Judy is the only animal to be registered as a prisoner of war during World War II.
In June 1939 she was aboard HMS Grasshopper when it was sunk during the Battle of Singapore. The surviving crew made their way to a deserted island and Judy managed to find a fresh water source. From there they made it to the mainland where and trekked for five weeks across 200 miles of jungle, during which Judy survived an attack from a crocodile, but they were captured by the Japanese and became prisoners of war.
Judy moved around several camps and met fellow prisoner Leading Aircraftman Frank Williams, who she would go on to spend the rest of her life with… but not yet. On the way to one of the prison camps by boat, the ship sank, but she survived and saved several other prisoners from drowning.
After the end of the war, she was about to be killed by the Japanese guards following a lice outbreak among the prisoners, but Williams hid her until the Allied forces arrived. Williams and others smuggled Judy back to the UK aboard a troopship and she spent the next six months in quarantine after arriving.
She was awarded the Dickin Medal, and a citation that read:
For magnificent courage and endurance in Japanese prison camps, which helped maintain morale among fellow prisoners and also saving many lives through intelligence and watchfulness.
Judy died in 1950, and her Dickin Medal and collar were subsequently put on display at the Imperial War Museum in England.
Public domain image courtesy of The National Archives (UK).
