Antis (dog)
Antis (1939–1953), also known as Ant, was a dog who received the Dickin Medal in 1949 from the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals for bravery in service in England and North Africa during the Second World War.
[3] Bozděch helped the injured Duval to an abandoned farm house nearby, wherein the Czech airman discovered a German Shepherd puppy on the floor in the kitchen.
Bozděch left a pan of water and some more chocolate with the dog, and they locked it inside the farmhouse before heading off across the snow to a nearby wood.
Almost immediately upon leaving the property, the night sky was lit up by flares fired by the Germans as they were looking for the aircrew from the nearby crash site.
[8] Bozděch opened the door and found he could not kill the animal, instead picking it up and placing it next to his chest inside his flight jacket.
[11] With the end of the Phoney War on 10 May 1940,[12] the airfield at Saint-Dizier was bombed by a wing of German Dornier Do 17s, while Bozděch and Ant were huddled in a bunker.
[14] During the latter part of the Battle of France on 14 June, a flight of Messerschmitt Bf 110s destroyed the remaining planes of Bozděch's squadron while they were on the ground.
They were concerned how they might make their way at speed to Tours, but on leaving the village they discovered a party underway at a nearby house, celebrating the German invasion.
[19] The trip to Gibraltar was uneventful, and once they arrived they sought to board MV Northmoor which was due to join a convoy for England.
Bozděch instead elected to trust Ant's recall ability; the airman boarded the ferry and left Antis on the shore.
311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF, based first at Speke, Liverpool, where Antis assisted in searching for survivors after an air raid.
[citation needed] A few months later, 311 Squadron was posted to RAF East Wretham in Norfolk and, despite regulations prohibiting Antis flying with Bozděch, he took part in around 30 missions.
When Bozděch had to flee Czechoslovakia again in 1948 from the growing persecution of army personnel who served on the side of western allies by the communists who recently gained power after the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état, Antis helped him escape, guiding him and several others around searchlights and the field of fire of a fixed machine gun position, and allowing them to cross safely into West Germany.
[2] Antis was formally recognised for his heroics in 1949, when he was awarded the Dickin Medal, which is frequently referred to as "the animal's Victoria Cross".
[2][28] The first book to be written about Antis was Anthony Richardson's One Man and His Dog (1961), although several changes were made to his story such as Bozděch's first name becoming Jan.
