Most countries have medals for brave soldiers. Americans have the ‘Medal of Honor’ and Britain has the ‘Victoria Cross’. But what about brave animals? Many animals go to war: horses, dogs, cows and pigeons, to name a few. Is there any award for them?
In fact, there is. It’s called the Dickin Medal, and it’s given to animals who show bravery while serving with the armed forces. The award was created by Maria Dickin in 1943. She had previously established the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) – an organisation that took care of injured animals. During the Second World War, many animals were given the Dickin Medal, including 1 cat, 3 horses, 18 dogs and 32 pigeons.
Pigeons may seem like unlikely candidates for a bravery medal, but they were very important to the war effort. During the Second World War, communications weren’t what they are today. There was no Internet, no e-mail, no mobile phones and no satellites. So, on many occasions, soldiers had to use homing pigeons to pass on messages. These are specially-bred pigeons with an ability to find their way home, even if they are quite far away. During the war, homing pigeons were used to carry messages. These messages were usually written on small pieces of paper, which are tied to their legs.
One of the most famous pigeons to win the medal was Paddy. He was an Irish pigeon, and one of the first pigeons to return to base. He was bringing news of the successful D-Day landings in Normandy. He crossed the English Channel in just 4 hours and 5 minutes (a record).
The only cat to have received the award was called Simon. He was on a Royal Navy ship HMS Amethyst. He was originally found in Hong Kong and was taken on board the ship. He got rid of rats on the ship. In 1949 the ship was attacked and Simon was injured. He soon recovered and returned to his duty of rat catching. He was also used to raise the morale of injured teenage soldiers.
Some recent awards were given to non-military animals. In 2002, two guide dogs successfully led their owners out of the World Trade Center during the attacks of September 11th. And more recently, brave animals have been given awards in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Task 1. For sentences 1-5, say if they are “True” (T) or “False” (F).
1. There isn’t an award for animals that have been to war.
2. The award was created by a woman, who had previously established an organisation that took care of injured animals.
3. During the war, pigeons were used to carry food to hungry people.
4. Paddy was an Irish pigeon, and one of the last pigeons to return to its base.
5. Simon was used to make injured teenage soldiers happier.
Task 2. Fill in the sentences with the proper form of the words from the list below.
homing Force specially-bred injure establish
1. Armed were created to fight against country’s enemies.
2. birds were used during wars to send messages.
3. At wars, many people are or die of wounds.
4. To train a pigeon, you need to make him fly from one place to another.
5. Mike an organisation that took care of poor people.