Smoky the Yorshire Terrier - War Hero from WWII was awarded the RSPCA Australia Purple Cross on 17th November 2015.
An adorable Yorkshire Terrier isn't what a WWII soldier expected to find in a foxhole deep in the New Guinea jungle.
But there was Smoky, waiting for someone to take her home.
The young pup was picked up by a U.S soldier, who apparently sold her to Corporal William Wynne for two pounds. Soon after becoming the mascot for SWPA's 26th Recon Squadron, Smoky won "Yank Down Under" magazine's first prize in their 1944 mascot contest. Her status was soon elevated to that of War Dog and Heroine.
As she travelled with Corporal Wynne, she learned to parachute from combat planes, and completed a dangerous underground solo mission.
Smoky - or Yorkie Doodle Dandy as she was also known – became the world's first therapy dog. Her service began in July 1944 when Wynne was unwell with Dengue Fever in a New Guinea hospital and Smoky started accompanying nurses to see the incoming battlefield casualties.
Charles Mayo, of the famed Mayo Clinic, was the commanding officer who allowed Smoky to go on rounds and also permitted her to sleep with Wynne in his hospital bed for five nights. Smoky’s work as a therapy dog continued for 12 years, during and after World War II.
But there was Smoky, waiting for someone to take her home.
The young pup was picked up by a U.S soldier, who apparently sold her to Corporal William Wynne for two pounds. Soon after becoming the mascot for SWPA's 26th Recon Squadron, Smoky won "Yank Down Under" magazine's first prize in their 1944 mascot contest. Her status was soon elevated to that of War Dog and Heroine.
As she travelled with Corporal Wynne, she learned to parachute from combat planes, and completed a dangerous underground solo mission.
Smoky - or Yorkie Doodle Dandy as she was also known – became the world's first therapy dog. Her service began in July 1944 when Wynne was unwell with Dengue Fever in a New Guinea hospital and Smoky started accompanying nurses to see the incoming battlefield casualties.
Charles Mayo, of the famed Mayo Clinic, was the commanding officer who allowed Smoky to go on rounds and also permitted her to sleep with Wynne in his hospital bed for five nights. Smoky’s work as a therapy dog continued for 12 years, during and after World War II.
All up, Smoky was credited with 12 combat missions but her most dangerous was in 1945, when a teletype wire had to be laid beneath an airstrip in the Philippines.
Instead of closing the strip and exposing a team of men to enemy fire while they laid the cable above ground, the story goes that they put Smoky in an 8 inch pipe with a kite string tied to her collar.Corporal Wynne then called to her from the far end of the pipe and despite darkness and blockages, she made it to the other side, dragging the string along with her.
Smoky's special mission in the combat area of the Lingayen Gulf on Luzon resulted in teletype and phone lines being activated for the U.S. and Allied forces.
After surviving kamikaze attacks, the Luzon invasion, typhoons, a sting from a 6" jungle centipede, and many other challenges, Smoky faced being left behind as U.S. troops headed home after the war.
The little dog Corporal Wynne could not leave behind was smuggled aboard ship in an oxygen-mask carrying case, heading to her new home in the United States. She lived out her days in Ohio as a therapy dog until 1957.
There are six memorials dedicated to Smoky in the United States of America.
Smoky was posthumously awarded the RSPCA Australia Purple Cross Award on Tuesday 17th November 2015,in Wacol, Queensland.
The blanket was made for Smoky during WWII by Australian ladies to help protect her on long flights in cold aircraft while on Air/Sea rescue missions in the Far East Pacific.
Smoky was posthumously awarded the RSPCA Australia Purple Cross Award on Tuesday 17th November 2015,in Wacol, Queensland.
Monument erected to Smoky in recognition of her work during World War Two. The monument is a sculpture of the dog nestled inside a World War Two army helmet and is also dedicated to all war animals who served.
The blanket was made for Smoky during WWII by Australian ladies to help protect her on long flights in cold aircraft while on Air/Sea rescue missions in the Far East Pacific.
