1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: back to the show Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always 3 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: so much for tuning in. That's our one and only 4 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:39,240 Speaker 1: super producer, Max Williams. They call me Ben. My voice 5 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: maybe a bit dark night today because Nolan I have 6 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: returned from an adventure. It's true. We talked a lot 7 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: to a lot of people for a lot of time. 8 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: I had a conference called Podcast Movement. It was a 9 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: lot of fun. Hear me, I sound like the kid 10 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: of the Taco Bell drive through. Um No, no shade 11 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: on that kid. Ums. He's going to grow into himself. 12 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: His voice will change eventually. But I'm not supposed to 13 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: tell it that I'm thirty eight years old. I also 14 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: had a birthday, so I'm officially an old old man. 15 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:12,960 Speaker 1: And if you're hearing this the day it comes out, 16 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: then my birthday is tomorrow, so I'm going to be 17 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: a little bit older if you're listening to this later. 18 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 1: But yes, happy New Year, Noel, Happy New Year to 19 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: all our fellow Leo's in the crowd. Uh. Today's episode 20 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,960 Speaker 1: is not about podcast Movement. It's not really about birthdays. 21 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: It's about one of humanities. Two of humanity's earliest inventions, 22 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: domestication and war. I thought you were gonna say cats 23 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: were one of humanity's earliest inventions, and that would have 24 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: been cool, because I was not aware that cats were automatons, 25 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: although it doesn't really surprise me. Well, you know, there's 26 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: an interesting thing about domestication. A very few animals have 27 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: actually been domesticated by humans, and there's this really great 28 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: argument that cats actually domesticated themselves. They just started hanging 29 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: out chasing vermin and they were Um, they're in a 30 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: little bit less of a symbiotic relationship, you might say, 31 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,920 Speaker 1: than one where it doesn't really hurt people to have 32 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: them around toxoplasmosis aside, but it really helps the cats. However, 33 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: as as you know, a long time ridiculous historians, Max 34 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: Noel and I are all ourselves friends of the feline. 35 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: We have cats that live with us. Nol. I believe 36 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: you just got a new cat. Is that correct? Well, 37 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: it's a kitten. Her name is Vanessa Williams Carlton Jr. 38 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 1: The Third, a k little skips and she's a bit 39 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 1: of a terror, but a lovely terror. You know how 40 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: kittens are They You can't really teach them anything. I 41 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: don't think I could domesticate this thing to save my life. 42 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: I pretty much feel like that's accurate what you said. 43 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: Better Day kind of domesticated themselves, and they're in a 44 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 1: little bit more of a parasitic relationship with us as 45 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: humans than a symbiotic. We basically provide them food and water, 46 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,639 Speaker 1: and they daigned to kind of hang around us when 47 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: they feel like it. Yeah, yeah, sometimes. So in a 48 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:14,800 Speaker 1: previous episode, we had talked about our cats as well, Uh, 49 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,400 Speaker 1: you know, shout out to uh my cats. One with 50 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: dozens of names. His original was, we are shadow people 51 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: that didn't fly with a lot of folks. And then 52 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,080 Speaker 1: the other cat, dr Bankman, uh and Max, what's your 53 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: cat's name? Let's go ahead and give him shout up. 54 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: Oh my cat's name. Her name is Sylvia. Sylvia. Yeah, 55 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: she's amazing, all right. So just that I shouted out 56 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: our cats, let's talk about some other cats. As we 57 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: were saying in a in a previous episode, we talked 58 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: about the bizarre and fascinating history of animals in the 59 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: world's militaries. And you think of when you think of this, 60 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: you probably think of like an old black and white 61 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:00,080 Speaker 1: picture of you know, something like Colonel's scooter boots and 62 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: it's like a you know, an otter or something with 63 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: a hat. Stuff like that does happen. And usually when 64 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: we think of animals in warfare, we're thinking of things 65 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: like horses. In the days before the internal combustion engine, 66 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: we're thinking about dogs who have always been hanging out 67 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: with humanity during uh some of the best things we've 68 