Page 26 - Chiron Calling Autumn/Winter 2022

Hughes goes on to allege that when he served with Major Tom Burt
at Wivenhoe Park later in the war, Burt became depressed by a letter from the Baynes family asking for the return of Rob, to whom he had become very attached. Hughes writes that he arranged to take Rob up in a plane for a parachute jump so that he could write up a report saying how indispensable the dog was ‘and you can keep him until
the end of the war’. In the event, poor weather meant the fight was cancelled but Hughes stated that
he wrote a letter to the family anyway and they used it to approach organisations to lobby for Rob to be recognised. Although, as Hughes notes and the original letter attests, the War Office told the Baynes that Rob’s handlers were killed on active service, this was not true, as Sam Redhead survived the war, dying in March 2000.
However, Hughes’ account does not tally with other evidence.
As letters from the War Office to the Bayne family included in the consignment here show, it was the War Office itself that recommended Rob for the Dickin Medal and
the RSPCA Medallion for Valour. Another War Office letter to the Baynes, signed by a Major H A Clay on behalf of the Brigadier, Director of Army Veterinary and Remount Services, dated 29th January 1945 and headlined SECRET, confirms that Rob ‘has made over 20 parachute drops, including three operational, during the last 18 months.’
Evelyn Le Chêne’s book Silent Heroes also contradicts Hughes’ claims. Despite SAS hero Alastair McGregor writing to Heather Bayne late in life saying that although
he had visited Rob at Wivenhoe in 1944-1945, he could not remember Rob on his various missions, a
contemporary account states that McGregor’s mother had written to Edna Bayne after reading about Rob after the war to say her son ‘had been forever speaking of Rob and Rob’s courage and exploits.’ Le Chêne also goes on to investigate which operations Rob might have been involved in. Discounting at least two missions for logistical reasons, she alights on Operation Pomegranate of 12th-24th January 1944, to knock out German reconnaissance aircraft based at San Egidio in preparation for the Anzio landings
i) A framed portrait of Rob the Dog, oil on canvas, 730mm x 530mm.
ii) The recipient’s original Collar, with ‘War Dog 1939-1945’medallion, this lacking buckle and in relic condition.
iii) The recipient’s PDSA and Allied Forces Mascot Club Certificate for the Dickin Medal, dated 8th February 1945; together with the original War Office letter dated
24th January 1945 announcing the award of the Dickin Medal to Rob; and original War Office letter dated 5th November 1945 announcing
in Italy. The
operation was
led by a Major
Widdrington,
who was
killed, and a
Lieutenant
Hughes, who
was severely wounded. Le Chêne writes: ‘Of Rob’s presence with Widdrington on that occasion there can be no doubt, given the testimony of Widdrington’s mother after the war.’
It is also notable that it was Major Philip Sidney VC MP, the Anzio beachhead hero, who was chosen to present Rob with his Dickin Medal.
Sold with the following extensive archive:
Rob’s RSPCA Medallion of Valour award.
iv) Typescript Extract from Miss Marjorie Anderson of the Overseas Division
relating her broadcast at the presentation of Rob’s Dickin Medal, including the following regarding Corporal Victor (Sam) Redhead, who had been his 2nd SAS Regiment handler: ‘While he accepted the admiring pats of the crowd milling round him I had a chat with Sam, and he told me that he and the dog always made their parachute jump together – “He’s never done one without me” – said Sam proudly.’
v) A 21-page, untitled, hand- written manuscript relating the imaginary story of Rob the Dog as a dialogue between Rob and the Bayne’s other dog Judy, written
by Mrs Edna Bayne, Rob’s owner; together with a typewritten service memoir as though written by Rob the Dog.
Rob ‘has made over 20 parachute drops, including three operational, during the last 18 months’
24 / Chiron Calling