231065 Pte. James Brown British Army 1st Btn. North Staffordshire Regiment from:Stafford In 1913, while serving with the 1st North Staffordshire Regiment in Buttevant, Co. Cork, Private James Brown bought an Irish Terrier puppy, which he called Prince, after his Regiment (Prince of Wales Own). The dog became devoted to his new master, a devotion that literally knew no bounds.
In August 1914, the 1st North Staffordshire Regiment, including James Brown, were mobilized, landing in France in September as part of 17th Brigade, 6th Division.
Meanwhile Prince went with Mrs Brown to stay with her relatives in London. On 27th September 1914, Prince went missing. Within two months Prince turned up in Armentieres to report to his Regiment and his beloved master Pte James Brown.
Although this story at first glance seems unbelievable, there is too much corroborative evidence to draw any other conclusion than that the story is true.
Even during his early days with the regiment, Prince was well known and loved; in 1923 an article about their old pal appeared in the regimental journal, China Dragon:
"...There are still one or two of us left who remember his [Prince's] travels during the time the battalion was stationed at Buttevant in Ireland. We remember well how he would run alongside the column on the march; first across one side of the road into the corn, and then across to the other to explore the furrows of a ploughed field. We still remember how fresh he would arrive at the end of the march, although he must have travelled four times the distance, whilst our shoulders ached and our feet felt heavy. We didn't realise at that time, that his fondness for the sight of khaki clad figures would make him famous..." F.B.T. China Dragon Vol XV Xmas 1923 No 5 Page 163.
The story of Prince finding his master in the trenches seems to have first appeared under the headline, Dog Goes To Front To Seek His Master, on 27th November 1914 in the Evening Telegraph and Post only two months after Prince had disappeared from London:
"The story of a dramatic meeting at the front between a Hammersmith soldier and his dog is told in a letter received by Mrs Brown of 1 Airedale Cottages, Hammersmith from her husband, a private of the 1st Northamptonshire Regiment. Private Brown went with his regiment to the Continent in August, and on 27th of September Mrs Brown missed the dog, a shaggy haired Irish Terrier named Prince - from her home at Hammersmith, and on the following day reported her loss at Hammersmith Police Station. She heard nothing more of the animal until yesterday morning, when she received a letter from her husband, in which occurs the following passage:- I am sorry you have not found Prince, and you are never likely to while he is over here with me. It is a very strange thing I should have got him. A man brought him to me from the front trenches. I could not believe my eyes until I got off my horse, and he made a big fuss of me. I believe he came across with some other troops. Just fancy him coming here and finding me. He is quite settled down with me, and I have made him a coat out of some of our old great-coats, which will keep him warm. He is the pet of the regiment. The Evening Telegraph and Post, Friday, 27th of November 1914.
The Regiment in the report should have read 1st North Staffordshire Regiment; the paper seems to have misreported it, it was corrected in subsequent reports.
By Saturday 28th of November 1914, the story of Prince's miraculous journey appeared in local newspapers right across the country, from The Cornishman in the south, to The Newcastle Journal in the north, eventually even getting picked up by the Nationals. Several of the papers added extra information.
In the report, A Dogs Devotion, in the Newcastle Journal, a further extract from James's letter appeared which helps explain how the story made the papers so quickly.
"...I believe Colonel De Falbe is going to report the circumstances to the papers; in fact, they may already have it as the dog has been with me five days". [Extract from Pte Brown's letter, The Newcastle Journal, Saturday, November 28, 1914 p.6]
All of the media coverage brought the story to the attention of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who thoroughly investigated Prince's miraculous appearance in Flanders and were able to establish its authenticity beyond doubt. But how did Prince manage to travel almost 200 miles from Hammersmith to Armentieres in France on his own? No one really knows, but the men of the 1st North Staffordshire's had an answer.
At first we looked upon his arrival in the battalion in Flanders as something approaching impossible... ...The problem was eventually solved.
The Queen's Westminsters had marched through Hammersmith on the way to the station for entraining for a port of embarkation during the month of November, and all the old memories of the times in Ireland must have come flooding back to Prince, for it was then that he said to himself I will go on this march.- The march, however, was a short one, and the ride long, for he stuck to his newly-found khaki clad acquaintances until their arrival at Erquinghem not far from the scene of operations and well within the sound of the guns. Here the unexpected happened for on that day Prince's old master, also passing through and seeing a dog that looked very much like his own, called to him and was quickly assured that it was none other than the old friend of the Battalion.- F.B.T. The China Dragon Vol XV Xmas 1923 No 5 Page 163.
The Queen's Westminster Rifles landed in Le Havre on 3rd November 1914 and joined 18th Brigade, 6th Division at Armentieres.
News of Princes arrival at Armentieres spread through the regiment like wildfire, the next morning Private Brown had to parade with his pet before the Commanding Officer so that he could, in his words, "believe his own eyes". Prince became a universal favourite with the regiment and was adopted as the battalion's pet, where he soon settled down to life on the front line. James and Prince remained constant companions, serving alongside the men of the 1st North Staffordshire Regiment, who delighted in teaching him tricks and appreciated his natural skills.
