http://www.yourdog.co.uk Your Dog November 2017 79Rats at his farewell
parade with the 1st
Battalion Welsh Guards.▼
the road, most likely heading into town.
Knowing his special dog’s breakfast
(bacon, eggs, and extra sausage) would be
held until he got back to camp, he joined
them. But as the patrol returned through
the well-guarded gates of the barracks,
the world turned black.
One soldier ran, engulfed in fl ames,
and a cloud of black ash and bright orange
embers fell on the others as they struggled
to smother the fi re running over their
friend’s body. A fi rebomb — a lethal
mix of explosives laced with a ball of
soap powder fl akes — sprayed fl aming
soap lava into the air. It burned everything
in its path, including Rats. He was limping,
smelled of burned fur, and was missing
half his tail.BATTLE SCARS
That year was an extraordinary
rollercoaster for Rats, but the sadness of
saying goodbye to the Grenadier Guards
put him out of action for a few days.
It was an emotional departure, with
each man patting Rats in turn before they
boarded the helicopter. One soldier said:
“I have no doubt at all he knew we were
leaving him and he might never see any
of us again. All I can say is that he has
been a blessing to all of us while we were
there. So far as any dog could, he has
made us happy.”
In 1979, the battle scars came in
multiples for man and dog, as the IRA
escalated its terrorist activities throughout
the province and on the mainland. On
August 27, the Queen’s cousin, Lord Louis
Mountbatten, was killed when his pleasure
boat was destroyed by a remotely
detonated bomb near the coast of County
Sligo. Just hours later, a border ambush at
Warrenpoint, South Down, took the lives
of 18 British soldiers. It was one of the
bloodiest days of the Troubles, and the
greatest loss of life suffered by the British
Army in a single attack since arriving to
keep the peace a decade earlier.
The high-profi le carnage and losses
suffered by Rats’ new regiment, the
Queen’s Own Highlanders, drew the
media to Crossmaglen. TV cameras
descended on the army base to capture
the essence of the Troubles, to be met
by the unexpected sight of Rats, running
at the heels of a man in uniform.
The media soon wanted to know
more about this little dog who loved toscruffy, and with questionable manners
— the regiment knew he was their dog.
But it was the incoming regiment, the
1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, who
decided to name him ‘Rat’ (the ‘s’
was added over time), and gave him
a much-needed wash and brush-up. They
rid him of his fl eas — a good move as he
had his choice of 18 beds in a dormitory
— and discovered that underneath the
thick layer of dirt that was matting his coat,
his fur was a reddish-brown and he had
four brilliant-white socks. He looked smart
when he went on duty, but it never lasted
long, and he loathed having a bath.DANGER ON PATROL
Rats had been patrolling the Ardross
estate all his life, but now he had to learn
about new threats that lay on every
street. He uttered a low growl as a warning
of danger ahead. Rats was especially
suspicious of people not wearing
a uniform; snapping, jumping, and
showing his teeth, he made sure they kept
a distance. According to the testimony of
veterans who served with him, their dog
was a reliable judge of character.
One crisp January morning in 1979,
Rats met an outgoing patrol to ‘work the
pavements’: two men on each side ofBritish troops on patrol
in Crossmaglen.Image: Mike Abrahams/Alamy Stock Photo.78-80 Historical-rats CSAM(SW).indd 79 22/09/2017 14:01