Diddy-Dee
Recruit
top thread!! i can only imagine the excitement of the pets when their boys returned safe..
Pilots and their Pets
- Thread starter Njaco
- Start date
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Nice shot v2!
vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
Very cool!
- Thread starter
- #105
Njaco
The Pop-Tart Whisperer
very nice!
- Thread starter
- #107
Njaco
The Pop-Tart Whisperer
Wow!
Interesting shots v2!
- Thread starter
- #110
Njaco
The Pop-Tart Whisperer
Nice shots Chris!
wheelsup_cavu
1st Sergeant
Nice pictures.
For some reason when I see them with their animals in the pictures they seem more alive. The people in the photos now seem like someone you might meet on the street tomorrow and not someone in a picture from decades ago.
Wheels
For some reason when I see them with their animals in the pictures they seem more alive. The people in the photos now seem like someone you might meet on the street tomorrow and not someone in a picture from decades ago.
Wheels
daveT
Senior Airman
Us Army Maneuvers In The Deep South
"Butch", one-month-old puppy standing guard over his master's 155-mm. howitzer during US Army maneuvers. Location: Meridian, MI, US Date taken: May 1940 Photographer: John Phillips
The dog may be small. but he has a big bite!
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vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
LMAO I love that one!
- Thread starter
- #115
Njaco
The Pop-Tart Whisperer
Thats frickin' cool!
daveT
Senior Airman
Tabby cat who kept superstitious young pilots company on WWII bombing missions honoured for braveryBy Stephanie Darrall
Honoured: Pyro the tabby cat (pictured with an unknown woman) will be recognised for bravery after flying on experimental bomb tests in the Second World War
A tabby cat who was at the side of superstitious young crews flying on experimental bomb tests above the Atlantic in the Second World War is to be honoured for bravery.
Pyro was kept inside the flight jackets of crew members while flying at altitudes of 20,000ft and even flew on the legendary 'bouncing bomb' tests.
The mascot also protected the hands of his owner Bob Bird from frostbite by keeping them warm when the plane they were in crash-landed in the sea.
BBC presenter Fiona Bruce presented Mr Bird's son Robin with a special posthumous commendation to Pyro from the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals charity.
The presentation will be broadcast during the Antiques Roadshow on Remembrance Sunday.
Robin Bird, 64, said: 'We are really very proud of Pyro. He was the only flying cat in the Second World War - and any other war as far as we know.
'The crews believed that Pyro kept them safe during the dangerous experimental flights over the Atlantic.
'Those missions were very dangerous and a lot of crews died so they were very superstitious and Pyro was very important for moral.'
More...The mystery of the MP's missing cat deepens as vet claims pet 'found safe and well' is NOT Beauty
Pyro was first found by Liverpool photographer Mr Bird when he was dispatched to the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment (MAEE) base in Helensburgh, Scotland, to document experimental weapons being tested to destroy German U-boats.
In 1942 the then 22-year-old found the kitten searching for a warm place to stay in his dark room.
Mr Bird decided to adopt the cat when he accidentally trapped his tail in a sliding door and had to take him to the base medical officer for treatment.
From then on Pyro, named after the photographic developing chemical pyrocatechol, hung around the base and waited for Mr Bird to return from missions.
But his owner noticed the cat was miserable when left alone so began carrying him in his flying jacket.
Robin Bird added: 'Pyro used to love to fly. He wasn't scared at all. My mother told me that Bob would whistle when he was going flying and Pyro would come running.'
He said Pyro earned his wings one winter's day in early 1943 when, at 20,000ft, ice covered the plane his father was flying in.
As a kitten: Pyro was kept inside the flight jackets of crew members while flying at altitudes of 20,000ft and even flew on the legendary 'bouncing bomb' tests
The photographer took off his glove to change a lens and got severe frostbite in his fingers.
He cleverly used the heat from the cat in his flying jacket to warm his hands.
Pyro stayed in position even after the plane had to make a crash-landing in the sea off the west coast of Scotland, when the pilot was rendered blind by severe frostbite.
Mr Bird spent two weeks in hospital recovering and was later told by doctors the cat had saved his fingers.
The pair continued their partnership and in 1945 the photographer was transferred to RAF Beaulieu in Hampshire.
He took Pyro with him but the tale ended in tragedy when he returned to base one day to find Pyro, who was fully grown and too big to fly, had been hit by a truck and killed.
Robin Bird added: 'My dad used to talk about Pyro all the time. He had a really strong affection for him and he was devastated when he got killed.
