The 26 Most Badass Animals From World War II

Animals are heroes too.

1. Venus the Bulldog

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Venus the Bulldog was the sassy mascot of the Royal Navy destroyer HMS VANSITTART. (1941)

2. The Very Proud Dog

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A mascot proudly poses in front of the the British RAF men who bombed the Nazi warships at Bergen. (11th April 1940)

3. Aloysius the Lamb

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A R.A.F squadron adopted a lamb as a mascot and named him Aloysius. The lamb and one of the sergeants quickly became best friends. (18th December 1939)

4. The Biker English Bulldog

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This is the English bulldog mascot of a regiment from Quebec based in England. (11th October 1941)

5. The Dog Boarding His Plane

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RAF Captain Eric Stanley Lock bording his Spitfire with this really cute dog. (31st July 1941)

6. The Friendly Lion Cub

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June Mottershead, from Sedbergh (England), adopted this lion cub because the Chester Zoo couldn't take care of him during the war. (25th September 1939)

7. The Bored Dog

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Spectators enjoy a baseball game between the US army and the Canadian forces, at Wembley stadium in London. One spectator doesn't seem quite as enthralled by the action on the field as the others. (8th August 1943)

8. Scrappy the Dog and Joe the Monkey

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American pilot Robert W Biesecker and his crew are posing with their two mascots, a dog named Scrappy and a monkey named Joe. (18th October 1943)

9. Butch O'Brien

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This life-jacket wearing spaniel is Butch O'Brien, a spaniel mascot of the US navy, on board his ship in the Sea of Japan.

(Circa 1944)

10. Willie the Bull Terrier

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American General George S Patton holds with his bull terrier.

(1944)

11. Coupie

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Coupie, the canine mascot of a squadron in the Allied Expeditionary Air Force, used to visit each aircraft and pilot before take-off.

(24th April 1944)

12. The Adventurous Kitten

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Chilling on the shoulder of a Royal Air Force pilot.

(Circa 1944)

13. Queenie the Champion Bulldog

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Queenie is participating in a dog show to raise money for 'War Weapons Week', in Twickenham.

(1941)

14. The Guard Bulldog

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A steel-hatted bulldog on guard outside a block of flats in London.

(15th October 1940)

15. The Brave Saint Bernard

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A French patrol with a Saint Bernard make their way through a beautiful snowy valley in France.

(February 1940)

16. The Startled Mascot

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A member of the British Expeditionary Force smiles from the train window with his mascot having been safely evacuated back home from France.

(1st May 1940)

17. The Attentive Dog

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A dog watches AA gunners watching the enemy.

(Circa 1940)

18. The Heroic Terriers

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Two Airedale terriers at a canine training camp in England. One dog wears a special gas mask and the other carries rations for a wounded soldier.

(16th October 1939)

19. The Very Professional Dog

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A dog stands by a French officer waiting to deliver it. The dogs acted as couriers to scattered posts in the French zone.

(1939)

20. Spot the Terrier

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Members of L Section of the AFS (Auxiliary Fire Service) from London offer titbits of food to Spot, a stray terrier they adopted as their official mascot.

(21st March 1941)

21. Hoy

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'Hoy' was the dog mascot of a minesweeper HMS Bangor. Here he is being held by a member of the crew.

(1st May 1941)

22. Oleg of the Glacier

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Oleg of the Glacier, a Samoyed, on a patrol with one of the Canadian soldiers who had adopted him as a mascot.

(1941)

23. The Blasé Rabbit

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A pet rabbit chilling on top of his family's fallout shelter.

(Circa 1941)

24. The Very Serious Dog

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American troops and their pet dog are reading a scrapbook.

(March 1942)

25. Judy the Hero

Fred Morley/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive / Getty Images

Judy, an English pointer, has probably accomplished more during the war than you will during an entire lifetime. Formerly a ship's dog on board HMS Gnat and HMS Grasshopper, Judy helped save the lives of servicemen after the Grasshopper was sunk. She then spent three and a half years in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps, narrowly escaping death many times. She was the only dog to be registered as a Second World War Prisoner of War. This picture was taken right before she was awarded a Dickin Medal, the PDSA's version of a Victoria Cross, for her heroism during World War II.

(5th August 1946)

26. The Anti-War Cat

i.imgur.com

Looks like someone doesn't want the soldier to fire.