#fotd1488

#1488: the Dickin Medal, instituted by Maria Dickin, an animal welfare pioneer, honours animals for displaying valour in battle, as an equivalent of the Victoria Cross. it's been given to 54 different animals, over 32 of which were pigeons, i guess making them the bravest animal. to be honest i'm not sure whether they had much of a say in the matter. the other recipients are mostly dogs, but there were also five horses (one of which was called Sergeant Reckless who served in the Korean War and ate $30 of poker chips) and a cat (called Simon, who "disposed of many rats despite shrapnel injuries" and ultimately died of an infection. after killing a "particularly viscious rat known as Mao Tse-Tung" he was promoted to Able Seacat, and received so much fan mail that a Lieutenant was designated his secretary.)