A dog named Driver

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Some years ago in Albany, Western Australia, we walked through an exhibition of war memorabilia and came across a display about Driver, a little terrier cross puppy which was born in 1915 and accompanied Field Company Engineers from Australia to Great Britain as a mascot on the troopship Suffolk. He went ashore in the pocket of one of the men and arrived in France in 1916. Driver lived in the horse lines and was always great friends with the cook, travelling in the mess cart. He was a great ratter and got plenty of practice in the trenches. It was claimed the little dog could tell the difference between German and Allied aircraft and would take cover only when he heard the German planes overhead. He was smuggled into England against quarantine regulations then smuggled back on board the Castalia for the return trip to Australia. He almost caused a mutiny as the commanding officer wanted the dog put down. He was kept out of sight during inspections and, on arrival in Melbourne, a volunteer smuggled him ashore hidden in a special pocket made in a greatcoat. The coat was laid on the pier for 20 minutes during a kit inspection but Driver remained motionless in his hiding place. He was eventually forwarded by rail to his owner in Sydney and died in 1926. Driver would have brought so much pleasure to those men in the trenches. I'm sorry about the quality of the photo.