Page 9 - Animals Go to War: From Dogs to Dolphins

in so tightly the men could hardly move. Twenty-four hours later, the
British submarine HMS Truculent torpedoed the Harukiku Maru.
As the Japanese ship went down, Williams had pushed Judy
through a tiny porthole before escaping himself. They made it to
shore separately, with Judy rescuing at least four men along the way.
The Japanese recaptured all the POWs and carted them off to yet
another camp. Judy made it to the new camp too. A British POW
recognized Judy and sneaked her onto a truck. Williams remembered,
“When I entered the camp, a ragged dog jumped me from behind . . .
flooring me.” It was Judy. “She was covered in bunker oil and her old
tired eyes were red.”
One morning a year later, in August 1945, Judy woke Williams
and the other men with loud barking. All the Japanese soldiers had
given up their posts because Japan had surrendered to the United
States. The POWs headed toward the sound of a truck with Judy
leading the way with joyful barks. The British RAF Parachute
Regiment marched into camp to liberate the emaciated prisoners.
After a month’s recovery in Singapore with Judy, Williams and his
comrades were to return to England on a British ship. Rules forbade
animals. But since Williams had smuggled Judy onto a Japanese
ship, he figured, Why not onto a British one? So once again, she
jumped into a burlap bag and boarded the ship hanging quietly
from Williams’s shoulder.
It wasn’t long before the angry captain spotted Judy. Williams
calmed him down by telling him about the lives Judy had saved.
And he told him how long he and Judy had been together as devoted
companions. Then the captain radioed ahead for permission for Judy
to disembark. Upon landing in Liverpool, England, Williams led
Judy down the gangplank. An official with the Ministry of Agriculture
was there to take Judy into quarantine. For six months, she would be
cared for and watched—like every dog that entered England—to make
sure she was free of rabies.

Comrades in War 11