Bamse (St. Bernard)

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Bamse being given a bath aboard the minesweeper HNoMS Thorodd

For other things named Bamse, see Bamse (disambiguation).

Bamse (Norwegian for "cuddly bear") (1937 - 22 July 1944) was a St. Bernard that became the heroic mascot of the Free Norwegian Forces during the Second World War. He was the largest dog to serve in the Allied Forces, and became a symbol of Norwegian freedom during the war.

Bamse came from Honningsvåg in Norway. He belonged to Captain Erling Hafto, the master of the Norwegian whale catcher Thorodd, and he was taken to sea from an early age. At the onset of the Second World War, Thorodd was drafted into the Royal Norwegian Navy as a coastal patrol vessel, and Bamse was enrolled as an official crew member on 9 February 1940. After the Nazi invasion of Norway in June 1940, Thorodd was one of 13 Norwegian naval vessels to escape to the UK. She was converted to a minesweeper and stationed in Montrose and Dundee in Scotland, where she remained for the rest of the war.

Bamse lifted the morale of the ship's crew, and became well known to the local civilian population. In battle, he would stand on the front gun tower of the boat, and the crew made him a special metal helmet. His acts of heroism included saving a young lieutenant commander who had been attacked by a man wielding a knife by pushing the assailant into the sea, and dragging back to shore a sailor who had fallen overboard. He was able to locate his crew in the local bars and pubs and escort them back to the ship in time for duty or curfew. To do this, he travelled on the local buses unaccompanied, and the crew bought him a bus pass which was attached to his collar.

From his ship's mascot, Bamse became mascot of the Royal Norwegian Navy, and then of all the Free Norwegian Forces. An iconic photograph of him wearing a Norwegian sailor's cap was used on patriotic Easter cards and Christmas cards during the war. The PDSA made him an official Allied Forces Mascot.

Suffering from heart failure, Bamse died on the dockside at Montrose in July 1944. He was buried with full military honours, and his funeral was attended by hundreds of Norwegian sailors, Allied servicemen, schoolchildren and townsfolk from Montrose and Dundee. His grave site in the sand dunes has been looked after by local people and by the GlaxoSmithKline factory. The Norwegian Navy holds a commemorative ceremony every ten years.

Bamse was posthumously awarded the Norges Hundeorden on 30 September 1984 for his war service. In 2006, he was also awarded the PDSA Gold Medal (sometimes known as the "animals' George Cross") for gallantry and devotion to duty, the only WWII animal to have received this honour.

A larger than life sized bronze statue of Bamse, made by Scottish sculptor Alan Herriot, was unveiled by HRH Prince Andrew at Wharf Street in Montrose on 17 October 2006. A smaller bronze version of the statue has been purchased by the Marinemuseet at Horten in Norway.

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They Also Serve : Dorothea St. Hill Bourne (1947)
Animals in War: Jilly Cooper (1983, re-issued 2000) ISBN 0-552-99091-4
Skipshunden Bamse og andre hunder ("The Ship's Dog Bamse and other Dogs"): Otto Opstad (1987) ISBN 82-7334-1143 (Norwegian)
Silent Heroes : Evelyn le Cheyne (1994) ISBN 0-285-632140
Fem Ar par Banjeren ("Five Years on the Banger): Frank Abelsen ISBN 82-993416-0-4 (Norwegian)
Norske Minesveipere : Frank Abelsen (1999) ISBN 82-994738-5-3 (Norwegian)