Bamse (ship dog)
Bamse ( 1937 - July 24, 1944 ) was a Norwegian ship dog .
Life
Bamse was a good-natured Saint Bernard . The name Bamse means something like teddy bear in Norwegian . He was born as a puppy in the Norwegian town of Honningsvåg in 1937 and belonged to the then harbor master of the town of Erling Hafto . He played with the children in Honningsvåg and was also used by them as a mount and in winter for pulling sleds. In 1939 Hafto became captain of the Norwegian naval ship Thorodd, which was stationed in Tromsø . After Germany's attack on Norway during World War II , the Thorodd, like other ships of the Norwegian Navy, moved to Great Britain and was stationed in the British ports of Montrose and Dundee . It was converted into a mine clearer. Bamse was still a ship dog on the Thorodd and was registered as an official crew member in 1940. As his owner Hafto on 9 September 1940, the deminers Nordkapp , that of Iceland has should operate from offset, the team who put Thorodd ensuring that Bamse was on board.
There have been a variety of accounts of the dog's bravery and care for his crew. The 88 kilogram dog interfered in a dispute between crew members and put his front paws on the shoulder of a quarrel to restore calm. Bamse picked up team members from shore leave at the end of curfew . To do this, he used a bus on his own; the team had bought him a bus ticket that he wore on his collar. The dog was also known for going to bars with the team and drinking beer there. He also enjoyed playing soccer with the team on deck. Bamse saved the lives of two crew members, including a ship's officer who was attacked by a man armed with a knife in the port of Dundee. Bamse intervened and pushed the attacker away so that he fell into the harbor basin.
Pictures of Bamse, which show him with a sailor's collar and cap or a helmet made for him, achieved great popularity and were sent to Norwegians all over the world, especially on public holidays.
Bamse died of heart failure on July 24, 1944. He was buried with military honors in Montrose. 800 people attended his funeral. He was posthumously awarded the Norwegian Dog Order on September 30, 1984 and the PDSA Gold Medal in July 2006 . In 2006, life-size statues were unveiled for him in Montrose and in 2009 in Honningsvåg .
Trivia
- Bamse was part of the series "Animals That Made It", in the 101st episode of the podcast Fest und Fluschig .
literature
- Sigrid Schmidt, Social work on four legs in KOEHLERS Guide Cruise 2017 , Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, 2016, ISBN 9783782214056