10/19/2026
We Also Serve
Gander began life as Pal, a 130 pound Newfoundland owned by the Hayden family in Gander, Newfoundland. After he scratched a child’s face, the family feared he would be put down. They gave him to the Royal Ri**es of Canada, stationed at the airport. The soldiers renamed him Gander and made him a sergeant.
In the fall of 1941 he sailed with the regiment to defend Hong Kong. Japan attacked the colony on December 8, the day after Pearl Harbor. On the night of December 18, Japanese troops landed on Hong Kong Island. On three documented occasions Gander charged the enemy. Twice his attacks stopped an advance and protected wounded men. Then a gr***de landed near seven wounded soldiers. Gander grabbed it in his jaws and carried it toward the Japanese. The blast killed him.
In 2000, 59 years later, Britain’s PDSA awarded him the Dickin Medal for animal bravery in war, the first since 1949. His handler, Fred Kelly, accepted it in Ottawa. “It’s an honour just to be able to put my hand on this dog,” he said, patting a Newfoundland named Rimshot who stood in for Gander. The medal is now at the Canadian War Museum.
Survivors insisted his name go on the Hong Kong Veterans Memorial Wall in Ottawa. It sits among theirs.
