Dogs of War - The Hero Canines of WW2

the very good doggos of World War II there are few bonds more sacred in life than that between a human and their dog our faithful can9 companions have stood with us through time and often stories pop up of their heroic Deeds none so heroic however as the first dogs recognized for their bravery during the world wars these dogs followed their handlers through gunfire shelling and even power parachuting from Planes just to make sure they stayed by their side and helped humans to survive during World War II the founder of the people's dispensary for sick animals or the pdsa Maria Dickens CBE wanted to recognize this bravery and contribution to the war effort so in 1943 she created what is now known as the animals Victoria Cross or the dick and medal to honor the animals that in their own way fought alongside us we don't deserve dogs and we definitely don't deserve these recipients of the award who between them saved hundreds of lives and bolstered morale in the most trying times of the war rip unlike many dogs on this list rip wasn't always a trained search and rescue dog during the war instead ARP Warden Mr E King found the mongrel wandering the London streets alone after an air raid in September of 1940 rip sensing it was on to a good thing attached himself to King's side and refused to leave him after King fed him some scraps of food with King rip saw the process of finding air raid victims in the rubble of collapsed buildings despite no training he quickly picked the job up he began to signal to King when he found victims in the rubble tirelessly working his way through smoke fire and explosions Rip's overall behavior and success are credited with partially sparking the dog search and rescue training that began in Earnest toward the end of the war the brave boy was awarded the Dicken medal in July 1945 and was later the first recipient to be buried in the ilford pdsa animal Cemetery where he was later joined by others Jet Jet ofata was a German Shepherd rescue dog who worked alongside multiple other famous canine companions including fellow dick and metal recipients Rex and Irma thanks to his extraordinary sense of smell jet recovered 125 people during the blitz signaling places in the rubble where survivors and casualties were buried from this alone jet had already proved himself to be an outstanding dog and rescue Ally but he earned his dick and medal for one particular Act of Bravery during the blitz after a hotel was hit by a bomb The Rescuers worked until they believed everyone was out of the debris but jet refused to leave he repeatedly signaled to his Handler that someone was alive and inside eventually the human Rescuers found a 63-year-old woman clinging to a ledge to survive it took 11 and 1/2 hours to free her jet refused to leave the entire time for his bravery jet was awarded the Dicken medal on January 12th 1945 later The Medallion of Valor from the rspca and he led the VE Day Parade in London upon Victory Judy the pointer Judy's tale is so incredible that it almost sounds like fiction born in 1936 Judy first served as a ship dog on the HMS natat and grasshopper in 1942 however she found herself and the rest of the crew of the grasshopper stranded on an uninhabited Island near Singapore they only survived thanks to Judy's nose and digging abilities helping them find fresh water after some time they encountered a Japanese captured Village nearby where leading aircraftman Frank Williams spotted Judy it was love at first sight the two developed a bond that meant they were inseparable from that moment on with Judy keeping morale high as the Allies endured torture from the hands of their captives to protect her Frank promised the commander his own puppy and in return Judy was granted official Allied prisoner of war status later when the prisoners were moved to Singapore Frank smuggled Judy with them training her to lie upside down and silently over his shoulder she stayed like that for 3 hours successfully remaining with her Airmen that wasn't the end of their tale though on June 26th when the PS were aboard a ship to their new home they were hit by a torpedo and started to sink with nowhere to go and little hope for survival Frank pushed Judy out of a port hole in hopes she would survive not only did this incredible dog survive but later Tales were told of how she paddled around the debris keeping her drowning men afloat Frank Survived The Sinking and somehow Against All Odds was reunited with Judy 3 days later but incredibly there was still more to come still a p Frank was sent to lay railroads with the other men his faithful companions still by his side deep in the jungle Judy faced off against an alligator wild dogs and even a tiger in the process of keeping Frank safe incredibly she survived them all as did Frank when the war was over Frank smuggled her for one last trip back over the seas and home Judy became the only dog to ever become a member of The Returned British prisoners of War Association and in May 1946 received her Dicken medal Frank and Judy lived together happily until her death at age 13 Frank built a large granite and marble Memorial in her honor a testament to the incredible life the pointer LED and the relationship between man and dog Gander Gander or Sergeant Gander as he became known was a giant 60 kg black New Finland dog arguably one of the bravest dogs of all time gander's story makes him a heartbreakingly worthy recipient of the dick and medal working alongside a Canadian regiment in Hong Kong Gander was a resident of the Royal Canadian Air Force Station before being moved to Lee with