The Dog that Saved My Life: Incredible true stories of canine loyalty beyond all bounds. Isabel George

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СКАЧАТЬ back down the Lye Mun Road and into the Tai Tam Gap towards the Stanley area. All the time the men were using the sides of the road for shelter from the hail of grenades. The constant Japanese attacks made it difficult for the Royal Rifles to attend to the wounded, who now lay all over the road and in the ditches where they sought shelter. Fred Kelly, like his comrades, was exhausted from the fighting and Gander realized his friend needed his attention now. They lay together in a ditch, but not to rest. From there, Fred noticed another group – this time of wounded Canadians – stranded in the middle of the road. They were about 200 yards away and it looked as if they had been caught in a ferocious exchange of crossfire and were now unable to move in either direction. Then Fred saw Gander standing on the roadside beside them. He had felt the dog move away from him but had not realized where he was going.

      ‘Gander! Get down Gander. Down I said!’ Fred Kelly yelled at the dog, afraid that the Japanese would see him first and shoot him. But Gander had already seen his wounded friends and bounded towards them with his usual enthusiasm, only to see several Japanese soldiers moving in fast, their rifles raised in the direction of the wounded. Without hesitating, Gander ran towards them. Growling and baring his teeth, Gander sent them, running and shrieking, in the opposite direction, a look of terror in their eyes. Gander’s intervention gave his own men time to recover the wounded without losing ground. It was another brave show by the fearless Canadian dog.

      Afraid that Gander would not be so lucky in the next onslaught, Fred took him just a few yards away to one of the pillboxes and secured it as best he could. The pillboxes were still being used as ammunition stores and shelter but most of the action was now being seen on the roadside. ‘Now you stay there buddy, until this mess is over…OK? I will come back for you,’ Fred said, as he patted Gander’s huge head for what he knew could be the last time. Fred was uneasy about leaving Gander this way but he was sure that the dog could not be that lucky again. Why the Japanese didn’t shoot him was a real puzzle. As they saw him as the ‘Black Devil’, maybe they were afraid to do so. No one knows, but it was clear that Gander was lucky to be alive.

      Injured soldiers lay everywhere and as the fighting continued through the night, Gander remained on watch. In the early hours of 19 December, the Royal Rifles had begun to make their way into the hills on the south side of Hong Kong Island. Unable to get a clear shot on their target, the Japanese began tossing hand grenades up the hillside towards the men on the off chance they would wound anyone in the vicinity of the blast. But as fast as they were thrown up the hill the Canadians threw them back down before they exploded. And so the lethal game of ‘catch’ went on.

      While the defending Royal Rifles engaged in the dangerous game with the grenades, Captain Garvey and six of his men were making their way into the hills to gain a better view of their target. At this moment a shell hit close by and all seven men were wounded in the blast. Unable to move forward, they immediately became the new target for the Japanese grenades. Blown in several directions by the blast, the men dragged themselves to a point at the side of the road where the captain lay. It was as if the Japanese were watching them, giving them time to move closer together before hitting them with a shower of grenades. One grenade fell just short of the group. One of the men reached for it and tossed it back. Another two grenades landed in the group and were tossed away by the Canadians. Then, as if in slow motion, the men watched a grenade drop into the middle of their group where no one could reach it. The clink of the metal hitting the road seemed to echo for just a moment. Rolling and smoking on the uneven road, the grenade came to a sudden stop. The men quickly located it and every hand moved towards the grenade but all were short. It was just out of reach. Transfixed in their moment of panic and disbelief, they didn’t see Gander approaching from behind. No one saw the dog move in. He came from nowhere and, as if he knew what would happen next, he streaked in. Feeling the breeze from the dog’s massive body on the move, the men watched in awe as Gander rushed in and picked up the hissing grenade in his mouth. He ran for several yards away from the wounded defending Canadians until the grenade detonated in his mouth, killing him instantly.

      The wounded Canadians watched horrified as the grenade exploded. Gander was thrown into the air by the blast. His body lay motionless on the road. Captain Garvey and his men survived and each of them knew they owed their lives to their big black mascot dog.

      Gander’s body lay on the road all night as the fighting continued. The Canadians fought on to defend their grip on the island and were being pushed back all the time as the grenades continued to be thrown in. No one could reach Gander’s body and they had to leave him where he lay. Those who witnessed his bravery had no idea that Fred Kelly was unaware of the dog’s death. As far as Fred knew, Gander was in the pillbox where he had left him, away from the fighting. As the news of Gander’s bravery made its way through the line, Fred learnt of Gander’s heroic deed. The dog had died saving the lives of his friends. Fred had assumed that at the height of the shelling the dog was in the pillbox where he usually slept at night. ‘When they started shelling. I think he must have got scared and ran out of the pillbox,’ said Fred later. ‘It was pitch dark. I didn’t see him run and if I had I would have tried to stop him. But I didn’t see him go or save Garvey and his men. That damn dog was a friend to all of us.’

      As the sun rose the next morning, the men could see Gander’s body still lying on the roadside. It was trapped in the open ground between the two fighting forces where no one could reach him. All the time the men were being forced back by the enemy soldiers, making it impossible to rescue their friend’s body. Fred Kelly was Gander’s closest friend and the sight of the dog lying dead was more than he could bear. He had served with that dog alongside him since the regiment was stationed at Gander Airfield. They had travelled together the thousands of miles by train and boat to fight on the front line in Hong Kong. They had shared so much together and to have the friendship end this way without a goodbye or being able to bury Gander’s body was too painful. ‘I think my pals were afraid to tell me that the dog was dead. But I could see that he was dead and I hated that I couldn’t go near. To think he was gone hurt me so much and I’m not ashamed to say that I cried. I missed my old pal so much.’

      On Christmas Day 1941, Hong Kong was forced to surrender to the Japanese Army. Fred Kelly and his fellow survivors were ordered to come forward and were immediately transported to prisoner of war camps. Those who survived the horror of the camps returned home to Canada but they never forgot their mascot dog, Gander. The men were taken prisoner before they had the chance to collect Gander’s body from the roadside where he died. The image of the dog lying there haunted the men for all the time they were prisoners of the Japanese and afterwards in peacetime. They never forgot Gander’s bravery and the way he made the ultimate sacrifice for his friends. Those who were saved that cold night in December knew they owed their lives to the dog and they still harboured the hurt they felt when they had to leave him behind.

      The exact time of Gander’s death is unknown but it’s almost certain that his war ended in the early hours of 19 December, within a few hours of the death of another war hero, Sergeant-Major John Osborn. Osborn, an English-born veteran of the First World War, was the first Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross in the Second World War, and it was the only VC awarded for action during the battle for Hong Kong. On the night that Gander saved the lives of seven of his friends in the Royal Rifles of Canada, Sergeant-Major Osborn of the Winnipeg Grenadiers was leading an attack on Mount Butler just a few miles away. Having taken the hill and held it for three hours with only bayonets for weapons, his company was finally forced out by enemy gunfire. Separated from the main battalion, Osborn ignored the rattle of enemy machine guns to gather his men together and lead them to a safer position. When the Japanese began throwing grenades, Osborn began throwing them back. For a while he kept pace with the constant stream of missiles but suddenly one landed too far from his reach. Instinctively, Osborn shouted to warn his men away as he selflessly dived onto the grenade. He was killed instantly but his bravery saved the lives of many others.

      Fifty-four years after the fall of Hong Kong a group of veterans were relating the story of Sergeant-Major Osborn to Jeremy Swanson, commemorations officer of the Canadian War Museum. Their memories were to be included СКАЧАТЬ