The unlikely heroes

Another Remembrance Day has slipped past us, and both world wars move slowly from living memory.  The cenotaph in the village is covered with wreaths of red poppies to remember the fallen, and two large wreaths  of purple and silver to remember the animals who served and fell alongside them.

Extra poignant, as most of you know we lost Mathilda this week. A wee rescue dog with a heart of pure joy. She was always in the waiting room in the clinic on a Tuesday, the patients loved her. Those who were lonely,  not allowed a dog due to their living conditions,  too ill to look after one, Mathilda became their dog. Patients turned up without appointments to see the dog, they brought treats,  cake, presents.   For such a boisterous wee dog,  she was oh so gentle with the 90 year olds.  While my dad was in  the dementia unit, Mathilda would visit  the  care home and it was lovely to see the eyes of the residents light up at the sight of malteser eyes and a tail  that never stopped wagging.

Animals give us such comfort to our souls in normal times, I can't imagine how  much that is magnified in the horrors of war.  I've blogged before of the 'Animals in War Memorial' in Hyde Park in London.  There's a parade  in that monument - from elephants to rats. 

There's a medal called The Dickin Medal that is awarded to animals  who have served in wartime, even pigeons.  It sounds strange but a small animal, flying under the radar, bred to carry very small cargo (generally coded messages), across sea and land, through barrel zones - they played a vital role when other lines of communication were destroyed.... it makes one wonder how many lives they helped to save. 

White Vision was such a pigeon.  She was a Scottish homing pigeon, aboard a flying boat that was brought down by enemy fire and forced to ditch off the west coast of Scotland in 1943. Her flight through atrocious weather helped rescuers locate the stranded crew.

 White Pigeon was bred in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, Scotland and was lent to National Pigeon Service where she was stationed with No. 190 Squadron RAF at Sullom Voe in the Shetland Islands.

 On 11 October 1943, the flying boat, the Catalina, was forced to ditch in the North Sea near the Hebrides. The radio was out of action, the terrible weather made it nearly impossible for other planes to locate the crew. 

So White Vision was released carrying a message that indicated where the aircraft had gone down. She flew a long distance over open water, through strong winds and poor visibility. Her successful delivery of the message allowed rescuers to pinpoint the location of the stranded airmen and without doubt, they would have perished  in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic without her.

 The odds against White Vision making that flight success fully were immense, she had a reputation of being a very determined little pigeon.

The PDSA (People's Dispensary for Sick Animals) Dickin Medal, instituted in 1943 by Maria Dickin, is often called the “animals’ Victoria Cross.” It's the highest award for gallantry that can be given to an animal serving in military conflict. White Vision was one of the first pigeons to receive this honour. 

According to the internet her citation reads: “For delivering a message under exceptionally difficult conditions and so contributing to the rescue of an Air Crew while serving with the RAF in October 1943.”

 There's a small postscript to the story about her legacy in Scotland.  She was bred by the Fleming brothers of Motherwell, and she gave the Scots a sense of pride in her achievement. Her medal highlighted the importance of ordinary creatures in extraordinary circumstances.  

And survival, of us, can depend on the instincts and endurance of animals.  Here, where seas are rough and the skies unpredictable, the flight of White Vision was a testament to resilience against nature’s harshest challenges.