War Dog

After getting shot down in the skies over France during a daring mission over the trenches in the winter of 1939, airman Robert Bozdech stumbled across a tiny German Shepherd puppy while engaged in his own nail-biting escape from no-mans-land. He hid the dog, who he named Ant, inside his jacket, and from that moment on an unbreakable bond was formed.

In the years that followed, Robert and Ant would save each other's lives many more times. They flew together with Bomber Command over targets in Germany and beyond, both getting injured in the line of duty, and when Ant was eventually grounded by the RAF top brass he waited patiently on the runway for his master and his fellow pilots to return from each and every sortie.


Perhaps inevitably, Ant became the mascot to Robert's squadron, the only such mascot to fly on combat missions, or to suffer so many brushes with death under enemy fire. French by birth, but British by his and his master's adopted nationality, by the end of the war Ant had become a very British hero - and it was only right when he was awarded the Dickin Medal, the "Animal VC." Thrilling and moving in equal measure, WAR DOG is a story of loyalty in the face of extraordinary adversity, and of the unshakeable bond between a man and his best friend.