Sheila (dog)

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John Dagg and Shiela

On 16 December 1944, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress from the U.S. Eighth Air Force carrying a full payload of bombs, crashed into the Cheviot Hills on the border between England and Scotland.[1][2] Two local shepherds, John Dagg and Frank Moscrop headed up the mountainside with Dagg's sheepdog Sheila to investigate and see if there was anything they could do to help.[1] The ongoing blizzard reduced the visibility on the mountainside to the bare minimum and the duo had to rely on Sheila to track down the aircraft.[3][1] She tracked four of the airmen who were in a nearby crevice to escape the weather, and took the two shepherds to their location. Together they led the airmen back down to their cottage, arriving as the bombs on the B-17 detonated.[1] Because of their actions, Lt George Kyle, Sgt Howard Delaney, Sgt George Smith and Sgt Joel Berly survived the crash.[4]

For the rescue of the airmen, Sheila was awarded the Dickin Medal by the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals.[5] It is often referred to as the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross.[6] It was the first time that the medal had been awarded to a non-military dog, this time a search and rescue dog.[7] Meanwhile, Dagg was given the British Empire Medal.[1] One of Sheila's puppies, Tibbie, was later sent to the family of Sgt Frank Turner who did not survive the crash on the mountain.[4]

A film called To The Border Bred was later produced which told the story of Sheila and followed Tibbie as she travelled to South Carolina.[8][9]

The two medals, along with Dagg's British Empire Medal and First World War medals and newspaper clippings about the crash,[2] were sold by Sotheby's auction house on 13 December 2005 for £25,300 (ca. $40,488.00 American dollars).[4] [2]

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