The Dickin Medal is the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross.
It was inaugurated during the Second World War in December 1943 by Maria Dickin, the founder of the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), for animal gallantry or devotion to duty in war or conflict.
Since the award’s inception, there have been 75 recipients (plus 1 Honorary Medal), including 38 dogs, 32 messenger pigeons, 4 horses, and 1 cat.
The most recent Dickin Medal was awarded to a dog named Bass in January 2023 for his life-saving actions during the Afghanistan conflict.
Here, we look at the history of the PDSA and the Dickin Medal, and explore 8 stories of recipients that reveal the extraordinary courage of animals working in war or zones of conflict.
The founding of the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals
Maria Dickin was born in 1870 in Hackney, London, into a profoundly Christian family. She was the eldest of 8 children. She developed a strong social conscience and volunteered in the city’s slums, helping impoverished families during the First World War (1914 to 1918).
Among the terrible human poverty, she also saw the suffering of dogs, cats and working animals whose owners could not afford to take them to the vet.
Overcoming strong opposition and prejudice from many quarters (including those in the medical profession who felt humans should take precedence over animals in wartime), Dickin was a radical animal welfare pioneer and opened the first People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) clinic in a tiny basement in London’s Whitechapel, in 1917.
The sign on the door read: ‘Bring your sick animals. Do not let them suffer. All animals treated. All treatment free.’
Within 4 years, the PDSA was treating around 40,000 animals annually belonging to the poorly paid or those without work in 7 London clinics. It soon opened clinics outside the capital and had horse-drawn caravans, later motor caravans, serving as travelling dispensaries nationwide. By 1934, the number of free PDSA treatments of animals reached 7 figures.
Today, the PDSA charity has vets and veterinary nurses in 48 Pet Hospitals, caring for almost 5,000 sick and injured pets daily whose owners have fallen on hard times.
The establishment of the Dickin Medal
During the Second World War (1939 to 1945), the PDSA created specialist Animal Rescue Squads that attended the aftermath of bombing raids to rescue and treat animal victims.
In 1943, Maria Dickin established the PDSA Dickin Medal to recognise the bravery of working animals serving in conflicts and theatres of war around the world and, through that, raise awareness of the status of animals.
Bravery in wartime: 8 recipients of the Dickin Medal
1. Beauty: awarded January 1945
Beauty is thought to be the world’s first rescue dog.
Initially, she simply accompanied Bill Barnet as he took part in rescue missions following bombing raids during the Second World War.
Although she was untrained in rescuing, one day, on her own initiative, she dug through rubble and found a cat, resulting in her becoming an official member of the rescue team.
Beauty found and saved 63 animals during the war years. She died naturally in 1950.
2. Commando: awarded March 1945
Tens of thousands of pigeons served during the First and Second World Wars, Carrying messages in a tiny canister attached to their leg, they flew over long distances when other methods of communication, such as radio, became dangerous or impossible.
Commando, a red chequer pigeon, served with Britain’s National Pigeon Service during the Second World War, making more than 90 trips in and out of Occupied France.
He was awarded the Dickin Medal for 3 dangerous missions in 1942 when he carried vital information from Britain to the French Resistance, including the location of German troops, injured Allied soldiers and industrial sites.
3. Simon: awarded August 1949
The Chinese Civil War (1937 to 1945) was a bitter military struggle for control of China between Nationalists (supported by Britain) and Communists.
The British ship HMS Amethyst came under fire on the Chinese Yangtze River, receiving more than 50 direct hits. Trapped by crossfire, the Amethyst was stranded in the river for over 10 weeks. The ship suffered a terrible rat infestation, with rats decimating food supplies and even attacking crew members.
Simon, the ship’s cat, had severe burns and shrapnel wounds to his legs from the bombardment. Despite this, he constantly attacked and killed the rats, including a huge one nicknamed ‘Mao Tse-tung’, resulting in his promotion to Able Seaman.
A few months after the ship reached safety, Simon died from a virus linked to his war wounds and was buried at the PDSA’s Animal Cemetery, where 10 other Dickin Medal winners, including rescue dog Beauty, had been laid to rest.
4. Diesel: awarded December 2015
On 13 November 2015, in the centre of Paris, gunmen and suicide bombers attacked a concert hall, stadium, restaurants and bars, leaving 130 people dead and hundreds wounded.
7-year-old Diesel was serving with the French National Research, Assistance, Intervention and Deterrence anti-terrorism force (RAID). 5 days after the attack, the security forces raided a flat in the suburbs of Paris where the suspected leader of the Paris attack and others were staying.
Under attack from gunfire, which then stopped, Diesel was sent in to see if the area was clear.
He was shot multiple times and died. Diesel received the Dickin Medal posthumously.
5. Reckless: awarded July 2016
US Marine Corps war horse, Reckless, served in the Korean War (1950 to 1953) as an ammunition carrier.
The Soviet Union-supported North Korea had invaded US-supported South Korea in a civil war, which developed into a proxy war between the super-powers, clashing over Communism versus Democracy.
During a major battle in March 1953, despite being wounded twice, Reckless made 51 trips from the Ammunition Supply Point to the frontline on 1 day alone, delivering ammunition and carrying wounded American marines back to safety before returning to the battle with more supplies.
Reckless had a great sense of direction and, after being led on the route a few times, could find her way back and forth by herself. She was promoted to Sergeant in 1954.
Reckless received the Dickin Medal posthumously after being nominated decades after the war by a writer researching her story who felt she had been forgotten by history.
6. Kuno: awarded November 2020
Kuno was trained as a Military War Dog and was deployed overseas in 2019 as a Canine Protection and Detection dog against the terrorist organisation Al Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, responsible for the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States of America.
Taking part in a raid, Kuno and his handler came under attack and were pinned down by grenade and machine gun fire from an insurgent.
Kuno charged at him through a hail of gunfire, which ultimately led to the success of the mission.
However, the dog was badly wounded in both back legs and was flown back to Britain for reconstructive surgery. Kuno was fitted with a prosthetic limb after 1 leg had to be amputated, becoming the first Military War Dog to receive such a device.
7. Bass: awarded January 2023
Bass is the most recent recipient of the Dickin Medal.
He joined the US Marine Special Operation Command and was deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia, searching for explosives during hundreds of sweeps and helping to detect and capture target groups.
It was his bravery during a night-time raid in May 2019 targeting a bomb-maker from the Taliban in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, that resulted in his award.
During a firefight with barricaded enemy insurgents, Bass saved American and Afghan lives by identifying 5 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that had been hidden in a building the team had intended to clear.
8. Warrior: awarded September 2014
Warrior and his owner, General Jack Seely, who commanded 3 regiments of the Canadian cavalry, survived the horrors of major battles during the First World War, including the Somme, Passchendaele and Amiens.
At the end of the war, Warrior and Seely returned home to the Isle of Wight, where Warrior died in 1941, aged 32.
An obituary in ‘The Times’ newspaper called Warrior “the horse the Germans couldn’t kill”.
He was awarded an Honorary Dickin Medal posthumously on the centenary of the First World War in commemoration of all animals who were involved in the conflict.
Written by Nicky Hughes
Further reading
- PDSA: The Vet Charity for Pets in Need
- Children’s Lives in Second World War Britain
- The Story of the US Army Air Forces in Britain During the Second World War
- 12 Photos That Show Cats Have Always Been Cats
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