his Handler Fred Kelly it was here that the big dog came into his own on two occasions he rushed the enemy snarling and looking altogether terrifying effectively deterring them from attacking his troops on one occasion he even reared on his hind legs like a Bearwood leaving them to run terrified into the undergrowth protecting his wounded comrades but it was his last incredibly heroic Act of Bravery that secured his award pinned down on December 19th 1944 the Canadians were under constant grenade attack and men were being injured all over 558 men died that day and it would have been seven more if not for gander's actions when a grenade landed among injured Soldiers the brave Gander picked up the live grenade in his mouth running towards the enemy and away from his comrades tragically he died in the explosion but not before ensuring his friends were safe it wasn't until the 1990s gander's actions were recognized for their heroism no one had successfully campaigned for a Dicken medal for half a century but gander's story was far from ordinary he posthumously received his medal on October 27th 2000 with his old friend Fred Kelly in attendance he later called it the happiest day of a long life hey everyone it's Chris you're probably used to hearing me during our advertisements but now I want to talk about something a little bit different every 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interest and your hunger for history Thorne another German Shepherd Thorne received his medal on March 2nd 1945 for breathing through smoke and fire to locate casualties in burning buildings a descendant of the strong Shepherd line bred by Margaret Griffin that also produced Irma Thorne had a particular propensity for ignoring danger in the interest of saving human lives his bravery was so that it prompted one Regional officer to comment the work of Thorne at this spot was the best I've yet seen from any rescue dog Rifleman KH an impressive name for an impressive dog trained in Patrol Duty Rifleman Khan later saved the life of his Handler l Corporal Jimmy malun his master was part of the sixth Battalion known as the cameronians sent to support the recapture of a Dutch town held by the Germans in 1944 unfortunately upon trying to reach the shoreline malun and Khan were thrown from their boat by enemy artillery while gunfire and explosion sounded all around them Khan refused to leave maldon's side despite his Handler's lack of swimming ability Rifleman Khan ensured they both survived that day taking a mouthful of maldon's clothing in his teeth KH forcibly paddled them both to Shore and relative safety from that moment on Jimmy couldn't bear the thought of losing KH he begged the family to keep him who refused but allow them to later reunite for a Victory Parade Khan was awarded his medal on March 27th 1945 a statue of moldun and Rifleman KH was erected on the common in 2021 antis antis the German Shepherd may have ended up a war hero but he was also a stowaway doggy secretly smuggled on board aircraft by Czech Airman basav bosek after a successful Mission the crew decided antis must be their own personal good luck charm and named him the seventh member of their crew antis continued to fly with them throughout the war accompanying them on over 30 sorties during this period he was injured three times but never panicked always keeping calm and collected in the face of danger the Airmen never revealed antis exploits during their active duty only revealing the role the brave dog had played in their missions later antis remained with bosek saving his life again after the war in 1948 a year later in 1949 antis was recognized for his cheeky but valuable contribution to the war receiving his dick and medal on January 28th 1949 he's now buried at ilford with full military honors Sheila unlike the other dogs on this list Sheila was simply a pet with a good nose a collie dog owned by John dag the duo had heard a plane crash near their home in the midst of a fierce blizzard on the English Scottish border Sheila dag and a neighbor fought through the snow to reach the plane but Sheila ran ahead and found four Airmen who would survive the crash leading them back to her owner without them all six aboard the plane could easily have perished after the blizzard dag and Sheila also persevered and found the bodies of the two men who sadly didn't survive Sheila became an honorary member of the Allied Forces mascot club and the first civilian dog to receive the dick and medal on July 2nd 1945 Peter Peter the scotch collie was given to the services after he utterly failed as a house pet fighting with others and disobeying his owners after training in 1944 however Peter quickly earned a name for himself as a determined rescue dog at the London region civil defense once working for 10 hours straight without a break which was unheard of for any animal he repeatedly successfully found casualties buried and even six alive that would have perished otherwise without Peter's quick nose on another occasion he pestered his Handler arching night until they Unearthed what they thought would be a trapped human it turned out to be a particularly talkative parrot he received his medal and was presented to the king and queen after the war even receiving a kiss on the nose for a job well done cumston Irma another German shepher for dog nicknamed The Blitz dog Irma's search and rescue attempts during the war were some of the most impressive of any canine together with another dog psyche she found 233 people total with 21 living to tell the tale some of Irma's most impressive exploits include finding one woman who had