the same battlefields. In particular, there is the story of a French hound, adopted by an American, that literally saved its owner's regiment when a group of soldiers became trapped by German gunfire. Its handler tied a note to its back and told it to get help. It did just that and help arrived in time to save the men from certain death. The dog was so appreciated for this action that it was awarded an American medal for heroism, the only dog to be so awarded. After the war its owner was permitted to take it home with him where it lived a long life, 20 years in fact, and if I'm not mistaken, at least one statue was erected in its honor.
Sincerely Yours: In the UK dogs used in bomb detection have been awarded the Dickin's medal. A canine equivalent of a bravery medal for humans.
I remember reading about this, what an interesting story! Thank you again for another lovely upload