Hi everyone! Welcome to Day 7 of the Paws with a Cause Donation Event! Today, my guest is Elin Gregory!
I hope you enjoyed the last six day’s posts and if you didn’t see them, just scroll down when you’re done here and enter to win some more prizes! Then hop over to all the other blogs for even more fun and games. There are 59 Blogs most of which have multiple bloggers, so for eight great days, you can hop around and read stories about pets, discover books about pets, and generally have a great time. Blog posts here at Beautiful Boys Books so far include me, Cat Cavendish, PG Forte, Katya Armonk, Lynn Lorenz, Belinda McBride,and today, Elin. Each of us is awarding a prize at the end of the week, so enter to win on each day!
It’s my pleasure to welcome my fellow Etopian pal, Elin Gregory to the blog today. Elin is offering 2 great prizes — a $5 GC to Amazon and a copy of her novella, Alike As Two Bees. I also think you’ll love Elin’s wonderful post about the furred and feathered winners of the Dickin Medal
When Tara asked for writers to guest on her blog in support of Paws with A Cause I jumped at the chance. Animals are very important to me both in my personal life and in my writing. At home I have a couple of cats, mighty hunters both, and new arrival Wilf, still a puppy though measuring 26 inches at the shoulder, who tag team stopping me from writing. As I type this my tabby cat is laying on my left arm with her paws on my shoulder. Wilf is chewing a fircone, waiting for the optimum moment to spit it onto my keyboard.
Above is the Dickin Medal, awarded to animals that have displayed conspicuous gallantry or devotion to duty in support of British service men and women both at home and abroad.
The first to be awarded the medal was a pigeon called White Vision, a ‘crew member’ on an RAF Catalina flying boat. Engine trouble caused it to ditch in heavy seas north of the Hebrides, the water wrecking the radio. The crew released the pigeon, she flew 60 miles to raise the alarm and the crew were saved.
Stories of heroic dogs abound.
This is Judy, a pedigree pointer bitch who served as the mascot of two Royal Navy ships – HMS Gnat and HMS Grasshopper. She was shipwrecked twice, taken prisoner with her crew and was registered as an official prisoner of war. On the first occasion her ship was wrecked the crew made it to an island where Judy sought out and dug a fresh water spring. She was credited with saving over 100 lives. During the next shipwreck she assisted swimming men to life rafts and flotsam. In the prison camps she gave warning of the approach of guards and distracted the guards when they were punishing prisoners. At the end of the war her fellow prisoners smuggled her back to England, having trained her to lie still and silent in a sack. She was awarded the medal in 1946 with the following citation:
“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”
And finally the sole feline winner of the medal – Able-Seacat Simon. This little black and white fellow was picked up in the dockyard in Hong Kong and smuggled aboard HMS Amethyst. He earned his keep by catching rats and happily shared them, leaving them in crew members’s hammocks. His own favourite bed was the captain’s cap.
On a mission up the Yangtze River, Amethyst was fired upon and a shell tore through the captain’s cabin, injuring both the captain and Simon. Sadly the captain died but the ship’s surgeon performed emergency surgery on Simon, removing 4 pieces of shrapnel, and after a period of convalescence the Able-Seacat returned to duty with vigour.
All together 32 pigeons, 27 dogs, 3 horses and Able-Seacat Simon have received the medal, the most recent being Theo, a springer spaniel who, while serving in Afghanistan, established the record for most operational finds by an arms and explosives search dog. Theo received his medal in October 2012.
To celebrate the gallantry of our animal friends past and present I would like to offer a five dollar Amazon gift card plus a copy of my novella, Alike As Two Bees, to one commenter. Thank you, Tara, for hosting me today.
Elin Gregory writes historical action adventure stories with gay protagonists. Her blog is HERE and she can be found on Twitter and Facebook.
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I’m sure i don’t have to tell you that i’m crazy about Able Seacat Simon!! Thank you Elin. Remember everyone to leave a comment WITH EMAIL to win the GC and Elin’s book. And here’s all you need to know about the wonderful organization we’re supporting with this Hop!
Paws With A Cause® enhances the independence and quality of life for people with disabilities nationally through custom-trained Assistance Dogs.
PAWS® increases awareness of the rights and roles of Assistance Dog teams through education and advocacy. Founded in 1979, Paws With A Cause is dedicated to helping its clients who are challenged by many disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Seizure Disorders, and Hearing Disorders to name just some. Each of our dogs are trained to meet the specific needs of our clients. Tasks may include opening and closing doors, picking up objects, pulling a wheelchair, turning lights on and off, and alerting a person to particular sounds like a telephone, doorbell, smoke detector and many others. Our dogs change lives by enhancing the independence of our clients. By just opening a door, a dog opens up the world for a person with a disability and your donations will go to making that happen. PAWS thanks you so much for your donation and allowing us to open more doors.
2. Click on “Make a Donation”
Post Your Comment with your email to WIN Elin’s prizes!
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