Page 26 - Chiron Calling Autumn 2019

24 CHIRON CALLING
First Blue Cross award to New Zealand war dog
On Monday, 27 February 2019 at the National Army Museum, Waiouru New Zealand a Blue Cross Medal was awarded to Ceaser, a bulldog who was the first New Zealand dog to serve this country in war. He embarked with A Company, 4th Battalion of the NZ Rifle Brigade in February 1916. He is New Zealand’s first recipient of the Blue Cross Medal, an award for bravery. His name was misspelt originally, and so it remains: Ceaser, not Caesar.
Ceaser was not simply a mascot: he was trained as a Red Cross assistant. With his handler Rifleman Thomas Tooman, he spent time in Egypt undergoing intensive training, Tooman as an ambulance driver, Ceaser to locate wounded soldiers.
Two New Zealand Defence Force dog handlers from Linton Camp flank Patricia Stroud author of Ceasar the book and relation of his handler during WWI. Nigel Allsopp President of AWAMO represented UK based Blue Cross and presented the Award to Director of the National Army Museum (NAM) Windsor Jones
By Nigel Allsopp
Ceaser was one of perhaps 18000 dogs who served the Allies in WWI. They were trained to sniff out wounded men on the battlefield and were equipped with a satchel containing bandages, a notebook and a pencil – soldiers who could attend to their own wounds and write messages for the dogs to take back. Ceaser was also trained to bring back items such as a cap or piece of torn clothing from unconscious men. He was personally responsible for locating many wounded soldiers at the Somme, although his short legs were a handicap amongst the deep mud. On one occasion he dug an air-hole through earth that had smothered a soldier after a shell explosion.
The Blue Cross Award was sent from Blue Cross Headquarters in the United Kingdom, it will be displayed at the New Zealand National Army Museum alongside war animal memorabilia attached around a full-scale model of Ceaser
Ceaser’s career was short - he was killed just a couple of weeks after arriving at the Somme. Tooman found him in No Man’s Land, lying dead beside a dead soldier whose hand was on the dog’s head as if he had been patting him – perhaps it gave them both comfort in their final moments.
Some of the dogs were mascots, offering companionship and comfort. Paddy, a small terrier, left with the Wellington Infantry Battalion in October 1914. He was at Gallipoli and the Western Front, but although he survived his hearing and nerves were seriously affected. He died in England in 1922.
Tooman’s great-niece Patricia Stroud has written a children’s book “Caesar the
NZDF Chaplain Jonathon Holland blessed the Award medal and Certificate sent from the UK. The ceremony was held in the beautiful memorial room at NAM, with a waterfall over greenstone background