DOGS OF THE WAR

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3445, 15 November 1932, Page 2

DOGS OF THE WAR

MASCOTS WHO SERVED. FAMOUS ANIMALS. NAVY, ARMY, AIR SERVICE. The last twelve months have seen the passing of many a dog-hero of the war, and mascot of famous, now half-forgotten fighting men. Only a few weeks ago died Nipper, the veteran mascot of Strathcona's Horse, to be buried at Winnipeg with full military honours, trumpeters sounding the Last Post, and a firing party ripping out the last three volleys over his grave. Dog mascots, indeed, seem to have gone out of fashion with the war, to be replaced by goats and all manner of strange animals. The Navy, however, still stands by the dog. A month ago Bill, the bulldog mascot of the flagship Nelson, having broken ranks on parade to rush up to the King, who patted him on the head, was unanimously considered to have been knighted, and is now addressed always with due gravity as "Sir William." The bulldog has found much favour with sailormen. Another famous one of the breed was Rex, of H.M.S. Tiger, of Dogger Bank and Jutland renown. Rex had two outstanding characteristics. He was an inveterate di'unkard, and —perhaps because of this induced frayed nerves —he loathed gunfire! Long Crime Sheet. Many Navy dogs were equipped with a service certificate. One of these sadly blotted with a list of offences that would disgrace the most hardened defaulter, belongs to Popski, at present serving his fifth commission, this time with H.M.S. Endeavour.

Included in his long crime sheet is the deprivation of a good-conduct badge because "he did vomit heartily under aggravated circumstances, to wit, in the wardroom mess during the officers' dinner hour." At another time he was guilty of "appearing at Sunday Divisions grossly improperly dressed, to the corruption of good manners" —for which heinous offence it was ordered that "his vile body be sand-and-canvassed." Morisby, who died a short time ago, was another Navy clog, of a famous stock that included sire Ch. Morriss and grandsire Ch. Morova. Like Rex, of the Tiger, Morisby

hated gunfire, and was found after the action in Heligoland Bight with his head jammed in a waste-paper basket, cowering in a corner of his master's cabin. He was present at the surrender of the German Fleet, and after full service retired into civilian life. Major Draper has claimed that his golden retriever Josephine was the only canine passenger who flew over the enemy line, but this distinction is certainly shared by Zum, son of Mog (a former naval dog), who flew the Channel with his master to Dunkirk in 1915, and was afterward in the Dardanelles and Salonika campaigns. Both these dogs, curiously enough, had some amazing instinct which enabled them unerringly to pick out the aeroplane flown by their respective masters from a host of others, and each would rush across the aerodrome when master's machine was preparing to land, ready to greet it the moment the propeller stopped turning. The number of stories attaching to Army dogs is legion. One of the most famous of these animals was Prince of the 64th—the North Staffordshires.

At the Front. "Enlisting" in 1932, Prince made barrack inspection his principal prewar hobby, but was also very fond of a route march. When his regiment went to France in 1914 he was left behind, but after six weeks of moping he suddenly attached himself one day to the Queen's Westminsters as they marched through the London streets and accompanied the battalion to France. A few weeks later the Q.W.'s halted for the night at Erkinghem, where also were billeted the North Staffords. Strolling in the road Prince suddenly recognised his former owner, Private Brown, and there was an immediate joyful reunion with his proper regiment. Thereafter he served through the war in the front line. He imposed upon himself the nightly duty of examining the faces of all carried back by the stretcher bearers, and humanly pathetic was his sympathetic lick for the face of a dead or sorely wounded friend. Menin Road, Hell Fire Corner, Devil's Gate, and Cemetery Walk were as familiar to Prince as he was to the troops occuping those points. He was once wounded, but rejoined after first-aid treatment, and with his regiment he remained through the thick fighting of 1918 until the Armistice. His death occurred in quarantine in England, where he waited to join his unit' for the piping time of peace.

Another real veteran is Toddles, now more than 17 years old. She had a most varied career, starting life with the German Flying Corps in Mesopotamia and, after capture, serving with her captor in the R.A.F. until he was killed in South Persia by the Kurds in 1919. Toddles, whose peculiarity was always to sleep in the air, flew for many hours over the Turkish lines, and eventually came to England. Said to be a Tibit spaniel, she still, despite her great age and blindness, loves nothing so much as a long country tramp on the lead.