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In pictures: Animals who won medals for bravery in conflict

Britain's PDSA Dickin Medal – known as the animals' Victoria Cross – acknowledges outstanding acts of courage displayed in times of war

Gustave pdsa dickin medal
The PDSA Dickin Medal was instituted in 1943 to acknowledge outstanding acts of bravery displayed by animals serving with the armed forces or civil defence units. The bronze medallion bears the words “For Gallantry” and “We Also Serve” and is recognised worldwide as the animals’ Victoria Cross. This is Gustav, a cock pigeon of the RAF pigeon service. On June 6 1944 the bird was on board an Allied ship off the beachhead of Normandy as one of six pigeons given by the RAF to Reuters news correspondent Montague Taylor. Following the Normandy landings, Gustav was released by Taylor to send the first news back to the UK of the success of the landings. He flew 150 miles in strong winds in just over five hours. The bird was presented with the medal in November that year by Mrs A V Alexander, the wife of the First Lord of the Admiralty. Picture: PDSA Credit: PDSA
Beach Comber Pigeon Dickin PDSA
On August 19 1942, Beach Comber the pigeon arrived in Britain, despite hazardous conditions, from Dieppe, France carrying a message from the Canadian Army alerting commanders of their landing there, marking the start of the Dieppe raid. In March 1944 he became the only Canadian war pigeon to be given the Dickin medal for bravery in service. Picture: PDSA Credit: PDSA
BEAUTY DOG DICKIN MEDAL PDSA
Beauty the wire-haired terrier was owned by PDSA Superintendent Bill Barnet, who led one of the rescue squads in London for animals during the Blitz. One day in 1940, during a rescue mission, Beauty began to dig in the rubble alongside the rescue teams and found a cat – the first of 63 animals she found during her war service. She was given the Dickin Medal in January 1945 "for being the pioneer dog in locating buried air-raid victims while serving with a PDSA rescue squad". Picture: PDSA Credit: PDSA
Rifleman Khan PDSA Dickin Medal winner
Khan, a German Shepherd, was lent to the War Office by the Railton family of Tolworth, Surrey in the summer of 1942. He had been their family pet. After training, Khan was assigned to the sixth battalion of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) with Lance Corporal James Muldoon as his handler. In November 1944, while fighting in the Netherlands, Khan and Muldoon were in an assault craft at sea when their boat came under fire and capsized. Muldoon could not swim. While still under heavy shelling, Khan pulled the soldier over 200 yards through the water onto the shore, before collapsing next to him. He was awarded the Dickin Medal in March 1945. Picture: PDSA Credit: PDSA
GI Joe Pigeon Dickin Medal
GI Joe was a pigeon from Detroit who served with the United States Army Pigeon Service. During the Second World War the bird saved the lives of the inhabitants of the village of Calvi Vecchia, Italy, and of the British troops occupying it. The citation for the award given in November 1946 explains: “This bird is credited with making the most outstanding flight by a USA Army Pigeon in World War II. Making the 20-mile flight from British 10th Army HQ, in the same number of minutes, it brought a message which arrived just in time to save the lives of at least 100 Allied soldiers from being bombed by their own planes.” Picture: PDSA Credit: PDSA
Judy pointer dog war dickin medal pdsa
Judy, a pedigree pointer, was the ship's mascot on two Royal Navy gunboats. During the Second World War, while in China and Singapore, the dog proved able to hear incoming aircraft, providing the crews with an early warning. She survived multiple brushes with death including two ship sinkings, getting trapped under some falling lockers, being attacked by a crocodile and even being taken prisoner by the Japanese. Not only did she prove to be an effective early warning system, she saved several people from drowning during her career. She was given the Dickin Medal in May 1946 "for magnificent courage and endurance in Japanese prison camps, which helped to maintain morale among her fellow prisoners and also for saving many lives through her intelligence and watchfulness”. Picture: PDSA Credit: PDSA
Ricky dog dickin medal
Ricky, a collie crossbreed, was offered to the War Office by his family, the Litchfields of Kent, who were suffering from food shortages due to rationing. Ricky was trained and assigned to handler Maurice Yieldin as part of the 79th Field Company, Royal Engineers. In December 1944, they were in the Netherlands where they were assigned to mine clearance along the canals. His Dickin Medal citation reads: "This dog was engaged in cleaning the verges of the canal bank at Nederweent, Holland. He found all the mines but during the operation one of them exploded. Ricky was wounded in the head but remained calm and kept at work. Had he become excited he would have been a danger to the rest of the section working nearby.” After the end of the war, the military offered the Litchfields family £25 to retain Ricky but they refused and he was returned home. Picture: PDSA Credit: PDSA
duke of normany homing pigeon dickin medal
Homing pigeon the Duke of Normandy was dropped behind enemy lines with Allied paratroopers during the Second World War. The bird brought the first news of the D Day landings back to Britain in June 1944 in spite of gales in the Channel and being shot at by German riflemen stationed along the French coast. The flight back to Britain took 26 hours. Picture: PDSA Credit: PDSA
Dickin Medal recipient simon cat
Simon is the only cat to receive the PDSA Dickin Medal award, which was given posthumously in 1949. Known as a cheeky character, he was the ship's cat on the Royal Navy sloop HMS Amethyst which was trapped on the Yangtze river during the Chinese civil war. The cat's citation for bravery states: "[He] served on HMS Amethyst during the Yangtze Incident, disposing of many rats though wounded by shell blast. Throughout the incident his behaviour was of the highest order." Picture: PDSA Credit: PDSA
antis alsatian dickin award pdsa
Antis, a German Shepherd, displayed bravery in service in England and North Africa during the Second World War. He was found as a puppy in a barn in France by Václav Robert Bozděch, a Czech airman shot down while serving in the French Air Force. When France surrendered to Germany, Bozděch and Antis moved to England to join No. 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF, based at Speke, Liverpool, where Antis assisted in searching for survivors after an air raid, despite being wounded himself. He went on to become a mascot for the squadron, flying around 30 missions, and his owner kept him as a personal pet when he returned to Czechoslovakia after the war. But Bozděch had to flee the country in 1948 due to persecution by the communists. The dog helped him escape, guiding him away from machine gunfire and helping him to cross safely into West Germany. Picture: PDSA Credit: PDSA
Lucky, a German Shepherd, was part of an RAF Police anti-terrorist tracker dog team during the Malaya Campaign of the Second World War. The medal citation said: "The dogs and their handlers were an exceptional team, capable of tracking and locating the enemy by scent despite unrelenting heat and an almost impregnable jungle. Sadly, three of the dogs lost their lives in the line of duty: only Lucky survived to the end of the conflict.”
Appollo, a German Shepherd belonging to the New York Police Department, received the PDSA Dickin Medal on behalf of all the search and rescue dogs at Ground Zero and the Pentagon following the terrorist attack on September 11 2001. "Faithful to words of command and undaunted by the task, the dogs’ work and unstinting devotion to duty stand as a testament to those lost or injured," said the citation.