The number of soldiers on both sides of WWII that were killed or went missing is just staggering. Now, the mystery surrounding one RAF pilot and what happened to him and his plane has been solved after 70 years. RAF flight Sergeant Dennis Copping climbed into his Kittyhawk P-40 aircraft in June 1942 to fly the plane to another airbase for repairs. He was never seen or heard from again.

Throughout the course of the long war in Afghanistan, Coalition troops have relied on thousands of military working dogs to help keep them safe, and make their jobs easier. The dogs are trained to detect explosives, to find illegal drugs, to search for missing comrades, or target enemy combatants. Not only are they active on the front lines, but behind the lines they serve as therapy dogs, service dogs, and loyal companions. They also share the same risks as the ground troops, suffering injuries and sometimes death on the battlefields. Gathered here are images of these dogs and their handlers in Afghanistan and back home, from over the past several years, part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan.

Passengers from the ferry sinking off South Korea's southern coast are rescued by the South Korean Coast guard in the water off the southern coast near Jindo, south of Seoul, on April 16, 2014. Almost 300 people were missing after a ferry sank off South Korea on Wednesday, the coastguard said, in what could be the country's biggest peacetime disaster in nearly 20 years. (Photo by AP Photo)

An image of a Fennec fox painted on a tree hole by Wang Yue is seen in Shijiazhuang, on March 13, 2013. Wang Yue, a senior at Dalian Industry University, uses her paintbrush to turn ugly tree holes into lovely views in Shijiazhuang, capital city of Hebei Province, China. Wang and her companions call the tree-hole paintings “meitu”, which means “beautiful journey”. The paintings on the trees have brightened the city during the dull, grey winter. (Photo by Pillar Lee/Reuters)

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A statue of a Japanese Akita dog named “Hachiko” wearing a face mask is seen near Shibuya Station Wednesday, April 8, 2020, in Tokyo. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency on Tuesday for Tokyo and six other prefectures to ramp up defenses against the spread of the new coronavirus. Hachiko has waited for his owner University of Tokyo Prof. Eizaburo Ueno at the same place by the station every afternoon, expecting him to return home for nearly 11 years even after Ueno's death at work. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

Dramatic photos show the measure of a man in contrast to the enormity of nature.
A series of photos from the Humboldt State University Library capture lumberjacks working among the redwoods in Humboldt County, California.
The photos are part of the Ericson Collection....

SEE ALSO: «Huge Plants» AND «Loggers»

A man carries away an injured girl while walking through debris past in the Achrafiyeh district in the centre of Lebanon's capital Beirut on August 4, 2020, following an explosion at the nearby port of Beirut. (Photo by The Mega Agency/Stringer)

Igor Gavrilov, the main taxidermist of the Zoological centre at Tel Aviv University, works on a taxidermied animal, part of a collection which will be housed at the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, a new Israeli natural history museum set to open next year in Tel Aviv, Israel June 8, 2016. Legions of insects, sea creatures and ancient fossils are lining up in a new museum shaped liked a giant Noah's Ark, telling the story of a crucial evolutionary byway across Israel. (Photo by Nir Elias/Reuters)