been trapped between two floors and buried deep under Rubble for 9 hours and finding a baby a young child and their mother trapped although the mother sadly died the two boys survived and later were reunited with Irma in 1950 another time she refused to leave a destruction site for two full days despite Rescuers determining no one was Left Alive she barked pawed and refused to move insisting someone was still buried finally the humans discovered two young girls both still alive who would have certainly died without Irma's insistence for her bravery she walked alongside Jed at the ve parade with her own dick and Metal Ricky Ricky was a Welsh colleag working in the Netherlands in 1944 his job was to assist in finding mines along the canal banks for clearance immediately a popular dog he worked alongside his Handler Maurice yeling who referred to him as cheeky as ever quickly recognized for his excellent sniffing abilities Ricky was cool and calm as he detected Minds bu deep along the banks on one occasion he was even injured when one exploded yet kept his cool and didn't do anything that would potentially harm nearby squads after the war he was returned to his owner Mrs Lichfield and later on March 29th 1947 he received the dickin medal in recognition of his Elite sniffing bing bing was a fully qualified paratrooper dog who took part in the Normandy Landings alongside the 13 Battalion Airborne Division the Shephard KAG cross was assigned to the handling of Lance corporal Ken Bailey he was one of only a handful of dogs that took part in the D-Day Landings and the only one not to disappear or be injured after initially getting stuck in a tree Bing went on to fight alongside Bailey in combat and performed a wide range of sniffer and guard dog duties his work was instrumental during The Landings and in others across the war even taking part in the largest Airborne mission of the war in March 1945 Brian retired in 1946 received his dick and medal a year later in April and was buried at upon his death in 1955 Rex Rex was credited with saving 65 lives during his tenure on several occasions Rex insisted there were casualties still buried after humans had given up searching forcing them to uncover bodies that otherwise would have been missed his bravery was particularly notable during a factory fire where Rex kept trying to go in and rescue people despite the burning roof collapsing when the fires went out every time he was allowed to return to the site he uncovered more bodies and withdrew only reluctantly for his efforts and bravery Rex received the Dicken medal in April 1945 Tish Tish was a mongrel who served for the vast majority of the War beginning in 1941 a black Mongrel thought to be part Terrier Tish was adopted by Rifleman Thomas Walker together the pair fought across Algeria and the Mediterranean regularly facing down the enemy together on the front line despite tish's busy service she also spent time getting busy in other ways across the four years she birthed 15 puppies and was often seen riding into battle on the top of a brand UC see howling like a wolf and boosting the morale of every Soldier she met both Walker and Tish had a propensity for danger often charging in together to rescue wounded comrades despite being under heavy fire themselves despite regularly being injured Tish never let it deter her from being by Walker's side after after the war she lived happily with her Riflemen until she was laid to rest in 1959 receiving her dick and medal in September of 1949 Thomas Walker visited her grave at ilford for the rest of his life Beauty there was a third dog honored on January 12th 1945 alongside Jet and Irma Beauty a Wirehaired Terrier owned by Bill Barnett and a rescue dog during the blitz but with her own unique specialty Beauty's Focus was on finding other animals not people thanks to her efforts 63 animals were saved from premature burial alongside the dick and medal beauty also received the pdsa Pioneer medal usually given to people and awarded unrestricted access to her Local Park from the mayor she too is buried in ilford Cemetery chips chips was another exceptionally Brave dog of World War II who had little regard for his own life when it it came to saving his comrades after protecting those attending the Casablanca conference in 1943 he also aided in the invasion of Sicily it was there that he saved the lives of his platoon after they landed in darkness only to be ambushed by an enemy machine gun team firing from a nearby HUD with little regard for safety chips promptly leapt towards it and after a brief Skirmish all four members of the enemy team emerged surrendering to the terrifying chips for his actions chips received the Dicken medal in January of 2018 because the Dicken medal wasn't created until 1943 individual dogs from World War I failed to have been recognized this was rectified in 2014 when an honorary dickan medal was given to honor all animals and the roles they played in The Great War today dogs and other animals continue to receive the award for their heroic actions in military conflicts sniffing out those trapped in the ruins of their own homes biting those intending toward harm and wagging their tails to those who have lost hope paw after Paul they continue to walk in the small footsteps of their [Music] predecessors [Music] [Music]

Channel: Simple History

Views: 344,893

Keywords: simple history, animated history, educational, education, Doggos, dogs, ww2, animals, heros, heroes, dickins medal, incredible hounds, canines

Id: wh1dJ4vr5Zs

Length: 19min 47sec (1187 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 18 2023