The Dickin Medal was instituted in 1943 by Maria Dickin to honour the work of animals in war. It is a large bronze medallion, bearing the words "For Gallantry" and "We Also Serve" within a laurel wreath, carried on ribbon of striped green, dark brown and pale blue. It has become recognised as the animals' Victoria Cross. As of October 2006, it has been awarded 60 times. Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Maria Dickin is an animal welfare pioneer, who founded the PDSA in 1917. ... A medallion is a piece of metal, usually carved or engraving, that is used as a medal, or worn on the body as a special symbol. ... In Greek mythology Apollo is represented wearing a laurel-wreath on his head, and in ancient Greece wreaths were awarded to victors, both in athletic competitions, including the ancient Olympics and poetic meets under his care, as well as worn by several emperors. ... The Victoria Cross (VC) is a military decoration awarded for valour in the face of the enemy to members of armed forces of some Commonwealth countries and previous British Empire territories. ...

Maria Dickin was the founder of the PDSA (People's Dispensary for Sick Animals), a United Kingdom veterinary charity. She set up the medal as an award for any animal displaying conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty whilst serving with British Commonwealth armed forces or civil emergency services. The medal was awarded 54 times between 1943 and 1949, to 32 pigeons, 18 dogs, 3 horses and 1 cat, to acknowledge actions during the Second World War, after which the medal was officially replaced with the PDSA's non-military Silver Medal. The animated film Valiant, released in 2005, is a tribute to the role of homing pigeons during World War II, and the fact that they won the most number of Dickin Medals during the war. PDSA is a veterinary charity in the United Kingdom. ... Veterinary medicine is the application of medical diagnostic and therapeutic principles to companion, domestic, exotic, wildlife, and production animals. ... A charitable organization (also known as a charity) is a trust, company or unincorporated association established for charitable purposes only. ... The Commonwealth of Nations as of 2006 Headquarters Marlborough House, London, UK Official languages English Membership 53 sovereign states Leaders  -  Queen Elizabeth II  -  Secretary-General Don McKinnon (since 1 April 2000) Establishment  -  Balfour Declaration 18 November 1926   -  Statute of Westminster 11 December 1931   -  London Declaration 28 April 1949  Area  -  Total... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Valiant is a 2005 computer-animated film, which tells the tale of a group of messenger pigeons during World War II. Produced by Vanguard Animation, it was distributed Buena Vista Pictures in the United States and a variety of other companies internationally. ... The homing pigeon is a variety of domesticated Rock Dove (Columba livia) that has been selectively bred to be able to find their way home over extremely long distances. ...

A special "one-off" posthumous Dickin Medal award was made in 2000 to a Canadian dog for actions in 1941 which would have been honoured at the time, had the PDSA been informed. The medal was subsequently revived in 2002 to honour three dogs in relation to the September 11 attacks, and was awarded to two dogs serving with Commonwealth forces in the former Yugoslavia and Iraq respectively. A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly... Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in the Latin alphabet, Југославија in Cyrillic; English: South Slavia) describes three political entities that existed one at a time on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century. ...

A comparable award, the PDSA Gold Medal, is an animal bravery award that acknowledges the civilian bravery and devotion to duty of animals. Created by the PDSA in 2002, it is now recognised as the animal's equivalent of the George Cross. The PDSA Gold Medal - awarded for animal gallantry and devotion to duty. The PDSA Gold Medal in an animal bravery award that acknowledges the bravery and devotion to duty of animals. ... The George Cross (GC) is the highest civil decoration of the Commonwealth of Nations. ...

Notable winners - original awards

• 1943: Winkie - first pigeon to be awarded the medal; flew 120 miles from a crashed bomber to deliver an SOS
• 1943: Ruhr Express - a messenger pigeon
• 1944: Commando - a messenger pigeon
• 1944: Paddy - messenger pigeon that made the fastest recorded crossing of the English Channel, delivering messages from Normandy for D-Day, travelling 230 miles in 4 hours 5 minutes.
• 1945: Rex - A rescue dog was officially recorded to have saved 65 people in London's flying bomb blitz.
• 1946: G.I. Joe - a messenger pigeon that saved many people's lives in World War II.
• 1946: Judy - the only animal to have been officially registered as a Japanese prisoner of war.
• 1947: Olga, Upstart and Regal - three police horses involved in incidents following German bombing raids in, the first two involving flying bombs and the third an attack involving explosive incendiaries
• 1949: Simon - the ship's cat on HMS Amethyst during the Yangtze Incident, noted for surviving injuries from a cannon shell, raising morale and killing off a rat infestation during the incident. Rank raised to "Able Seacat" and awarded campaign medal

