SHANGRALA'S
JUDY -
POW
WAR
DOG
HERO!
Meet Judy, the only animal imprisoned as an official POW in WWII. A
purebred pointer, she was the mascot of several ships in the Pacific,
and was captured by the Japanese in 1942 and taken to a prison camp.
There she met Aircraftman Frank Williams, who shared his small portion
of rice with her, and they became best friends.
After watching Judy try to defend her fellow prisoners from guard
beatings and getting beaten with the butt of their rifles for her
intervention, he devised a plan. Williams believed that the only way
to keep her from being shot was to get her official POW status. He
waited for the camp's commandant to get his fill of saki, knowing the
Japanese officer was a happy, pliable drunk. Frank's calculation and
nerve paid off; the commandant agreed and from then on Judy was POW 81A.
Although this new distinction did save her from execution on multiple
occasions, Judy was never out of danger for long. Over three long years
as a POW, she provoked prison guards and the wild animals she encountered
in the jungle surrounding the camp, barking at tigers and surviving a
battle with a crocodile.
Judy raised morale in the POW camp, and also barked when poisonous snakes,
crocodiles or even tigers approached the prisoners. When the prisoners
were shipped back to Singapore, she was smuggled out in a rice sack, never
whimpering or betraying her presence to the guards.
The next day, that ship was torpedoed. Williams pushed Judy out of a porthole
in an attempt to save her life, even though there was a 15-foot drop to the
sea. He made his own escape from the ship, but was then recaptured and sent
to a new POW camp.
He didn't know if Judy had survived, but soon he began hearing stories about
a dog helping drowning men reach pieces of debris after the shipwreck. And
when Williams arrived at the new camp, he said: "I couldn't believe my eyes!
As I walked through the gate, a scraggly dog hit me square between the
shoulders and knocked me over. I'd never been so glad to see the old girl!"
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Williams said that every day in the prison camp he thanked God for Judy
because she gave him a reason to keep living. They spent a year together at
that camp in Sumatra. "Judy saved my life in so many ways," said Williams.
"But the greatest of all was giving me a reason to live. All I had to do was
look into those weary, bloodshot eyes and ask myself: 'What would happen to
her if I died?' I had to keep going."
Once hostilities ceased, Judy was then smuggled aboard a troopship heading
back to Liverpool.
In England, she was awarded the Dickin Medal (the "Victoria Cross" for animals)
in May 1946. Her citation 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".
At the same time, Frank Williams was awarded the PDSA's White Cross of St. Giles
for his devotion to Judy. Frank and Judy spent a year after the war visiting
the relatives of English POWs who had not survived, and Frank said that Judy
"always provided a comforting presence to the families."
When Judy sadly died of cancer at the age of 13, Frank spent two months
building a granite and marble memorial in her memory, which included a
plaque describing her life story.
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Warm All Your Friends With This Story
Of The World's ONLY POW Dog! :)
SEE ALSO: Sgt.Stubby War Dog Hero!
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Why My Son?-
Dog Warriors!-
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Lest We Forget 2!-
War Pics: Daily 3!-
WWI Human Art!-
Rolling Memorial!-
No Words Needed!-
Freedom Isn't Free!-
War Pics: Humor 2!-
Military WWII Posters!-
Proud Of Our Troops 6!-
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FULL 9/11 And Troops INDEX!-
USS New York LPD-21 Tribute!-
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