Sadie, with her handler, Lance Corporal Karen Yardley and her Dickin Medal, February 2007
Image source
This year my blog posts for the April 2024 A to Z Challenge will be about the recipients of
the Dickin Medal, which you can read about here. They are in alphabetical, not chronological order, within
the different letters.
S
Sadie 1996-2009
(Sources give her dates as 1996-2019, which would make her 23 at
her death. That is very unlikely, for a large breed, though just about possible
for a very small dog.)
Sadie was a black Labrador who was trained to be an Arms and
Explosives dog by the RAVC (Royal Army Veterinary Corps) in Leicestershire. She
served in Bosnia and Iraq before being deployed to Afghanistan in 2005, where
the Taliban were infamous for their use of Improvised Explosive Devices. Sadie,
and dogs like her, were invaluable. They could search eight vehicles at a
checkpoint in the time a human would take to check one.
Detection dogs are trained to sit at the location of explosives,
which is why you should be concerned if a sniffer dog sits down near you at an
airport, (although it could be a drug detection dog!)
One devastating tactic by the Taliban was to set off a second
device after a primary detonation. As people, both civilian and military,
approached the scene of an explosion, they would be targeted by the second IED,
causing further injuries and fatalities.
In November, 2005, an explosion occurred near UN Headquarters in
Kabul, in which one soldier was killed and several more were injured.
When Sadie and her handler, Lance Corporal Karen Yardley,
arrived at the scene to begin searching, Sadie was immediately alert, staring
at a wall. Bomb disposal personnel arrived and disarmed an IED, which had been
hidden under sandbags behind the two foot thick wall.
The citation for her DM in February, 2007, read, ‘For outstanding gallantry and devotion to duty. On 14 November
2005 Sadie gave a positive indication near a concrete blast wall. At the site
of Sadie’s indication was a bomb designed to inflict maximum injury. Sadie’s
actions undoubtedly saved the lives of many civilians and soldiers.’
Sadie retired shortly after her award. The working span for a
Military Working Dog is between nine and eleven years.
Salty and Roselle
Roselle, left, and Salty, right, with their ownersImage source
Salty and Roselle were Guide dogs who were in the World Trade
Center with their owners on 11th September, 2001. They led their
people down many, many flights of stairs to escape the terminally damaged
buildings.
Salty 1996-2008
Salty was a yellow Labrador who lived with his owner, Omar Rivera,
from 1999. On 11th September, 2001, they were on the 71st floor of
Tower 1 of the WTC, when the (first?) ‘plane flew into the building, several
floors above. Salty guided his master to the crowded stairwell, working calmly through
the chaotic scenes, round debris and people. It took an hour and fifteen
minutes for them to reach the ground floor and escape the doomed building,
moments before it collapsed.
Roselle 1998-2011
Roselle was also a yellow Labrador and met her owner, Michael
Hingson, in 1999. She was his fifth guide dog. She was sleeping under a desk
when the ‘plane hit. Roselle led her master to stairwell B, working quietly and
efficiently, despite the panic around her, guiding him and thirty other people
out of the tower. About halfway down, they met firefighters coming up. Roselle
greeted them, then continued her descent. After an hour, they reached the
bottom and she led him to the shelter of a subway station.
Michael Hingson wrote, ‘She saved my life.
While everyone ran in panic, Roselle remained totally focused on her job. While
debris fell around us, and even hit us, Roselle stayed calm.’
When they
eventually reached home, Roselle went in and started playing with her master’s
retired guide dog, as though it had been just another day at the office.
Salty and Roselle were awarded a joint Dickin Medal in March 2002,
‘For remaining loyally at the side of their blind owners,
courageously leading them down more than 70 floors of the World Trade Center
and to a place of safety following the terrorist attack on New York on 11
September 2001.’
Salty and
Roselle were also honoured by the British ‘Guide Dogs for the Blind
Association’ and received a ‘Partners in Courage’ award from the American
‘Guiding Eyes for the Blind.’