"...perhaps his best trick was to balance a penny on his nose while the names of other regiments were called out. No matter how long the list or in what way it was presented, Prince always recognized the item "The 1st North Staffordshires" and tossed up the penny, caught it and barked for his reward."... ...but his real delight was ratting. He was known to kill 137 rats in one day." (Animal Heroes, p 3. Peter Shaw Baker 1933)
Peter Shaw Barker's mother, a famous animal artist of the period, had earlier painted Prince's Portrait for the RSPCA, although not all of the facts in his book appear to be correct, he may have received some anecdotes from the Brown family.
Prince and James both survived some of the most infamous battles of the war - Passchendaele, Vimy Ridge, Messines, Cambrai - as well as their frequent travels through the notorious and aptly named Hellfire Corner:
"Hellfire Corner and many other notable spots have been negotiated by him in company with his master, who is employed on transport and whose job it was to bring rations nightly. For Prince the sound of bursting shells meant little, and many of his comrades who had been badly mauled received a little of Prince's sympathy in the shape of a lick, whilst many a dead comrade was similarly treated." F.B.T. The China Dragon Vol XV Xmas 1923 No 5 Page 163.
James wrote, "Whenever a heavy shell came over, he never failed to take cover" (Evening Telegraph and Post, p.7 October 29th 1919).
At 11 o'clock, on 11th November 1918 the Armistice eventually came. After four years of hardship spent in the front line, thoughts now turned to how to get Prince back home, it wouldn't prove to be quite as simple as his journey out. The enforcement of quarantine laws meant that Prince would have to spend six months in kennels, at a cost of £14, (over six months' pay for a private in the infantry). However, Prince's faithfulness to his master and devotion to the men of the 1st North Staffordshire's hadn't gone unnoticed.
"Like one or two humans, Prince started and finished the campaign, and the question of getting him home after the Armistice troubled his master not a little. His devotion to his master and the battalion did not go unrewarded for the RSPCA having heard of Prince's faithfulness during the four years of war, brought him home and placed him in quarantine at their own expense, and afterwards returned him to his old master, Private Brown.
F.B.T. The China Dragon Vol XV Xmas 1923 No 5 Page 163.
At the cessation of the war the RSPCA had set up "The Soldier's Dog Fund" to help meet the cost of keeping animals in quarantine; and built over 500 kennels at Hackbridge, Surrey, to house the dogs. Prince, partly due to his celebrity, was one of the lucky ones to be brought home and returned to his master. News of Prince's remarkable journey and safe return, were once again headline news across the country.
"Irish Terrier's Extra-ordinary Sagacity -
Made Journey to France On His Own and discovered his Master.
An Irish Terrier with a 'sixth' sense has just returned to this country from France, and is now impatiently kicking his heels in quarantine cells at Hackbridge, of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The officials of the Society, who have thoroughly investigated the episode, have interviewed the owners of the dog, who are satisfied that the case is authentic. They say that in September, 1914, James Brown went to France with the North Stafford Regiment, leaving behind him in Buttervant, Ireland, his wife and his Irish Terrier, Prince." (Extract from The Evening Telegraph, Wednesday 22nd October 1919 p.7)
The four years at the front seemed to have taken their toll on him and on 21st July 1921, only nine years old, Prince sadly died. Once again, Prince's name appeared in the newspapers, but this time the news of his amazing adventure, went as far as the US, with reports in The Evening Herald, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Prince's final appearance in the news seems to be 30th September 1921 in The Mercury, which ran a story about the presentation of a portrait of Prince, painted by Georgina Shaw Baker, to the Browns. The pastel drawing was presented to the Browns, on behalf of the North Staffordshire branch of the RSPCA, by Lord Dartmouth.
"Stafford's Famous Dog Presentation Portrait of Prince
On behalf of the North Staffordshire Branch of the R.S.P.C.A., Lord Dartmouth, at the annual meeting of the branch, held in the County Council Buildings, Stafford, on Wednesday afternoon, presented Mr. and Mrs. Brown, S. Wolverhampton Road, Stafford, with a picture of their famous Irish Terrier dog, Prince.
It will be remembered that during the war Prince got lost in London, and traced and joined his soldier master, who was serving with the North Staffordshire Regiment in the trenches near Armentieres. He was brought safely home again, but died a few months ago, to the great sorrow of his master and mistress and many admirers. The picture is in his memory.
Lord Dartmouth said he undertook the duty of presenting it with very great pleasure. The incident in which Prince was so conspicuous a figure was one of the most marvellous things in dogs lives ever known, and worthy of the special recognition they were giving it. He thought the society had done well in taking particular interest in the occasion, because he could not conceive anything that would appeal more strongly to the public generally than the knowledge of what this dog had done.
It was a matter of regret that Prince was no longer alive, but he thought it was a satisfaction to all of them who loved animals, and especially to Mr. and Mrs. Brown, that he had found a comfortable home in the hereafter in what a little girl, in describing the Zodiac, had called a "kind of heavenly zoo to which animals go when they die". (The Mercury, Friday 30th September 1921)
The drawing "Prince, an Irish Terrier, Mascot of the Staffordshire Regiment in the Trenches in France" is now held by the Council of the National Army Museum, London.
It only seems right that his comrades who shared the hardships, during his life in the First World War, with him should have the last word in Prince's remarkable story.
"Had not his death taken him so soon, he might have ended his days with the battalion for we were in correspondence with Pte Brown after the war with the view to getting him back in the Battalion... ...It is still possible to look at the original picture published in this issue as a reminder of those times when Prince taught us the value of an animal's faithfulness." (F.B.T. The China Dragon Vol XV Xmas 1923 No 5 Page 163).
|