Page 7 - Animals Go to War: From Dogs to Dolphins

after the surprise attack, the United States declared war on Japan and
officially entered World War II. Together, Britain, Australia, the United
States, and other allies fought the Japanese in the Pacific. In Europe
US troops joined Britain, France, and the Soviet Union (a union of
republics that included Russia) to fight the armies of Adolf Hitler’s
Nazi Germany and other members of the Axis powers.

PRISONERS OF WAR

In Shanghai chaos reigned as the Japanese hunted down and bombed
British boats in the South China Sea and on the Yangtze River.
In February 1942, Williams and Judy were on separate gunboats
about 40 miles (64 km) apart. The Japanese bombed and sank both
boats. Williams and his crewmates escaped from their sunken boat,
as did Judy and the crew of the Grasshopper. Judy set out with the
Grasshopper’s crew through the jungles of Sumatra (an island in
Indonesia), hoping to evade the Japanese. Judy survived a crocodile
attack and chased off a tiger to help her friends. Williams and his crew
escaped by truck and then by boat. He happened to spot Judy headed
into the jungle and wondered what an English pointer was doing there.
Williams, Judy, and their crews could not escape the Japanese.
The Chinese surrendered to the Japanese, and foreigners—especially
members of foreign militaries—became prisoners of war in a temporary
holding camp in Padang, Sumatra. Compared to what would come,
Padang was a paradise. Williams, Judy, and the other POWs were there
from March until June.
Then the Japanese military moved the POWs by truck convoys—
with Judy hidden under rice sacks—to a second prison camp in another
part of Sumatra 900 miles (1,448 km) away. In the camp, Judy learned
to scurry for cover when guards approached. Days later, the Japanese
moved them to a third camp by train, and again, the men hid Judy to
keep her safe. Conditions were much worse in the new camp. Blistering
heat. Malaria. Giant rats. Concrete floors for beds. Hard labor and

Comrades in War 9