Sam ?-2000
Sam
Image source
Sam was
seconded from the RAVC Dog Unit to serve with the Royal Canadian Regiment on
peacekeeping duties in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2008, there was a great deal
of unrest in the region, Serbians and Croats vying for supremacy and using
ethnic cleansing to attain their ends.
Sam and
his handler, Sergeant Iain Carnegie, were working with a NATO force to protect
civilians in the town of Drvar. While patrolling one day, they were fired at by
a single gunman. Sam chased him to a bar and held him down, waiting for Sgt
Carnegie to reach him and make an arrest
A few
days later, many Serbian refugees had sought shelter from angry Croats. The
compound they were in was being attacked with crowbars and stones by around
fifty Croats. Sam and the men in his squad battled their way in and held off
the assailants until additional troops arrived to restore order. Iain Carnegie
later said, ’I could never have attempted to carry
out my duties without him. Sam displayed outstanding courage in the face of the
rioters, never did he shy away.’
Sam
retired from military duty shortly after this, aged ten.
The
Dickin Medal was awarded posthumously in January, 2003, ‘For outstanding gallantry in April 1998 while assigned to the Royal
Canadian Regiment in Drvar during the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina. On two
documented occasions Sam displayed great courage and devotion to duty, on 18
April Sam successfully brought down an armed man threatening the lives of
civilians and Service personnel. On 24 April, while guarding a compound
harbouring Serbian refugees, Sam’s determined approach held off rioters until
reinforcement arrived. This dog’s true valour saved the lives of many
servicemen and civilians during this time of human conflict.’
Sasha 2004-2008
Sasha, a
yellow Labrador, was killed with her handler, Lance Corporal Kenneth Rowe, in a
Taliban ambush.
Sasha was
an RVAC Arms and Explosives dog attached to the 2nd Battalion of the
Parachute Regiment in Kandahar. She and L/Cpl Rowe had only been paired since May
2008, but had proved themselves an efficient team. She made fifteen confirmed
finds of explosives and weapons caches.
On July
24th, 2008, when L/Cpl Rowe and Sasha were on patrol, a sniper shot
Sasha. She returned immediately to her handler, which unfortunately allowed the
Taliban to pinpoint Kenneth Rowe’s position. They were both killed by a hail of
rocket-propelled grenades. L/Cpl Rowe was twenty-four and Sasha was four. Six
other men were injured in the attack, one of them seriously.
In 2010,
Kenneth Rowe’s family received the Elizabeth Cross in his honour. Sasha was
awarded the Dickin Medal in April, 2014. ‘Sasha’s
actions were conducted in perilous conditions over a sustained period. Without
doubt she saved many soldiers and civilians from death or injury. Her calm
presence and wagging tail also comforted and reassured soldiers risking their lives
on the front line.’
Though
Sasha was a well-trained and responsive dog, she also had a mischievous side to
her, and enjoyed chasing the feral cats, which amused and entertained the
troops.
Scotch
Lass
Scotch Lass
Image sourceScotch
Lass was bred by ‘Collins and Son’ in Musselburgh, East Lothian. She was taken
into the Netherlands by a British agent and when she was released with her
message, he saw her fly straight into telegraph wires. Nevertheless, she
continued her flight across the North Sea, and in June 1945 was awarded the DM
for bravery, ‘For bringing 38 microphotographs
across the North Sea in good time although injured, while serving with the RAF
in Holland in September 1944.’
Sheila
Sheila with Mr DaggImage source
A Flying Fortress from the US
Eighth Air Force, was flying, fully laden with bombs, when it crashed into the
Cheviot Hills, in blizzard conditions. Two shepherds, and Sheila, the Collie sheep
dog belonging to one of them, started to search for the crew of the stricken
aircraft. Visibility was so poor that they had to rely on Sheila’s nose to
track them. She found the four survivors sheltering in a crevice and took the
shepherds to them. The group then made their way down the hillside, reaching
safety just as the bombs on the downed aircraft exploded.
Sheila
was awarded the DM in July, 1945, for her work, the first medal to be given to
a ‘civilian’ dog, ‘For assisting in the rescue of
four American Airmen lost on the Cheviots in a blizzard after an air crash in
December, 1944.’
