Animals In War. Words By Uncle Monty.Pet Cemetery Photos By Alex Albion.
Part 2 of 2.
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Far from the battlefield of war, the warm summer breeze
Far from the battlefield of war, the warm summer breeze
of peace could be felt at Britain’s unofficial war animal
cemetrey located at the small, out of the way, urbanmetro
community of Redbridge at where I first visited last year
for this my planned story of “Animals In War.”
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Such now follows after my encounter just last week with
Heroic Treo, D.M. and his British Army friend and handler
Sargeant Dave Heyhoe at The Dickin Medal Ceremony in
which H.R.H. Princess Alexandra of Kent recognised and
bestowed the outstanding honour of the D.M. on Treo,
who is Britian’s Bomb-Sniffing Hero of today. The medal
is universally-recognised as the Victoria Cross (VC) for
the bravest of the brave British War Animals.
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Above and below: Today's PDSA Pet Cemetery and what it looked like more than 50 years ago
with the simple arrival of the hand-made coffin
of another brave war animal to be buried and
mourned at the same cemetery in 1958.
<>As I stood inside the Redbridge Cemetery, I
was oddly charmed by the sheer presence and
sight of such public tributes to the animal war
dead going back for more than six dacades, or
more than half a century, in memoriam of them.
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I was glad I was there to record some of the 40
burial spots of those brave animals who now have
long gone and forgotten and unknown by today's
all too self-centred and careless generations
of "Broken Britain" under vile New Labour.
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In Memory of British war dog "NIGGER."
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In Memory of British war dog "NIGGER."
No. 440 (1941-1946). He died in 1954 having
served bravely with R.A.F. Nigger was age 15 at
his cemetery burial. "Our devoted companion be-
fore and after services to his country," so enscribed
on Nigger's tombstone by R.W. & E.C. Smith.
<>"SIMON" The War Cat! Awarded The Dickin Medal
in 1949, Simon "Served on HMS Amethyst--during
The Yangtze Incident (by) disposing of many rats
though wounded by shell blast. Throughout the
Incident his behaviour was of the highest order,
although the blast was capable of making a hole
over a foor in diameter in a steel plate."
<>"PETER" The War Collie, who "located victims
trapped under blitzed buildings while serving with
MAP attached to the London Civil Defense." In
1945 - 65 years ago - Peter was rightly awarded
the animal V.C. or The Dickin Medal for what
he did for those living in wartime Britain.
<>A lovely carved head of whippet on an old
tombstone at the Redbridge Pet Cemetery.
<>Below: Bruce Forsyth's Beloved Dog "Rusty"
is buried among the war dogs though Rusty was
not one of them but rather a celebrity dog be-
loved by The Forsyth Family, who geneously
support the PSDA charity that takes care of
the Redbridge Cemetery for Pets. War animals
oftentimes become pets, but all too many others
do not and then die with no formal recognition
or cemetery burial or marked grave.
Sad, but true I'm afraid ...
<>In Memoriam To Another Much Loved Kitty!
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Above and below: At London's famous and
<>Wartime Animals.
Above and below: At London's famous andswanky Park Lane stands the bronze-sculptured
memorial and tribute to British "Animals In War."
memorial and tribute to British "Animals In War."
Animals In The Great War
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Let us then salute all war animals for their lasting
contribution and bravery in helping to save the
lives of many children, civilians and soldiers of
Great Britain. We owe them a debt of eternal
gratitude, whether we support or oppose war, for
without them many more would have undoubtedly
died from the deadly horror of war no matter how
justified or unjustified is humankind's war desire.
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Truly, Uncle Monty.
+St. Chad, 2010.
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:: UPDATE ::
Animal lawyer plan rejected by Swiss voters.
Defeat a blow for animal advocates who claim special lawyers
are needed to enforce Switzerland's laws on keeping animals.
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Press Scrum & News Photographers' Pool At War
Dog Treo's Dickin Medal Event Held Last Week At
London's Imperial War Museum With H.R.H. Princess
Alexandra of Kent, The Cousin of The Queen, present-
ing the outstanding honour to Heroic Treo, D.M.
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The above b&w lead photo of "When Yankee Childhood Was
Magic" is taken from my own historic image collection of the
little Yankee lad sitting on his cart with the domesticated
ram pulling him and the cart along at some rural patch at
America's Los Angeles in the Depression Era of the 1930's.
I just love the image, I do!! It has no artifice or crudity!
It's so charming of what childhood should really be ...
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{ Click on any image to Enlarge }
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1 comment:
tell me how i can find the pet cemetery so that i can visit.
thank u. carole.
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