Coastal Command 1939-1945

"This book draws on the photographic archive and other collections of the National Maritime Museum to tell the extraordinary tales of all kinds of animals at sea." "Though animals were brought on board for many purposes - as food, to keep the rodent population in check, to warn of danger, and as mascots - the most valuable, to a sailor of any rank, was the companionship that so many provided. Many animals even won medals for bravery, saving human lives during two World Wars." "Liz Verity charts over two hundred years of animals at sea, their human companions (heroes, royalty and the ordinary sailor), the ships on which they sailed and the voyages they undertook, from battles in the Atlantic and exploration in the Pacific, through the ice floes of the South Pole to the dockyards of the Mediterranean." "This book tells heart-warming tales, from the escapades of Kitty the mongoose to the rather risky behaviour of an exotic floating royal menagerie; from a bear that loved to act as a huge pillow for sleeping sailors, to the troublesome bulldog that pushed the ship's cat overboard and bit the bugler."--BOOK JACKET.