The dog who became a prisoner of war: Judy, the ship’s pointer who helped keep her men alive

Remembrance | By Matt, Editor

She was bombed, shipwrecked and held captive for three and a half years. Judy, an English Pointer who served as mascot of the Royal Navy gunboat HMS Grasshopper, was the only dog officially registered as a prisoner of war in the Second World War. Today we remember the animals who served too.

Shipwrecked

Judy began life as a ship’s dog on the river gunboat HMS Gnat in China, and in 1939 moved with some of the crew to HMS Grasshopper, according to The National Archives. As Singapore fell in February 1942, Grasshopper was bombed by Japanese aircraft and the crew abandoned ship.

The survivors were marooned on an uninhabited island with no water. The National Archives records that Judy found a freshwater spring, and the men drank. They made their way on to Sumatra, where Judy was attacked by an alligator on the trek through the jungle. When they arrived, the Allied forces had gone. On 18 March 1942 the crew, and Judy, were taken prisoner.

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Prisoner 81A

In the camp at Medan she met Leading Aircraftman Frank Williams of the RAF, who shared his own small rice ration with her. From then on she never left his side. Williams persuaded the camp commandant to register her as an official prisoner of war, number 81A. That status meant she received rations like any other prisoner.

According to the PDSA, she was beaten with rifle butts when she tried to defend her fellow prisoners. In June 1944 she was smuggled in a sack aboard a ship taking prisoners to Singapore. The ship was sunk. The PDSA says Judy helped men who could not swim by pushing driftwood towards them. She survived, was reunited with Williams, and lived through the rest of the war in the camps.

The animals’ Victoria Cross

Back in Britain, Judy was awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal in 1946. Her citation, held today in The National Archives, reads: “For magnificent courage and endurance in Japanese Prison Camps which helped to maintain morale among her fellow prisoners, and also for saving many lives through her intelligence and watchfulness.”

The PDSA’s own announcement at the time gave much of the credit to Williams: “it is to his courage, resourcefulness and care that she owes her life”. Many of the men who came home said they owed their lives to her.

Judy stayed with Frank Williams for the rest of her life. She died in Tanzania, where he was working, and he built a memorial over her grave recording her story.

They had no choice

Judy was one of many. The Animals in War Memorial at Brook Gate, Park Lane, unveiled by the Princess Royal in November 2004, records that eight million horses died in the First World War alone. It honours the dogs, horses, mules, pigeons and other animals that served alongside British and Allied forces. Its inscription ends with four words: “They had no choice.”

We will remember them.

Sources

• The National Archives: Judy, the only dog registered as a prisoner of war
• PDSA: Judy, Dickin Medal 37
• GOV.UK: Judy, the dog who became a prisoner of war
• BBC News, 24 November 2004: Animals in War memorial unveiled

Images: Judy on the deck of HMS Grasshopper, IWM HU 43990, public domain; Animals in War Memorial, Park Lane, Paul Farmer / Geograph, CC BY-SA 2.0.