Sadie DM

b. 1996 ?  d. 2019 ?

DATE OF DM ACTION: 14/11/2005 Kabul, Afghanistan.

Sadie DM

Trained in Leicestershire, Sadie served in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan and was part of the 102 Military Working Dog Support Unit of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC) based in Sennelager, Germany. She has served for two years and has completed two tours of duty with her handler Lance Corporal Karen Yardly (female RAVC soldiers can serve on the front lines, unlike infantry).

In November 2005 forces serving with NATO’s International Security Assistance Force were involved in two separate attacks. Sadie and her handler, L/Cpl Karen Yardley, were deployed to search for explosive devices outside the United Nations headquarters in Kabul following a suicide attack. Sadie picked up the scent of a second device through a 2 feet (0.61 m) thick concrete wall, giving disposal experts the opportunity to defuse the bomb which was a pressure cooker bomb — a pressure cooker filled with TNT. The bomb had been covered with sandbags, in order to kill and injure rescue workers following the suicide attack. For her actions, Sadie was awarded the Dickin Medal. Awarded by the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals, it is considered to be the animal’s Victoria Cross.

L/Cpl Yardley described the situation; “As Sadie went towards the compound’s wall onto the street she picked up a scent. She sat down and stared directly into the wall, which meant there was something right on the other side. I immediately shouted for everyone to get out of the area.” Sadie became the 61st recipient of the medal, which she received from Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra on 6 February 2007 in a ceremony at the Imperial War Museum in London, England.

At a ceremony to commemorate the restoration of the PDSA’s Ilford Animal Cemetery in December 2007, Sadie attended with other recent winners of the Dickin Medal as the cemetery is the final resting place of several previous medallists. Following her military service and the awarding of a Dickin Medal, she retired to live with her handler.

 

DM CITATION:

For outstanding gallantry and devotion to duty while assigned to the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry during conflict in Afghanistan in 2005. On 14 November 2005 military personnel serving with NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Kabul were involved in two separate attacks. Sadie and Lance Corporal Yardley were deployed to search for secondary explosive devices. Sadie gave a positive indication near a concrete blast wall and multinational personnel were moved to a safe distance. Despite the obvious danger Sadie and Lance Corporal Yardley completed their search. At the site of Sadie’s indication, bomb disposal operators later made safe an explosive device. The bomb was designed to inflict maximum injury. Sadie’s actions undoubtedly saved the lives of many civilians and soldiers.

 

BURIAL LOCATION: UNKNOWN.

LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.