Judy: The Unforgettable Story of the Dog Who Went to War and Became a True Hero by Damien Lewis Read Free Book Online Page A

Judy was a strong swimmer, one blessed with a gundog’s natural instinct to fight for her survival—at least until they could come to her aid. Even so, he didn’t rate her chances very highly. Either they got to her in the next few minutes or Judy of Sussex was going to a cold and watery grave.
    By the time the captain had brought his vessel to a stop, man of action Leading Seaman Vic Oliver had readied the Gnat ’s launch. Oliver would be on the tiller, with a colleague to operate the engine, and he had a somewhat reluctant Chinese boat boy called Wugle perched in the prow, charged with grabbing the errant dog. The diminutive craft was swung overboard and lowered over the side, but by the time she was in the water Oliver had lost all sight of the missing dog.
    The last he’d seen of her was a distant black speck coursing downriver. He’d tried to fix her location in his mind so that he could steer the launch in the general direction. Unsighted as they now were, heset off on the best bearing he could muster, the speed of the launch combining with the current to propel the boat downriver like a cork fired from a champagne bottle.
    The little vessel slammed and bucked her way across the choppy water, which close up appeared like a viscous orange soup as it foamed and boiled around her prow. Oliver figured that by the time they’d got the boat into the water Judy was maybe half a mile astern of the Gnat . At the speed the launch was motoring, he reckoned they’d overhaul her within two minutes— if he had them on the correct bearing.
    He knew full well that if he’d gotten it wrong, they wouldn’t get a second chance. Many men had gone to their deaths in the Yangtze, and a fall into the river this far from land very often spelled the end. Oliver dreaded to think what the chances were for a not yet fully grown dog.
    Time dragged horribly. The boat fought its way across the river’s surface for what seemed like an age. Then, quite suddenly they crested a wave and sped past a black speck just visible off the port side. The men in the launch had caught the flash of white forepaws thrashing about frantically, eyes wide with fear as Judy fought to prevent herself from being dragged under. She was keeping her head above the turbid water, but only just.
    Yelling out snatched words of encouragement, Oliver threw the launch into a tight turn. This time they came back toward her on an interception bearing and motoring upstream. The boat’s progress was far slower and more controlled as she fought the powerful current, and Oliver presumed that this time they had Judy within their grasp. But as they slowed for the pickup and Wugle leaned over the side to grab her collar, the boat pitched on a wave crest, and suddenly he was in the water too.
    Boat boy and ship’s dog went under, and nothing more could be seen of them. Oliver sent the launch around in a second speeding turn. They returned to the spot, but both Wugle and Judy were nowhere to be seen. Finally, a pair of desperate figures broke the surface, and Oliver used the boat hook to drag them closer in. Thenall hands were reaching over the side . . . and a sodden ship’s boy and a half-drowned ship’s dog were dragged aboard by the scruff of their necks.
    A ragged volley of cheers echoed across the water from the deck of the Gnat , where what seemed like the entire ship’s company had gathered to watch the drama. Acknowledging them with a wave, Oliver got the launch under way once more, heading back toward the Gnat . Something of a natural-born showman, he gripped the tiller between his knees and sent a short message of confirmation, using the boat’s semaphore—a system of flags held at arm’s length in various positions, each corresponding to a letter of the alphabet—to do so.
    “CHRISTENING COMPLETE” was the short but entirely appropriate message transmitted.
    Bedraggled and with thick Yangtze river mud in hair, eyes, and ears, Judy and Wugle were the first