Each year, Blue Cross (an animal charity in England and Wales) awards outstanding pets the Blue Cross Medal. La Cloche and Juliana were the first dogs to receive one.
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| Blue Cross, founded in 1897, originally awarded people who helped rescue animals, then horses during the Balkan War and WWI. The first dog was in 1940. |
La Cloche was the first dog to be awarded the Blue Cross Medal in 1940. He was on board the French steamer SS Meknes with his owner, a French mariner who could not swim. The ship was torpedoed by a German submarine and the mariner was thrown into the sea. According to a report, La Cloche "...dived into the sea, swam to his master and supported him for a considerable time in the water until the man was hauled out unconscious, and so saved. The dog sheered off the boat and could not be pulled out of the sea owing to the swell, it was thought that he was lost, but managed to find a log of wood on which he clambered and was later found riding the seas waiting patiently for his own rescue."
Juliana was awarded the Blue Cross Medal twice.
The first was in 1941 for extinguishing an incendiary bomb - a bomb designed to start fires. During WWII, these bombs were being dropped across Britain by the Germans during The Blitz. When a bomb fell through the roof of the house in which Juliana and her owner lived, the Great Dane put the fire out by urinating on the bomb.
The second was in 1944 for saving lives. Her owner's shoe shop was on fire and Juliana alerted her family and customers, allowing them time to get out.
