Ricky

Ricky – PDSA Dickin Medal 47

Date of Award: 29 March 1947

When Mrs Litchfield of Bromley in Kent put Ricky forward to serve his country, she made it clear that the Welsh Collie was only on loan. He entered the War Dogs Training School at Northaw, Hertfordshire in 1944 and quickly showed the intelligence and temperament needed to become a mine detection and clearance specialist.

In early December 1944, Ricky and his handler, Maurice Yielding, were helping to clear mines placed along the banks of the Noordervaart canal in the Netherlands. They faced a deadly array of explosive devices - 16 different types of anti-tank mine, ten different types of anti-personnel mine and multiple booby traps.

As the operation progressed, Ricky safely detected device after device, even though they were hidden in undergrowth, gravel and deep mud. His Section Commander accidently triggered a mine when he was only a metre from Ricky. They were in the middle of a minefield at the time and despite shrapnel wounds to his head, Ricky calmly carried on with the job in hand.

According to Maurice, his refusal to panic saved many lives. He said: ‘Ricky was steady as the Rock of Gibraltar and I think it was his coolness that brought us out of a sticky patch safely’. Ricky and Maurice continued working together as the 279th Field Company of the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division played its part in a string of major battles.

By now the Army knew the true value of the skills dogs like Ricky provided and an offer ‘to the maximum amount allowed for a dog’ was made to buy him. Mrs Litchfield wouldn’t budge, however, and Ricky returned home at the end of the war.

Awarded a PDSA Dickin Medal on 29 March 1947, the citation read: “This dog was engaged in cleaning the verges of the canal bank at Noordervaart, Holland. He found all the mines but during the operation one of them exploded. Ricky was wounded in the head but remained calm and kept at work. Had he become excited he would have been a danger to the rest of the section working nearby.”

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