DOGS THAT HAVE WON THE VICTORIA CROSS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 118, 5 October 1912, Page 9

DOGS THAT HAVE WON THE VICTORIA CROSS

BRAVE DEEDS OF REGIMENTAL JACK AND 808.

There is ii;iidly ;i British regiment that has not a pet of some kind or other. The goat of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders is a well-known example. The 17th Lancers have a hear, and the. Grenadier Guards used to possess a famous goose named Peter, which joined the regiment when in Canada, and once saved the life of a sentry by flying straight in the face of a rebel who had sneaked up and was in the act of firing at him. Deer, tiger-eubs, monkeys, parrots, even a tame snake, have figured as regimental pdts; but of all animals, it is the dog which holds pride of place in regimental barracks all over the Empire, and, for that matter, in other countries as well.

A few weeks ago it was announeed that the 22nd French Regiment of the Line had decorated their dog, a large collie, which had served with distinction in Algiers, and 'had oh one occasion saved a detachment from being surprised by a marauding party of Arabs. A medal was struck specially for the occasion, and the dog is to wear it on his collar.

PET OF THE SCOTS' GUARDS. The incident is not without precedent. Our own army has possessed more than one dog which has been similarly rewarded for acts of noble heroism. Perhaps the most famous of all these animals was Regimental Jack, the Guards' dog. One bitter winter night in the early 'fifties of the last century a sentry oil guard in St. James' Palace heard a pitiful' moaning. He left his post and found a miserable puppy, which had evidently been brutally ill-treated, lying in the snow. He picked it up, warmed and fed it; but while he was doing so an officer came the rounds, and the kind-hearted sentry was put uitojer arrest.

Next day the d9g followed him to the guard-room, and the colonel, hearing the story, let the sentry off. Jack became the regimental pet of the Scots' Guards, and went with them to the Crimea. At Alma he saved the life of his protector from a Russian who was just going to club him with the butt end of his musket. At Inkermann he fought like a fury against his country's enemies, and was rather badly wounded.

Alas! in that dreadful battle his friend the sentry was killed. Jack was found lying on the poor fellow's body. He never recovered from the shock. His friends brought him home, and' Queen Victoria herself invested the brave beast' with a miniature Victoria Cross and the Crimean medals. But he slowly pined away, and one morning a few months later was found lying dead. Tiny, an Irish terrier, who belonged to the Army Service Corps, saw hard fighting in Egypt. He was at Tel-el-Kebir, where he was wounded in the front, and at Suakim. He received the Egyptian medal and the Khedive's Star, and lived to enjoy them for fourteen years. He died in 1896, at the advanced age of twenty-one. His body was stuffed, and may still be seen at Aldershot. Another very famous soldier dog was Bob, who accompanied the 66th Regiment to the Afghan campaign in 1879, and took part in the terrific battle of Maiwand. The whole time he kept making rushes across the front, barking madly.

At last a bullet struck him. He was sent to the hospital, but escaped,, and six weeks later, in some mysterious way, rejoined his old regiment at Kandahar and again accompanied them into action.

On the regiment's return to England Bob, like Regimental Jack, had the great honor of being decorated by her Majesty Queen Victoria, who, with her own hands, tied the medal round his neck.

Poor Bob! He did not live long to enjoy his honors. About a year later he was accidentally run over and killed. TTis body, beautifully mounted, may still be seen in the regimental sergeants' mess. In the famous picture, "The Stand of the Last Eleven," at Maiwand, Bob is depicted standing between an officer's feet and boldly facing the foe.