The dog Judy , an English pointer, was the only dog recognized as a prisoner of war and, in addition, the British government decorated her with the Dickin Medal , which recognizes the merit of animals in times of war.
Judy was born somewhere in Shanghai and as a puppy she was adopted as a pet by the crew of the Royal Navy's HMS Gnat later passing to the gunboat HMS Grasshopper . In 1942, the gunboat was torpedoed by the Japanese and badly damaged. Even so, the crew managed to reach an uninhabited island... more than 50 men abandoned to their fate with hardly any food and no water. After two days, Judy appeared and, after receiving the caresses of her companions, she began to dig until... she found fresh water and saved their lives . They managed to get off the island when they seized a Chinese junk, but were captured by the Japanese and taken to the Medan prison camp. in the middle of the jungle As they did not want to abandon her savior, Judy was camouflaged for several days in a sack of rice. Already in the field, the dog was adopted by the English aviator Frank Williams and together they shared the meager ration of food. But Judy was not just a pet, she was always vigilant and warned when a snake entered the barracks or when the guards approached, whom she even attacked -taking the odd blow from the butt-. Seeing that her attitude was endangering Judy's life, Frank managed to convince the highest-ranking officer of the prisoners to petition the Japanese commander to register her as a prisoner of war. Taking advantage of a day that the sake ran through the prison camp, and helped by everything they could muster to bribe him, he signed the papers... Judy became the 81A prisoner of war .
Frank Williams and Judy in the Medan camp
In June 1944, the prisoners were transferred to Singapore but during the trip the ship was attacked and Frank decided to throw her into the water to save her from the shells. The ship sank and the prisoners who were not killed during the attack were captured. Frank was taken to another camp... but without Judy. As the rest of the prisoners arrived, news came from Judy:she had saved several prisoners by bringing them pieces of wood so they wouldn't drown and even taking them to shore... but the days passed and Judy didn't appear. Until one day when she was working in the jungle, an animal came out of the thicket and jumped into Frank's arms…it was Judy. She was very thin, dirty and had a wound on one leg with the mark of a crocodile attack. That immense joy was a stimulant for everyone and a consolation in those hard days of work, hunger and illness.
In 1945, when the war ended, the prisoners were released and shipped to Liverpool but… pets were not allowed on board. No problem, everyone helped Frank camouflage Judy to come with them back home. Back home, Frank, accompanied by Judy, dedicated himself to visiting the relatives of the soldiers who had not returned. Judy was interviewed by the BBC at the victory celebrations the following year and she just said “ wow, wow, wow ”. They were together until in 1950, at the age of 13, Judy was diagnosed with a tumor and Frank had to sacrifice her.
The day she received the Dickin medal