b. ? d. ?
DATE OF DM ACTION: 12/1941 Hong Kong.
Gander DM
Gander, initially a family pet named Pal, accidentally scratched a child’s face with his paw. Worried that he would be forced to have Pal put down, the original owner gave the large dog to The Royal Rifles of Canada, a regiment of the Canadian Army stationed at Gander International Airport, Newfoundland and Labrador. The soldiers quickly renamed him Gander and “promoted” him to sergeant. When the unit was shipped to Hong Kong in the fall of 1941, Gander went along.
The Battle of Hong Kong began on December 8, 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Gander helped fight the Japanese invaders on three occasions. The last time, Gander picked up a thrown Japanese hand grenade and rushed with it toward the enemy, dying in the ensuing explosion, but saving the lives of several wounded Canadian soldiers.
After efforts by the Canadian War Museum, the Hong Kong Veterans Association, and the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association, the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals awarded Gander the Dickin Medal on October 27, 2000, the first such award since 1949.
DM CITATION:
For saving the lives of Canadian infantrymen during the Battle of Lye Mun on Hong Kong Island in December 1941. On three documented occasions Gander, the Newfoundland mascot of the Royal Rifles of Canada engaged the enemy as his regiment joined the Winnipeg Grenadiers, members of Battalion Headquarters ‘C’ Force and other Commonwealth troops in their courageous defence of the Island. Twice Gander’s attacks halted the enemy’s advance and protected groups of wounded soldiers. In a final act of bravery the war dog was killed in action gathering a grenade. Without Gander’s intervention many more lives would have been lost in the assault.
BURIAL LOCATION: UNKNOWN.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM, OTTAWA, CANADA.