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: ever done and some of the worst. But we might 69 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: not always think of cats. And as it turns out, 70 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:32,480 Speaker 1: cats have been involved in war since the days of 71 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: ancient Egypt all the way up to the days of Iraq, 72 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: and they will probably be somehow involved in war in 73 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: the future. Unbelievable. But when we say they're used in 74 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,480 Speaker 1: war or they hang with humans during times of war, 75 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: which might be more accurate, what does that really mean? Noal, 76 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: are they like radio operators? Are they you know, work 77 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: in the mess hole? Yeah, it's a good question. But 78 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: and I just want to have a quick nerd aside. 79 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:01,239 Speaker 1: I've been playing this the cool game on the Switch 80 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 1: called Monster Hunter Rise, and in it you have two 81 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 1: animal companions. They're called buddies, and one of them as 82 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 1: a cat um I think they call them palcos or 83 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: maybe that's the dog. But anyway, the cat actually like 84 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,680 Speaker 1: does stuff for you on the regular, like gathers supplies 85 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: for you, like you know, different elements that are out 86 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: in the battlefield while you're finding these monsters. And it 87 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:25,919 Speaker 1: also like grows these like trees that like bear this 88 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: fruit that gives you, uh, you know, energy back if 89 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: you're getting a beating. Um. So, you know, I wonder 90 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 1: if it's based on the history of cats in battle. 91 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: It has little kitty armor and everything that you can customize. 92 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: It is quite adorable. But cats, as we likely all know, 93 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: we're hugely revered in ancient Egypt. Uh. Scientists in fact 94 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: have uncovered more than three hundred thousand mummified cat remains, 95 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: and much like you know the sacred cows of India, 96 00:05:55,839 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: killing cats in ancient Egypt was a absolute high crime 97 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: that could get you executed. The Egyptians loved cats so much, 98 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 1: in fact, that the Persians turned against them because they 99 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: were somewhat distrustful of this relationship that the Egyptians had 100 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:21,720 Speaker 1: with cats. Um. So one of the earliest examples of 101 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: cats being used in war came from the Persians. UH. 102 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: The king of Persia at the time, King Canvassess. The 103 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: second Um used the Egyptian god of cats, bass Set 104 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: as almost like a psy ops technique against the Egyptians 105 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:43,799 Speaker 1: who feared and revered this god or this goddess. Yeah, yeah, 106 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: that's right. The what they did is they took a 107 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:51,520 Speaker 1: symbol representing Bastet and painted it on their shields, and 108 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: they also let cats run amuck and loose in the battlefield. 109 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 1: There was a law in Egypt during this time that 110 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:04,720 Speaker 1: said Egyptians could not hurt nor kill cats, so left 111 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: at a loss, they just surrendered. According to the story 112 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:12,239 Speaker 1: and this um, going back to the original question, I posed, 113 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: what we're cats doing? Uh, this is a great example 114 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: of weaponizing feelnes. But for a long time, across the 115 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: span of human civilizations, cats also worked unofficially as pest control. 116 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 1: Think about it. You know, food is one of the 117 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: big determining constraints of armies in ancient days and in 118 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: modern days, and so if you have a cat that 119 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: can keep the population of rats and vermin down, then 120 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 1: you will be able to have a more effective army. 121 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 1: They'll also help prevent the spread of disease. So that's 122 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: that's one of the things cats could do. They were 123 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: often you know, adopted as like mascots. Uh. And then 124 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: you know what's interesting about the Egyptian example is that 125 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:03,360 Speaker 1: this really is, as he's said, psychological warfare. This leads 126 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: us to some other examples. What what we'd like to 127 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: do in part one of this two part episode is 128 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: to explore other instances of heroic cats who really made 129 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: the difference for human militaries. Uh. And we'll we'll list 130 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: off several different little buddies throughout throughout this episode. Yeah, 131 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: let's let's start with Unfortunately we don't know the names 132 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 1: of all the cats and that ancient war between the 133 