Sadie

Sadie – PDSA Dickin Medal 62

Date of Award: 6 February 2007

Sadie was already a seasoned veteran of conflict zones by the time she performed the life-saving action that earned her the PDSA Dickin Medal.

Trained by the Royal Army Veterinary Corps in Leicestershire as a specialist Arms and Explosives Dog, Sadie had served in the Balkans and Iraq before her posting to Afghanistan in November 2005.

One of the Taliban’s favoured weapons, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), were difficult to detect and devastating when detonated. A well-trained search dog like Sadie was vital for countering the threat from IEDs. At a checkpoint she could thoroughly search up to eight cars in the time it would take a human to search just one.

Another favoured tactic of the Taliban was to detonate a secondary device shortly after an initial blast. In doing so, it could cause maximum casualties to both service personnel and civilians attending the scene to offer assistance. When a suicide bomber killed one soldier and wounded several others near the UN Headquarters in Kabul, troops from Britain, Germany and America converged on the scene.

Sadie and her handler, Lance Corporal Karen Yardley, arrived and began searching for secondary devices. Trained to sit obediently at the site of any explosives, Sadie almost immediately sat down and stared directly at the perimeter wall. The area was quickly cleared, and the bomb disposal team discovered a hidden IED packed with high explosives on the other side of the wall, hidden under sandbags. The device would undoubtedly have caused serious injuries and deaths had it detonated.

Her award was presented by the PDSA’s Patron at the Imperial War Museum, London on 6 February 2007. The citation read: “For outstanding gallantry and devotion to duty … in Afghanistan in 2005. On 14 November 2005 … Sadie gave a positive indication near a concrete blast wall … At the site of Sadie’s indication [was a bomb] designed to inflict maximum injury. Sadie’s actions undoubtedly saved the lives of many civilians and soldiers.”

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