Dickin Medal

PDSA Dickin Medal
Bronze medal encircled in a laurel wreath and inscribed "PDSA For Gallantry We Also Serve" held from a ring suspender by a ribbon consisting of three equal vertical stripes of dark green, brown and pale blue
The PDSA Dickin Medal (obverse)
Awarded forConspicuous gallantry or devotion to duty while serving in military conflict.
CountryUnited Kingdom
Presented byPeople's Dispensary for Sick Animals
First awarded1943; 81 years ago (1943)
WebsitePDSA Dickin Medal
A ribbon consisting of three equal vertical stripes of dark green, brown and pale blue
PDSA Dickin Medal service ribbon

The PDSA Dickin Medal was instituted in 1943 in the United Kingdom by Maria Dickin to honour the work of animals in World War II. It is a bronze medallion, bearing the words "For Gallantry" and "We Also Serve" within a laurel wreath, carried on a ribbon of striped green, dark brown, and pale blue.[1] It is awarded to animals that have displayed "conspicuous gallantry or devotion to duty while serving or associated with any branch of the Armed Forces or Civil Defence Units".[1] The award is commonly referred to as "the animals' Victoria Cross".[1][2][3]

Maria Dickin was the founder of the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), a British veterinary charity. She established the award for any animal displaying conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty whilst serving with British Empire armed forces or civil emergency services. The medal was awarded 54 times between 1943 and 1949 – to 32 pigeons, 18 dogs, 3 horses, and a ship's cat – to acknowledge actions of gallantry or devotion during the Second World War and subsequent conflicts.

The awarding of the medal was revived in 2000. In December 2007, 12 former recipients buried at the PDSA Animal Cemetery in Ilford, Essex, Greater London, were afforded full military honours at the conclusion of a National Lottery-aided project to restore the cemetery.[4][5]

As of January 2023, the Dickin Medal has been awarded 74 times, plus one honorary award made in 2014 to all the animals who served in the First World War.[6]

  1. ^ a b c "PDSA Dickin Medal". PDSA. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  2. ^ "Military search dog to receive animals' Victoria Cross". Ministry of Defence. 8 February 2010. Archived from the original on 15 March 2010. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
  3. ^ "The Animals' VC". BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
  4. ^ Clout, Laura (14 December 2007). "A better resting place for the animal VCs". The Daily Telegraph. p. 12.
  5. ^ "Celebrity to open animal Garden of Remembrance". PDSA. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  6. ^ "PDSA Dickin Medal". PDSA. 23 February 2022. Archived from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.