'Judging from my dad's stories Pyro deserved to be honoured which is why I nominated him for this award.
'We have also set up a shrine to Pyro at the Fort Perch Rock aviation museum in the Wirral.'
Television presenter Fiona Bruce presented Robin Bird, a former journalist, and his wife Carla, 67, with a framed bravery certificate for the intrepid cat during filming last month in Staffordshire.
Read more: Tabby cat who kept superstitious young pilots company on WWII bombing missions honoured for bravery | Mail Online
A tabby cat who was at the side of superstitious young crews flying on experimental bomb tests above the Atlantic in the Second World War is to be honoured for bravery.
Pyro was kept inside the flight jackets of crew members while flying at altitudes of 20,000ft and even flew on the legendary 'bouncing bomb' tests.
The mascot also protected the hands of his owner Bob Bird from frostbite by keeping them warm when the plane they were in crash-landed in the sea.
BBC presenter Fiona Bruce presented Mr Bird's son Robin with a special posthumous commendation to Pyro from the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals charity.
The presentation will be broadcast during the Antiques Roadshow on Remembrance Sunday.
Robin Bird, 64, said: 'We are really very proud of Pyro. He was the only flying cat in the Second World War - and any other war as far as we know.
'The crews believed that Pyro kept them safe during the dangerous experimental flights over the Atlantic.
'Those missions were very dangerous and a lot of crews died so they were very superstitious and Pyro was very important for moral.'
More...The mystery of the MP's missing cat deepens as vet claims pet 'found safe and well' is NOT Beauty
Pyro was first found by Liverpool photographer Mr Bird when he was dispatched to the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment (MAEE) base in Helensburgh, Scotland, to document experimental weapons being tested to destroy German U-boats.
In 1942 the then 22-year-old found the kitten searching for a warm place to stay in his dark room.
Mr Bird decided to adopt the cat when he accidentally trapped his tail in a sliding door and had to take him to the base medical officer for treatment.
From then on Pyro, named after the photographic developing chemical pyrocatechol, hung around the base and waited for Mr Bird to return from missions.
But his owner noticed the cat was miserable when left alone so began carrying him in his flying jacket.
Robin Bird added: 'Pyro used to love to fly. He wasn't scared at all. My mother told me that Bob would whistle when he was going flying and Pyro would come running.'
He said Pyro earned his wings one winter's day in early 1943 when, at 20,000ft, ice covered the plane his father was flying in.
As a kitten: Pyro was kept inside the flight jackets of crew members while flying at altitudes of 20,000ft and even flew on the legendary 'bouncing bomb' tests
The photographer took off his glove to change a lens and got severe frostbite in his fingers.
He cleverly used the heat from the cat in his flying jacket to warm his hands.
Pyro stayed in position even after the plane had to make a crash-landing in the sea off the west coast of Scotland, when the pilot was rendered blind by severe frostbite.
Mr Bird spent two weeks in hospital recovering and was later told by doctors the cat had saved his fingers.
The pair continued their partnership and in 1945 the photographer was transferred to RAF Beaulieu in Hampshire.
He took Pyro with him but the tale ended in tragedy when he returned to base one day to find Pyro, who was fully grown and too big to fly, had been hit by a truck and killed.
Robin Bird added: 'My dad used to talk about Pyro all the time. He had a really strong affection for him and he was devastated when he got killed.
'Judging from my dad's stories Pyro deserved to be honoured which is why I nominated him for this award.
'We have also set up a shrine to Pyro at the Fort Perch Rock aviation museum in the Wirral.'
Television presenter Fiona Bruce presented Robin Bird, a former journalist, and his wife Carla, 67, with a framed bravery certificate for the intrepid cat during filming last month in Staffordshire.
Read more: Tabby cat who kept superstitious young pilots company on WWII bombing missions honoured for bravery | Mail Online
- Thread starter
- #117
Njaco
The Pop-Tart Whisperer
Now that is a very cool story! Thanks Dave!
RabidAlien
1st Lieutenant
Well, not really a "pilot's pet", nor a WW2 pet, but here's a pic of Stubby, of WW1 trench-warfare fame, getting a medal from none other than General "Black Jack" Pershing himself (with First Lady Florence Harding looking on). If even half of what I've read about this dog are true, he most certainly earned his medals (there were several...both American and French!)!!!
View attachment General Black Jack Pershing, Stubby the War Dog, and First Lady Florence Harding.bmp
View attachment General Black Jack Pershing, Stubby the War Dog, and First Lady Florence Harding.bmp
vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
Nice!
