Gloergoer camp at Medan, Indonesia 1942-1945

The Cat Who Killed 'Mao Tse Tung', The Pigeon Who Saved 1,000 Lives And Different

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For many of historical past, animals had been usually the forgotten heroes of battle.
However, since 1943, brave creatures, which have over the years saved the lives of hundreds of males, have had their gallantry recognised with the Dickin Medal.
The honour, launched by the British veterinary charity PDSA, has also been nicknamed the animal Victoria Cross.
Since its inception it has been awarded to sixty three animals - 27 canines, 32 birds, three horses and one cat.
Now in a new ebook, Animal Heroes, David Lengthy tells the unbelievable stories behind every medal and the amazing animals who so gallantly earned the honour.
Listed below are simply among the tales of braveness, which might absolutely encourage even the toughest of human hearts…
Judy, English Pointer, Prisoner No 81A, Gloergoer camp at Medan, Indonesia 1942-1945
Date of award: Could 2, 1946
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Navy canine Judy earned her Dickin Medal after suffering harsh Japanese therapy as the only official canine prisoner of conflict during World Struggle II.
The English Pointer also helped save the crew of gunboat HMS Grasshopper by discovering water after the stricken boat was marooned on an Indonesian island in 1942.
Japanese soldiers, who had conquered the nation, eventually captured the men - who took Judy with them into Gloergoer PoW camp in Medan.
Brutal guards frequently beat her and threatened to kill her. However she purchased her life by offering the camp commandant with puppies.
Judy helped increase morale among the many men and, particularly, struck up a touching friendship with Leading Airfcraftman Frank Williams.
He smuggled her aboard a Japanese prisoner transport ship, which was torpedoed and sank en route to Singapore in 1944.
She was able to swim to safety - saving men as she did by offering debris to keep them afloat - and after a couple of days was reunited with Frank at one other PoW camp.
When the war led to 1945, Judy, who was born in Shanghai in 1937, was taken to Britain and a yr later she was awarded the Dickin Medal.

Date of award: August 1946
American Pigeon G.I. Joe helped save up to 1,000 lives throughout World Conflict II by halting a deliberate American bombing on an Italian village held by British troops.
In October 1943, the messenger flew 20 miles across enemy strains from a British HQ to a U.S. air base in simply 20 minutes to ship a warning observe after radios failed.
The blue-checked bird arrived ‘just as our planes had been warming up to take off', revealed Otto Meyer, a former commander of the U.S. Military Pigeon Service.
G.I. Joe's be aware said the village of Calvi Vecchia, 25 miles north of Naples, had been abandoned by the Germans and the British 169th Infantry Brigade had occupied it.
The U.S. had initially planned to make use of bombs to ‘soften up' the village, which they believed was a German stronghold, before another British regiment launched a floor offensive.
So, within the face of a breakdown in radio communication, a humble pigeon spared Allied troopers and Calvi Vecchia's residents from what may have been one of the worst incidents of ‘pleasant fireplace' during the struggle.
G.I. Joe, who had been born that yr in Algiers, was flown to the U.S. on the finish of the warfare.

In a position Seaman Simon, Stray cat, Yangtze Incident, China, April 1949
Date of award: December 1949 (posthumous)
Former stray Simon turned the one cat to win the Dickin Medal after heroically continuing to catch rats regardless of being wounded aboard a Royal Navy ship throughout a 101-day siege by Chinese communists.
The intrepid feline, who sadly died in British quarantine before he might receive the honour, was praised for his braveness and help through the 1949 Yangtze Incident.
Seventeen sailors have been killed in the course of the standoff after HMS Amethyst sailed up the Yangtze river from Shanghai to Nanking to guard the British embassy there during China's civil warfare.
Simon suffered extreme shrapnel wounds and burns after the captain's cabin was hit by a shell, which killed Lieutenant Commander Bernard M. Skinner.
But someway the scraggly black and white cat who was found stray in Hong Kong, fought through the pain and was capable of recuperate from his accidents by licking his wounds.
According to the citation he acquired for his Amethyst campaign ribbon, Simon, who was additionally given the rank ready seaman, rid the ship of pestilence and vermin with unrelenting faithfulness”.
This job grew to become notably essential because the men have been strictly rationed in the course of the lengthy, hot months aboard.
He was best identified for killing a rat the sailors nicknamed Mao Tse Tung after the Communist leader.

Theo, Spaniel cross, Royal Army Veterinary Corps arms and explosive search dog, Afghanistan
Date of award: October 2012
Military sniffer dog Theo was posthumously awarded the Dickin Medal for his life-saving bravery that noticed him uncover a file number of bombs and weapons.
Tragically, the 22-month-outdated springer spaniel cross suffered a deadly seizure hours after his handler, Lance Corporal Liam Tasker, 26, was shot lifeless by the Taliban in 2011.
The pair made 14 discoveries in five months on the front line and have been hailed by navy chiefs for saving the lives of countless British soldiers in Afghanistan.
Theo was said to have died of a damaged heart after Lance Corporal Tasker was killed taking part in a mission in the Nahr-e-Saraj district in Helmand.
Their function had been to assist search and clear roads and compounds, uncover hidden weapons, improvised explosive devices and bomb-making tools.
The soldier used to joke that Theo was not possible to restrain however I would say the same about Lance Corporal Tasker,” revealed Main Alexander Turner, who at the time was the commanding officer No 2 Firm 1st Battallion Irish Guards.

Date of award: April 1947
Despite horses suffering enormous casualties during historic conflicts - eight million died in the First World Conflict alone - only three have been awarded the Dickins Medal.
Perhaps this is because, despite being skilled to be steadfast within the face of crowds, they are often notoriously nervous, usually whinnying on the slightest loud noise.
So it is all the extra impressive that a trio of Metropolitian Police horses ought to earn their stripes during the Blitz.
Amongst them, Olga initally bolted one hundred yards when a German V1 flying bomb destroyed four homes in Tooting, south-west London in July 1944.
But she returned together with her rider LAPTOP J. E. Thwaites to the scene and helped management crowds who needed to see the touchdown site of the bizarre ‘Doodle Bug'.
A month later, another V1 hit the East End district of Bethnal Green.
Upstart, whose stables had already been destroyed, held quick and assisted his handler DI J. Morley with the rescue effort despite the animal being showered with debris.
Regal, the third horse, was unfortunate because his stables in leafier Muswell Hill, north London, were twice burned down by incendiary bombs in April 1941 and July 1944.
However the simple-going equine ‘as soon as again lived as much as his title… and was not duly perturbed,' based on one witness.

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Alice Sholl