Shrapnel Simon

I know what you're thinking. "Spots! this is a cat! Why are cats on your list of Animals of Honor!?". If I could reach through the internet and slap you with my tail I would! I named this blog "Animals of Honor" not Dogs of Honor. I respect any and all creatures that can prove how much better we are than people. The next recipient of the weekly award achieves that lone prerequisite.

Simon was found wondering the docks of Hong Kong in March 1948, sick of commies and hungry for adventure. A member of the crew of the HMS Amethyst, George Hickinbottom, recognized his killer instinct and no BS attitude. Within moments Simon was recruited by the British navy and put to work killing rats and keeping his fellow crew-mates healthy. He was known for his thoroughness and obsession with keeping track of his kills by laying their corpses on crew members beds. Since he wasn't assigned official sleeping quarters he called dibs on the captains hat. No one dared move him of course.

I'm in ur hatz, sleeping like a boss.

The crew took an immediate liking to Simon and he became an unofficial mascot and good luck charm. He was so well liked that when ships commander, Ian Griffiths, gave command to Bernard Skinner later in 1948, he made sure Simon was staying with his new commander. Skinner didn't mind and actually really liked Simon. Simon also seemed to tolerate his presence. 

His first mission though was not so lucky for Lt. Commander Skinner. They were charged with traveling up the Yangtze River to replace another ship and were ambushed by Chinese Communist gun batteries. One of the first rounds tore through the captains cabin, seriously wounding Simon and fatally wounding Lt. Commander Skinner. Simon was rushed to the medical bay by the remaining medical staff. They cleaned his wounds, removed 4 pieces of shrapnel and was not expected to last the night. Did that stop ol' Simon?

NO! Simon actually recovered from his wounds and went right back to killing rats and keeping his crew safe, even though he didn't really like the new Commander, John Kerans. He was hailed as an instant celebrity back in the UK and was awarded the Animal VC, the Dickin Medal, the Blue Cross, the Amethyst campaign medal and the "fanciful" rank of "Able Seacat". Fans wrote thousands of letters to Simon, so much so that Lt. Stuart Hett was appointed "Cat Officer" to deal with Simon's post. 

Everywhere they went Simon was given gifts, letters and welcomed with praise. But like all foreign animals, when finally arriving back in the UK, he was put into quarantine. It was there that death finally caught up with Simon. Simon contracted a virus and died on November 28th 1949 due to complication of the viral infection caused by his war wounds. Hundreds, including his beloved crew-mates, attended his funeral at PDSA Ilford Animal Cemetery. 

His life is why he wins "Animal of Honor" this week.

Badass Bamse

This being my first blog post I had a long list of honorable animals to choose from. From skydiving dogs to boxing bears, I thought I should choose the most fearsome warrior to be the very first "Animal of Honor". But that isn't what this blog is about. This blog is about showing humans that we're amazing. Not amazing like "oh look, fluffy caught a frisbie!" NO! Bad fluffy! Bad dog!

When I say "amazing" I mean "holy crap that dog just jumped out of a plane into enemy fire!.. AWESOME!". But this first post isn't about skydiving dogs or... Frisbie catching pooches. The first Animal of Honor this week goes to Bamse the Norwegian St. Bernard.

Bamse was stationed on the Throdd, A whale hunting vessel, with his family. That's right, before he was hunting Nazis he was hunting the largest mammal on the planet! After he was bored with the blood of giants he saw that the European mainland was in trouble. Norway knew they needed the toughest sailors to patrol their shores and keep their people safe, so they quickly drafted the Throdd knowing Bamse was on board thirsty for battle.

"The killing of giants bores me"

When the Throdd went into battle Bamse could be found on the nose of the vessel taunting his enemies as shells exploded around him. His crew feared for his safety, even though no shell could bring him down, and made a helmet for him to wear while spitting in deaths eye! This wouldn't last though as Norway just didn't have enough Bamse's for the entire country.

Throdd was one of 13 vessels to escape Norway and make landfall in UK on June 17th 1940. They don't say it in the history books, but those 13 surviving ships can thank their thin metal hides for Bamse and his anti-missile aura. Since bombs couldn't find Bamse, Bamse started looking for bombs. Just a few days later he was "converted" to a minesweeper in Rosyth Scotland. 

There he lived the rest of his days getting his shipmates out of fights (true), taking buses to local pubs on his own (true) and pushing knife wielding attackers to their watery grave (also true). He died of heart failure in 1944, which can probably be attributed to his boredom of killing giants and deflecting bombs by staring them down and shaming them into submission. He went from a mascot of a small whaling vessel to the symbol of Norway's spirit for freedom. He was buried with full military honors and gets a national celebration dedicated to him every ten years. Probably because if it was every year no one would care about any other holiday.

And that's why Bamse, the Norwegian St. Bernard get's the very first "Animal of Honor" award.