Drawing of a captain and radio operator, titled The S.O.S SOS is the commonly used description for the International Morse code distress signal (· Â· Â· â€” â€” â€” Â· Â· Â·). This distress signal was first adopted by the German government in radio regulations effective April 1, 1905, and became the worldwide standard when it was... Homing pigeon The homing pigeon is a variety of domesticated Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) that has been selectively bred to be able to find its way home over extremely long distances. ... Paddy (Pigeon number NPS.43. ... Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: , the sleeve) is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. ... Flag of Normandy Normandy (in French: Normandie, and in Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region in northern France. ... Land on Normandy In military parlance, D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. ... G.I. Joe (March 24, 1943 in Algiers - June 3, 1961 in Detroit) is possibly one of the most famous pigeons in world history, serving much of its life in the United States Army Pigeon Service as one of over 54,000 pigeons in the force. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Judy (born Shanghai 1936, died Tanzania 1950) was a ships dog on a Royal Navy vessel in World War II. She was an English pointer, who would point out the approach of hostile Japanese aircraft long before any of the human crew would hear them. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... The Vergeltungswaffe 1 Fi 103 / FZG-76 (V-1), known as the Flying bomb, Buzz bomb or Doodlebug, was the first modern guided missile used in wartime and the first cruise missile. ... Simon was the ships cat who served on HMS Amethyst. ... HMS Amethyst HMS Amethyst (U16) was a Modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. ... HMS Amethyst (U16) was a Modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. ... // In the Royal Navy in the middle of the 18th century, the term Able Seaman referred to a seaman with at least two years experience at sea. ...

Modern award winners

• 2000: Gander - a Newfoundland dog serving with Canadian infantry in Hong Kong in 1941
• 2002: Salty and Roselle - guide dogs who separately led their owners to safety from the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks ^[1]
• 2002: Appollo - a search and rescue dog with the New York Police Department, as a representative of all such dogs who worked at the World Trade Center site and the Pentagon in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks ^[1]
• 2003: Sam - a Royal Army Veterinary Corps dog serving with The Royal Canadian Regiment in Bosnia-Herzegovina, for separately disarming a gunman and later holding back a hostile crowd while guarding a refugee compound until reinforcements arrived
• 2003: Buster - a Royal Army Veterinary Corps arms and explosives search dog serving with the Duke of Wellington's Regiment in Iraq, for finding an extremist group's hidden arsenal of weapons and explosives
• 2007: Sadie - a Royal Army Veterinary Corps arms and explosives search black Labrador dog serving in Afghanistan, for finding a bomb planted underneath sandbags, yards from where a suicide car bombing had earlier killed a German soldier outside the United Nations headquarters in Kabul in November 2005^[2]

A Landseer painting of a Landseer Newfoundland. ... Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a domestic subspecies of the wolf, a mammal of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ... A blind man is led by his guide dog in Brasília, Brazil. ... “WTC” redirects here. ... A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly... Tracking dogs follow ground scent The use of dogs in search and rescue (SAR) is a valuable component in responding to law enforcement requests for missing persons. ... The New York City Police Department (NYPD) , the largest police department in the United States, has primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City. ... The World Trade Center site destruction, 2001 in 2006 The World Trade Center site is the 16-acre (6. ... This article is about the United States military building. ... Cap badge of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps The Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC) is an administrative and operational branch of the British Army responsible for the provision, training and care of animals. ... The Royal Canadian Regiment (The RCR) is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces. ... Motto None Anthem Intermeco Bosnia and Herzegovina() on the European continent()  —  [] Capital (and largest city) Sarajevo Official languages Bosnian Croatian Serbian Government Parliamentary democracy  -  Presidency members Željko KomÅ¡ić1 NebojÅ¡a Radmanović2 Haris Silajdžić3  -  Chairman of the Council of Ministers Nikola Å pirić  -  High Representative 4 Independence... The Duke of Wellingtons Regiment (officially, the Duke of Wellingtons Regiment (West Riding)) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Kings Division. ... Sadie in London posing for media. ... The Labrador Retriever (Labrador or Lab for short), is one of several kinds of retriever, and is the most popular breed of dog (by registered ownership) in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ... For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation). ...

Disputed medal

Rob the SAS Dog was awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 for taking part in more than 20 parachute drops and for his involvement in operations behind enemy lines in Italy and North Africa during the Second World War. There is evidence that his record is a hoax concocted by the training officer at 2nd SAS at the time so that the dog would remain with the regiment.^[3] Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} The World Trade Center's Heroic Rescue Dogs, dogsinthenews.com, 15 September 2001.
2. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/27/wsadie27.xml
3. ^ War heroics were a shaggy dog story, The Times, 20 July 2006.

is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1788. ... is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• PDSA Dickin Medal: 'the animals' VC' from the PDSA