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40 Animals that Changed History

Tim Flight November 5, 2019 26 min

Medieval Dogs - Dog — King John of England with his dogs, England, c.1307-27. British Library

14. Smoky the Yorkshire Terrier helped build a crucial US Air Force base in World War II

Smoky the Yorkshire Terrier, a most unlikely hero, photographed in 1944. Blogspot

In February 1944, American soldiers stationed in Papua New Guinea found a tiny Yorkshire Terrier whimpering in an abandoned foxhole. Naming her Smoky, the enamored soldiers adopted the tiny dog. Smoky wound up accompanying Corporal William A. Wynne for the rest of World War II. Her finest hour came when Wynne’s squadron moved to the Philippines. When a telegraph wire needed to be installed in a narrow, 21-meter pipe at Luzon airbase, Smoky saved the day. Attached to a wire, Smoky ran the length of the pipe. This ensured the strategically-vital air base remained safe and operational.

Written by

Tim Flight

I am a freelance historical and literary writer based in West Yorkshire, UK. I read for a funded PhD in English at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) and graduated in 2016. I am a former lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. My publications include peer-reviewed articles in academic publications, and pieces in mainstream magazines such as History Today and Fortean Times. For more information, please see www.drflight.co.uk