Frank Williams trains Judy, his English pointer, having shared three and a half years in Japanese captivity as prisoners of war.
A Pint-Sized Marine
The open sea was a sight, coated in oil, strewn with wreckage, and teeming with desperate men - once crewmates aboard the tormented S.S. Van Warwyck. Among the flotsam, a snapshot of tranquility surfaced: a dog, braving the chaos to guide her fellow survivors to safety.
Proudly named Judy, she had been caged in the same ship before it succumbed to enemy forces on June 26, 1944. A captive herself, she shared the dismal fate of her human shipmates.
Fighting the dark waters, Leading Aircraftman Frank Williams of the Royal Air Force (RAF) scrabbled to save his pooch, pushing her through a ten-inch porthole into the waters below. With nights blurring together, Frank searched relentlessly for her, navigating the pandemonium left in the shipwreck's wake.
Judy, a Liverpool red-and-white English Pointer, made her grand entrance into the world seven years prior in Shanghai. She became a mascot for the British Royal Navy vessel where she resided, eventually moving aboard the H.M.S. Grasshopper, a 585-ton gunboat stationed in Singapore, when the Japanese took the city. The boat miraculously escaped the harbor, sailing for the Dutch East Indies. Tragically, it was two miles from safety when it was bombarded by Japanese planes, forcing the passengers to abandon ship.
Sidequests Aplenty
GAME STRATEGIESJoining her people on a deserted island for a prolonged period, Judy demonstrated her uncanny ability to sniff out a freshwater spring, even during low tide, and dig beneath the sand to pump up drinkable water.
Regrettably, their Island Utopia didn’t last long. After commandeering a Chinese junk, Judy and company navigated upriver into Sumatra, embarking on a grueling 200-mile trek. The trespassers were eventually ensnared by the Japanese and marched to a POW camp.
In an attempt to keep Judy by their side, her rescuers stuffed her under rice sacks during their travels, managing to keep their furry friend hidden from their captors. Ultimately, they were transferred to Camp Gloergoer in Medan, Indonesia, where Judy crossed paths with Williams in February of 1942.
Fascinated by Judy’s resourcefulness, Williams had been keeping an eye on her from the moment he arrived at the camp. She worked her charm, appearing dependable and loyal among the prisoners, drawing their gratitude and guarding their affection. However, the prison officers weren’t quite as enthusiastic.
Judy's stubborn courage translated into a willingness to interfere when her human friends were being beaten, making her a thorn in the guards' side. In response, the men in charge devised cruel, malicious punishments - often meted out against the dog, further fueling her protective instincts and earning her the hatred of the guards.
On a Needle's Edge
Determined to save his beloved Judy from imminent execution, Williams devised a cunning plan. He exploited the commandant's susceptibility to saki, a potent rice wine, and leveraged his looser tendencies by presenting Judy as an essential morale-booster for thePOWs. By the time the tipsy officer had agreed to grant Judy POW status, the inebriated Commandant was a sloppy heap on the floor, oblivious to what his changes had wrought. Thus, Judy became Official POW 81A.
This new designation spared her life on many occasions, but danger never truly abated. For three long years, she lived in a prison camp - continually pushing the boundaries, inciting the wrath of guards, and bravely battling wild animals lurking within the surrounding jungle.
Finally, in June 1944, Judy and her master faced another test aboard the S.S. Van Warwyck - a ship carrying POWs to their doom. Once again, Judy proved her mettle, surviving the terrifying journey and the subsequent captivity.
After the war, they were released and embraced by the British public. Williams and Judy were showered with gifts, adoration, and the Dickin Medal, an award recognizing the heroic efforts of animals during wartime. Tragically, Judy's life was cut short in 1950 by cancer, just three years after the pair arrived home.
Mourning his beloved companion, Williams expressed that without Judy's presence, he would have had no reason to stay alive, casting a somber yet poignant spotlight on their unbreakable bond.
Tomorrow: Left Behind in Vietnam
Follow the tale from the start in part one, and part two.*
Rebecca Frankel is Foreign Policy Magazine's Senior Editor. Her forthcoming book, War Dogs: Tales of Canine Heroism, History, and Love*, is set to release in October.
Updated to reflect the correct location of Medan.
- Amidst the chaos of war-and-conflicts, Judy's uncanny ability to locate freshwater springs became crucial in the survivors' prolonged stay on a deserted island, demonstrating her significant impact on their lifestyle.
- In the realm of politics, Judy, as Official POW 81A, was granted special protection, a testament to her influence and the value placed upon her during war-and-conflicts as a general-news story.
- Post-war, Judy's story, a unique blend of history and pets, captured the hearts of the British public, resulting in the Dickin Medal recognition and reflecting the nation's gratefulness for her service.
