PREVIEW: ORDERS, DECORATIONS, MEDALS & MILITARIA 12 OCTOBER

Having secured an auction record for a Victoria Cross at £930,000 on 14 September, Noonans are now proud to offer an outstanding example of the equivalent award for animals. Such were the heroics of Rob, a Border Collie / Retriever cross, that he was further honoured by leading the post-war Wembley Parade of 32 Dickin Medal War Dogs. He was the only dog at the parade to also hold the R.S.P.C.A. Red Collar for Valour.

Having secured an auction record for a Victoria Cross at £930,000 on 14 September, Noonans are now proud to offer an outstanding example of the equivalent award for animals. Such were the heroics of Rob, a Border Collie / Retriever cross, that he was further honoured by leading the post-war Wembley Parade of 32 Dickin Medal War Dogs. He was the only dog at the parade to also hold the R.S.P.C.A. Red Collar for Valour. In 1989, when the BBC aired a programme about Dickin Medal animals, including horses, pigeons, cats and dogs, it was Rob who featured in pride of place on the cover of The Radio Times. Rob’s gallantry arose from 20 parachute descents he made while serving with Infantry in North Africa and the 2nd S.A.S. Regiment in Italy during the Second World War. Bought as a puppy from Colemere Farm near Ellesmere in Shropshire in 1939 for 5 shillings, Rob lived his early years with the Bayne family of nearby Tetchill as their farm dog and pet. His owners volunteered him as a War Dog in 1942 and he was signed up on 19 May of that year. Following action in the North Africa campaign, from September 1943, Rob served with the Special Air Service Regiment (SAS), the first war dog to do so. With the regiment, he took part in operations in Italy, parachuting in on sabotage missions. Christopher Mellor-Hill, Head of Client Liaison at Noonans, commented: “Rob the Parachuting Dog is the most famous of all the Dickin Medal recipients and we are delighted to be offering his medals on behalf of the family who owned him. Rob was the first War Dog attached to the S.A.S. to be awarded the ‘animal V.C.’, and was reportedly the only War Dog to have been nominated for the Dickin Medal by the War Office.” He continued: “Demobilised on 27 November 1945, Rob led the Wembley Parade of 32 War Dogs on 16 July 1947 in front of 10,000 spectators, being the only dog present to hold both the Dickin Medal and the R.S.P.C.A. Red Collar and Medallion for Valour. Over the years books have been written about him and he even featured on the front page of the Radio Times; we believe this to be the most important Dickin Medal to ever be sold at auction.” Instituted by Maria Dickin, C.B.E., the founder of the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals, in 1943, the Dickin Medal has since been awarded on 74 occasions – 32 of them going to pigeons, 37 to dogs, 4 to horses, and 1 to a cat. In addition, an Honorary PDSA Dickin Medal was awarded in 2014 to all the animals who took part in the Second World War. The vast majority (and all those awards to pigeons) were granted in respect of acts of bravery in the Second World War, but more recently a number of awards have been made to Arms and Explosives Search Dogs of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps for their gallantry in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the time of receiving the award, his owner, Edward Bayne, told the Oban Times how caring Rob had been as a farm dog: “He used to help settle the chicks in their houses at night, picking them up in his mouth when they had strayed away – he had a wonderful mouth - and tucking them in under their mothers.” The Baynes’ son, Basil, who now lives in Antrim, Northern Ireland and is selling the medal, had learnt to walk by holding onto Rob’s tail or clutching his coat, and if the child was crying Rob put his front paws up on the pram, soothed him and made him laugh. He recalls: “Following his wartime exploits, Rob was returned to us and settled back into life on the farm, occasionally making public appearances to help raise funds for returning Prisoners of War and their families. In February 1948 he disappeared for five days with his companion, our other dog, Judy, a spaniel. Rob returned in an emaciated condition without his collar – his collar was what we called his everyday collar. It had red, white and blue ribbon all around it. Several years later a local farm worker out rabbiting with a spade found the collar hooked around the root of a tree. Rob had strained and lost weight until he was able to slip the collar over his head. This dilapidated collar, now missing all ribbons, is among the items in the auction and the strain on the holes in the collar is obvious!” Rob died in 1952, aged 12. Rob’s Dickin Medal is estimated at £20,000-30,000 and the proceeds will be given to the Taylor McNally Foundation. It is being sold with an extensive archive including his collar, a portrait painting, photographs, certificate, manuscripts, books and letters.