Simon
Simon on board HMS AmethystImage source
Simon was
a stray black and white tom cat in the Hong Kong docks in May 1948 when he was
picked up by 17-year-old Ordinary Seaman George Hickinbottom and smuggled aboard
the frigate HMS Amethyst to deal with the rats.
A year
later, in April 1949, when the Chinese Civil War was raging, Amethyst was
ordered to sail up the Yangtze River to take over guard duty from HMS Consort at
the British Embassy in Nanking. The British had not taken sides in the Communist/Nationalist
conflict, so did not expect any trouble, and, in any case, a ceasefire was in operation,
due to terminate on 21st April at midnight. However, Communist
forces resumed firing on the morning of 20th April.
Amethyst
was caught in the crossfire, sustaining more than 50 hits, which killed the Captain
and eighteen crew and injured 27 more. Amethyst found shelter in an inlet and
began to negotiate with the Communists for release.
Simon was
probably in the Captain’s cabin and was hit by shrapnel in his back and legs
and his face was burnt. In the manner of sick cats, who tend to hide away, Simon
was not seen for several days until he appeared on deck, in very bad condition.
He was dehydrated and thin and clearly in pain from his injuries.
The Medical
Officer, Michael Fearnley tended to him, but thought that his chances of survival
were slim. He suggested that Simon should remain in the sick bay with the young
crew members, to raise their morale. After all, Simon had been through the same
experiences as them and so was considered one of them.
Almost
three months elapsed, during which time rations were halved to conserve them. Large rats were breeding freely and stealing
and contaminating the food supplies. They were fierce, aggressive creatures,
even attacking sailors, but Simon proved himself more than a match for them.
One exceptionally
vicious rodent, nicknamed Mao Tse-Tung, repeatedly broached the food supplies.
When Simon killed it, the ship’s crew were so enthralled that they applauded
Simon and promoted him to ‘Able Seaman Simon’. He was awarded the Amethyst
campaign ribbon: ‘Able Seaman Simon, for
distinguished and meritorious service on HMS Amethyst, you are hereby awarded
the Distinguished Amethyst Campaign Medal.
Be it known that on April 25, 1949, though recovering from
wounds, when HMS Amethyst was standing by off Rose Bay you did single-handedly
and unarmed stalk down and destroy ‘Mao Tse-Tung’, a rat guilty of raiding food
supplies which were critically short.
Be it further known that from April 22 to August 4, you did rid HMS
Amethyst of pestilence and vermin, with unrelenting faithfulness.’
Peggy the
dog also received the Distinguished Amethyst Campaign Medal.
Negotiations
were not proceeding favourably and eventually it was decided that Amethyst
should make a run for it. On 30th
July, HMS Amethyst broke free, ending 101 days of custody.
The PDSA
contacted HMS Amethyst to inquire of Simon’s exploits. The reply came, ‘For many days Simon felt very sorry for himself,
nor could he be located. His whiskers, even now, show signs of the explosion.
Rats, which began to
breed rapidly in the damaged portions of the ship, presented a real menace to
the health of the ship’s company, but Simon nobly rose to the occasion and
after two months the rats were much diminished.
Throughout the incident Simon’s behaviour was of the highest order.
One would not have expected a small cat to survive the blast from an explosion
capable of making a hole over a foot in diameter in a steel plate. Yet after a
few days Simon was as friendly as ever. His presence on the ship, together with
Peggy, the dog, was a decided factor in maintaining the high level of morale of
the ship’s company.’
Simon remains,
to date, the only cat, and the only Royal Navy animal, to have been awarded the
Dickin Medal. While in quarantine, Simon fell ill. He died two weeks before his
presentation in August, 1949, his war wounds undoubtedly responsible for
weakening his resistance to infection. He had lived more than six lives in his two
short years of life. In addition to the DM, Simon was also awarded the Blue
Cross Medal and the Naval General Service Medal with Yangtze 1949 clasp.
The entire
crew of HMS Amethyst attended his burial at the PDSA Animal Cemetery in Ilford,
alongside hundreds of civilians who had followed his story.
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
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