Gunner was a well-documented heroic dog of WWII whose outcome was not known until recently. This post was made on FaceBook and it caught my eye and my full attention.
Gunner’s Bio
This heroic dog of WW II was born c. August 1941. He was a descendant of Kelpies (aka Australian Sheepdog) who quickly established himself as an incredible warning alert of incoming enemy planes.
Apparently, he was a stray who was about six months old when he was found at RAAF Darwin, under a destroyed mess hut. Shortly after the first air raid by the Japanese on Darwin, personnel found him, whimpering from a broken leg.
A member of the No.2 Squadron, RAAF took the injured pup to a field hospital. The medic refused to treat any patient without a name and number so he was given the number “0000” and named
“Gunner”.
Once treated and his leg set, they officially listed Gunner on the official RAAF records. At that time, one of the airmen who rescued Gunner, Percy Westcoff, claimed him as his own. From then on, Percy was his handler.
Although the young pup was horribly shaken by the noise and his injury, he responded to the love and attention of the men from the RAAF Squadron. He became a real member of the Squadron.
Gunner showered with the men, sat with them to watch movies,and slept under Percy Westcoffs’ bunk. The adventuresome pup even rode with the pilots during their take-off and landing practice sessions.
How Gunner Became A Heroic Dog in WW II
It wasn’t much more than a week after being found under the demolished mess tent that Gunner’s amazing hearing skill was identified. It happened quite unexpectedly.
The members of the RAAF were following their daily routine when they noticed Gunner become agitated. He was jumping and whining for no apparent reason at the time.
A few moments later, they detected the sound of airplanes approaching the town. Shortly thereafter, they saw a Japanese raider formation appear overhead as they began bombing.
It was only two days later that the dog began jumping and whining again. Once more, another Japanese air attack took place over Darwin. This became a known pattern.
Over the weeks and months that followed, Gunner would run for shelter in a very agitated state well before anyone heard the sirens or saw the Japanese planes overhead. He warned them about 20 minutes before any other detection was registered.
Amazingly, Gunner could tell the difference between the enemy planes approaching and the sound of the Allied planes’ engines. He was so reliable that the Wing Commander instructed the men to sound an alarm whenever Gunner alerted them.
At one point, Wing Commander McFarlane noticed that an increasing number of stray dogs were becoming a nuisance on the base. In order to prevent them from hindering their canine alarm system, he had all dogs besides Gunner to be shot.
After about 18 months, Percy Wetcoff was transferred to Melbourne while Gunner remained in Darwin. The butcher for the RAAF took care of Gunner during that time.
At the end of the war….
While several sources claim that no one knows what happened to Gunner at the end of the war, we may know different. The post on Face Book indicates that he made it out alive and grew old with a soldier’s family.
There is a discrepancy in the FaceBook post, indicating it was the German engines that Gunner recognized instead of the Japanese. Maybe the poster misunderstood or simply misremembered.
Regardless, I wish to believe he made it to old age with a beloved friend. Gunner was a heroic dog in WW II either way and he deserves our respect.
Here is a story about a modern day canine hero. https://excellentdogsclub.com/k-9-hero-of-the-al-baghdadi-raid/
