The Small Dog With a Big Personality Read Online Free PDF Page B

dog to take over his bunk but it was too late, Rats had moved in.
    By the morning Rats was on patrol at O’Neil’s feet, tugging at his bootlaces and never moving more than a few inches from the soldier at any one time. ‘It seems you’ve chosen me as your friend after all,’ observed O’Neil, who was already missing his family. ‘To many of us, having Rats around was like having a child in thecamp. He was funny. He made us laugh and if he chose you for company he could be a comfort just sitting on a lap or running at heel on patrol. The dog was our friend and we were grateful for it.’
    The Highlanders lost five men during that particular tour of Northern Ireland. A remote-controlled bomb killed one soldier in Crossmaglen Square; two were killed when a helicopter was shot down and two more died in an ambush at Warrenpoint along with 16 other British troops. This attack coincided with the assassination of Lord Mountbatten on holiday in the Republic and the world’s media suddenly was concentrating on the trouble in Northern Ireland. Death and misery had been features of daily life on the front line of this conflict for 10 years but the high-profile activity that culminated in the death of a member of the Royal family brought the world’s focus on Crossmaglen. BBC television cameras descended on the Army base to capture the essence of the Troubles. It didn’t take long for them to be introduced to Rats.
    The troops that had served with Rats at their heels did not need to be told of the dog’s value as a friendand mascot. They had experienced it first hand but this was not an aspect of Army life that the outside world was aware of. The significance of a small brown dog was known only to the soldiers and their families. Letters home told of the dog’s antics and how he played games and brought some light relief to the soldiers’ lives. In that way he was a comfort to those left worrying at home too. At least they knew there was a welcome diversion from the soldiers’ constant fear. There was a dog called Rats.
    Maybe it needed the arrival of a television crew to highlight Rats’s contribution to life on the base or maybe it was something the soldiers had planned all along, but this dog was about to be honoured for his loyalty, his friendship and his ability to raise morale amidst all the conflict. A medal, made from a dog disk, was struck in his honour. On one side there was the Queen’s head and on the other his name and Army number: Delta 777 – Delta for Delta Company (after the company he was serving with) and the triple seven because it was considered the luckiest number possible. It was suspended from a red and white ribbon, andwas the Army’s way of recognizing Rats as a ‘soldier dog’; and like all soldiers who are awarded medals, Rats was guest of honour at a special ceremony. As a piper played ‘Scotland the Brave’, the company sergeant major pinned the medal to the dog’s collar. It was a poignant moment for O’Neil and one he was forced to share with millions of people watching on television. Even O’Neil’s young sons saw ‘Daddy’s dog’ on the television and pleaded with him to bring Rats home to Glasgow.
    O’Neil, like several other soldiers who had served with Rats, was desperate to take the dog home at the end of his tour of duty but by this time the dog was part of the base. Despite encouragement from his friends O’Neil knew that he couldn’t smuggle Rats out in his kit bag, although he would have dearly loved to. He could not be the one to take this hero dog out of Cross-maglen. But it was time for the Highlanders to move out and for Rats to lose another friend, someone else he had grown close to. This happened every four or five months. Suddenly the person Rats had chosen as his friend was gone, never to be seen again. To try andavoid the tearful farewell at the base it was decided to fly Rats to HQ in Bessbrook. The location made no difference. The farewell was just as