It’s not just human soldiers who are awarded medals for their bravery. Horses, dogs and even pigeons have also been awarded the Dickin Medal, which is the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross. Only 75 of the medals have been bestowed, so there was plenty of interest when one came up for auction in the UK recently. This example was presented to an Alsatian called Antis, who was the only dog in WWII to accompany an RAF pilot on active combat missions.
Shot down over no-man’s land, Czech airman Vaclav Bozdech had found Antis as a starving puppy in an outbuilding. After serving in the French air force, they escaped to Britain where Bozdech joined No 311 (Czechoslovakia) Squadron at Speke. The dog showed an uncanny knack of hearing the approach of German bombing raids, far sooner than technical equipment, and in the aftermath of a raid assisted in the search and rescue of survivors. Antis went on to take part in 32 combat missions with Bozdech. He was wounded in action three times by shrapnel in the skies over Kiel and Hannover, but later saved the life of his master one last time by assisting him during his escape from Communist Czechoslovakia in 1948; alerting his owner to the presence of a search party, he attacked and pinned down an armed border guard.
Antis received his Dickin Medal from Field-Marshal Earl Wavell on January 28, 1949 and was the first ‘foreign-born’ dog to receive the award. His award, which sold for $102,000, was bought by a member of Bozdech’s family. ‘‘It’s always pleasing to see medals returning to the original family,” said auctioneer David Kirk, “and I’m sure they are absolutely thrilled to be reunited with it after so many years. We are very proud to have offered this medal for sale. All Dickin Medals are rare, but this one has a story worthy of a Hollywood film.”
