TulsaPets Magazine November 2023

12 TulsaPets • November / December 2023 T he connection between people and cats extends to many aspects of life — even to the military. From ancient Egypt and Persia to Europe in World War II, cats were used as shields, gas detectors, and early warning systems for bombs. Warships welcomed kitty crew members for rodent control. Felines stayed with troops in the field. And cats even took to the air. Today, most military cats are mascots, but they help keep morale high. Flying ace Theodore Hammeker took his cat Brutus with him on all his sorties against the enemy. Moustache, a brave and dapper feline, sat with Belgian soldiers in World War I, watching shells explode without showing fright. The U. S. tank corps in World War I adopted the insignia of a large black cat with fangs and flashing green eyes (doubt- less inspired by a real feline), with the motto, “Treat ’em rough.” Probably the most famous feline in World War II, whose original name is not known, was the companion of a German sailor whose name is also not known. They were aboard the German battleship Bis- marck when it was sunk on its first mission on May 27, 1941. The crew of the British destroyer HMS Cossack picked up the little black-and-white cat, who was clinging to a board floating in the ocean. Renamed Oscar, he served on convoy duty in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic until October 27, 1941, when the Cossack was torpedoed off Gibraltar. Again, Oscar clung to a piece of plank. He was rescued and taken to Gibraltar, where he gained the nickname Unsinkable Sam. Oscar was assigned next to the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. On No- vember 14, 1941, a U-boat torpedoed the Ark Royal, and Oscar was found clinging to a plank, “angry but quite unharmed.” He served as resident cat in the office of the governor of Gibraltar for a short stint. He retired in 1944 to a seamen’s mission home in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he died in 1955. In England, cats went through the war with their people. A London feline named Bomber crouched underneath a cooker when German bombers were overheard, but the sound of British planes never fazed him. Windy, the flying cat, served with Wing Commander Guy Gibson (1918–1944) of the Royal Air Force. American troops also had animal com- panions, including cats. Pulitzer Prize–win- ning war correspondent Ernie Pyle (1900– 1945) wrote when he was in North Africa with U. S. troops in 1942, “The Americans’ love for pets never ceases to delight me. As a people, we seem to be fundamentally kind to animals…. I had to laugh when I saw the collection of pets at one camp I visited. There were countless dogs, several cats, one gazelle, one monkey, two or three rabbits, a burro, and, believe it or not, half a dozen chickens.” War is no safer for animals than for people. Pyle noted one of what must have been many injuries among the feline troops: “I heard of one pilot who had a pet cat that burst its eardrums on its first flight and became stone deaf.” And who knows how many died in the line of duty? So on Veterans’ Day, when you reflect on the service and sacrifices of military men and women, salute their kitty comrades too. FOCUS ON FELINES This little tuxedo cat, Oscar, survived the sinking of three warships duringWorldWar II. Photo courtesy of www.shared.com. Military Buddies Cats Serve Proudly on Land, at Sea, and in the Air by Rowena Mills