WW2 Hero Dog

[Kyt]

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Tayside and Central | WWII hero dog's tale put in print

The story of a Norwegian sea dog who became an unlikely war hero has been put into print.

It is claimed that Bamse - a 14 stone St Bernard - saved the lives of two sailors during World War II.

He also performed many other good deeds while the mascot on the Norwegian Navy minesweeper the Thorrod, which was stationed in Montrose and Dundee.

A book has now been written, aiming to separate the fact from the fiction surrounding the canine hero.

Among his exploits included going into the water to rescue a sailor who had fallen overboard and knocking over a knifeman who was trying to attack a young lieutenant.

Bamse died in 1944 and is buried in Montrose with his head facing towards Norway.

Since then, a statue has been erected in the Angus town in honour of the dog and he was awarded the gold medal for gallantry and devotion from the PDSA charity.

Angus Whitson, co-author of Sea Dog Bamse, said: "My favourite story is him taking the sailors out of the pub and making sure they got back to their ship on time.

"From what I have read he physically pushed the sailors out of the pubs, there are stories of him nudging them along the road and anyone who tried to escape was herded into the crew again until they got back to the Thorrod.

"It's better than a Lassie film. In many ways it's an extraordinary story - the average dog in my experience has a loyalty for his master and the family he lives with, but Bamse was a dog that appeared to have a loyalty for a wider family.

"He had a sphere of concern for those people that he loved and he looked after them very well."

Fellow author, Andrew Orr, said: "I was in a fortunate position, being a GP in this town, that many of my patients remembered the dog and were very keen to talk to me about it.

"I started scribbling their stories furiously, but then research took me to Norway, to Canada, South Africa, and other people who had something to say and I was compelled to write this down and it became apparent that there was a story just bursting to be told and a book had to be written."

[John]

What a great story about a loyal dog, and I am sure there would be dozens more stories about man's best friend

[Kyt]

Not just man's best friend, John - many other animals too:

BBC NEWS | UK | Animal war heroes statue unveiled

[Kyt]

A picture of the statue of Bamse :

'Bamse' WW2 War Hero :: BALLATER_259.jpg :: Fotopic.Net

Bamse - WWII mascot dog to receive the PDSA Gold Medal for life-saving exploits (Norway - the official site in the UK)

[Antipodean Andy]

They are wonderful (although we're currently training a puppy and, well, she's feral).

Anyone come across Horrie The Wog-Dog before? Story about a little dog who befriended some Aussies in North Africa etc.

[Adrian Roberts]

I remember reading about a dog, a spaniel called Judy IIRC, who as a puppy attached herself to an RAF mechanic at the time of the fall of Singapore. They stayed together throughout the war in a Japanese POW camp, both survived, and was with him for many years after the war.

[CTNana]

We have waited a long year to have another puppy after our remaining dog died last year (first time in our lives we have been without at least one dog). A beautiful little puppy has recently been born but sadly his arrival to us would clash with my husband coming out of hospital with a new hip and knee. Hardly an ideal time for a new puppy so we have reluctantly turned the offer down.

Back on thread the stories of animals caught up in the war are guaranteed to bring a tear to my husband's eye - maid not dusting properly again!!

My uncle had a dog called "Sangro" just after the war and I saw a reference to this the other day - I just cannot remember where!!!!

[Adrian Roberts]

There was also Oscar, a German ginger cat. He survived the sinking of the Bismarck, which was pretty good going as only about 150 men survived out of over 1500. He was taken on board the destroyer HMS Cossack, and renouncing any previous Nazi sympathies for the occassional plate of spam, stayed with the Royal Navy. He survived when Cossack was sunk a few months later, and was taken on board Ark Royal. He also survived the loss of that vessel just a couple of weeks later, and was retired to a drier environment at Gibraltar Naval Base to use up the rest of his nine lives.

[CTNana]

1 ginger cat - 3 lost ships - sounds suspicious to me!!!!

[Kyt]

Freedom in the Air by Hamish Ross