Read Online Judy: The Unforgettable Story of the Dog Who Went to War and Became a True Hero by Damien Lewis - Free Book Online

had dogs serving as their mascot.
    Officers and men from the Ladybird were invited aboard the Gnat , and ship’s rum was served and intelligence swapped between the two parties. This was an ideal opportunity for the captain of the Gnat to glean information about any dangers that might lie ahead, for Ladybird was en route to Shanghai after a long sojourn upriver.
    But one member of the Ladybird ’s crew was decidedly not welcome. Bonzo, their ship’s dog, had started acting very strangelyjust as soon as the Gnat had steamed onto the horizon. A large boxer-terrier cross, Bonzo had started to dash about the deck like a crazy thing, tearing back and forth ceaselessly. With Bonzo’s nose glued to the Gnat , it didn’t take the brains of an archbishop to work out what was up. He had sensed the presence of a beautiful and glamorous young lady dog aboard their sister ship and had amorous designs upon her.
    On being alerted to the threat, Captain Waldegrave ordered Tankey, as Keeper of the Ship’s Dog, to maintain Judy under strict lock and key. The last thing they wanted right now was a brood of boxer–terrier–English pointer crosses. Judy of Sussex wasn’t particularly happy at being so constrained. She’d always enjoyed free run of the ship, but little did she know it was being done for her own good. She remained safely locked away until the Ladybird departed downriver and Bonzo’s dishonorable intentions toward her had been well and truly thwarted.
    With Bonzo gone, Judy was free to join the Gnat ’s crew on expeditions ashore. There was a navy canteen on the Wuhu docks where—joy of joys—the beer flowed freely. For some reason the place also seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of something that Judy proved very partial to—ice cream. As soon as the ship’s crew entered the canteen Judy would adopt a suitably regal pose, nose pointed directly at the trunk that contained the delicious treat.
    One evening the men forgot to provide her with her customary plateful. Finally losing her patience, she sneaked behind the canteen bar, grabbed the handle of the ice cream trunk in her jaws, and dragged it out into the center of the room. She turned to the astonished drinkers, barked once in command, and demanded that her ice cream be duly served.
    Above Wuhu the Yangtze narrows considerably as the flatlands of the delta give way to a series of dramatic, sweeping valleys. Three chokepoints—the Xling, Wu, and Qutang gorges—funnel the river waters through towering rock faces and knife-cut cliffs that rear up hundreds of feet to either side. Such terrain offered the perfect territory for the kind of piracy for which the Yangtze wasinfamous—although the Ladybird had been able to give no specific warnings of any such threats lying ahead.
    Two days out from Wuhu the Gnat entered the steep-sided, echoing Xling Gorge, sparsely vegetated slopes sweeping down into the fast-flowing water. With dusk approaching the captain decided to anchor for the night. As thick smoke from the Gnat ’s funnels drifted across this valley that dwarfed the ship, he maneuvered his vessel into shallower water before ordering the anchor dropped.
    With the Gnat safely moored Captain Waldegrave declared, “Ship secure—hands to tea.” It was time for a refreshing brew after a long day’s steaming on the Yangtze.
    This being wilder, less-populated terrain, the crew was instinctively more alert. But as the slash of sky above them turned a velvety purple with the setting sun, there was little sign of any danger lurking out there on the darkening river. All was apparently peaceful until around 0300 hours, when Judy sat bolt upright in her box-cum-bed on the Gnat ’s bridge. Throwing aside her ship’s blanket, she pricked up her ears. Moments later she’d leaped onto her four paws and made a mad dash for the open wing of the bridge.
    Barely pausing to fix the direction of the approaching threat, she began to bark wildly at a point somewhere in the