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: Persians and the Egyptians at the Battle of Pellusium, but 134 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: we do know some of these cats that came along 135 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: later by name. One that I particularly love just as 136 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: a name. We love nicknames on this show Crime and 137 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 1: Tom Crime and Tom was as you might imagine a 138 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: Tom cat. And he really comes onto the scene in 139 00:08:56,120 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: the eighteen hundreds when he helped the French and British 140 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:05,200 Speaker 1: who were almost starving actually find some food during the 141 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:08,080 Speaker 1: Crimean War. That's right, And if you go to this 142 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 1: amazing list on mental flaw six heroic military cats by 143 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 1: Jackie mean you can actually see an image of Crime 144 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:21,199 Speaker 1: and Tom's very surprised looking taxidermied remains. Uh So that's 145 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 1: how much love there was for Crime and Tom come 146 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:27,280 Speaker 1: a long way. It really has. It's it's a very 147 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: unsettling uh post. Let's just say our expression. So there 148 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: was this year long siege of Sevastopol by British and 149 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 1: French troops and when the city finally fell to those forces, Uh, 150 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:45,440 Speaker 1: there was mass starvation. It was a really bad scene. Um. 151 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 1: And Lieutenant William Gare of the British side was looking 152 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: for food in a Russian cellar when he saw this 153 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 1: cat Tom sitting on a pile of debris and absolutely 154 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:02,560 Speaker 1: just everard and grime and dust and you know, all 155 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: of the nasty stuff that goes along with sacking a city. 156 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: And this military man named him Tom, and he brought 157 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 1: him to his camp and he was you know, taken 158 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: care of and fed and all of that good stuff. 159 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: And then the British followed Tom into the city to 160 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:26,120 Speaker 1: see where he might be getting all of these mice 161 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: that he seemed so well fed on, and he actually 162 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: led them to a storehouse where they found a lot 163 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: of food where they found, you know, like these kind 164 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:42,200 Speaker 1: of surplus supplies of rations and that's when Tom kind 165 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: of became the symbol in this hero and Lieutenant Gare 166 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:48,839 Speaker 1: brought Tom back to England with him after the war. 167 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: And as I said before, when Tom passed away in 168 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty six, he had the cat's remains Taxi German 169 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 1: and donated to the Royal United Services Instant Tuition, where 170 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 1: the cat was then dubbed crimean Tom. Yeah, this is 171 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: where we may have an explanation for the surprise on 172 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:12,720 Speaker 1: this cat's face, because you see, if you look at 173 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: the picture of Crime and Tom, as Noel mentioned there 174 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,320 Speaker 1: on cat war heroes over mental flaws, you will see 175 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:24,440 Speaker 1: the cat looks surprised. And that's because this tax German cat, 176 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: the one that's in the National Army Museum's collection, was 177 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: purchased at a flea market almost a hundred years later 178 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 1: in the nineteen fifties. So we don't know whether or 179 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:38,920 Speaker 1: not it's the actual facts Crime and Tom, So it 180 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,960 Speaker 1: might have just been a very surprised cat who just 181 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:53,440 Speaker 1: posthumously became a war hero. But Crime and Tom, as 182 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:57,200 Speaker 1: we said, is exceptional in that he has a name 183 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:01,120 Speaker 1: and has been specifically identified, whether or not that's his 184 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:04,680 Speaker 1: actual body. When we go forward just a little bit 185 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: further in World War One, we see that cats are 186 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: everywhere in a time of war. Cats are used often 187 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: just like a way to decompress, a way to combat 188 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: the PTSD of surviving trench warfare. Uh. And of course 189 00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:24,440 Speaker 1: they're catching mice and rats, and then they're kind of 190 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:29,560 Speaker 1: morale boosters, you know, like in the US we have this, uh, 191 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:31,319 Speaker 1: this thing called the U s O or we have 192 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:32,959 Speaker 1: this thing called the U s O. And that's where 193 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: they would fly out entertainers and dancers to try to 194 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:40,200 Speaker 1: raise people's morale during conflicts, and cats are like a 195 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:44,760 Speaker 1: smaller version of that. There's uh, there's some great articles 196 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 1: on r d dot com which lists out military cats. 197 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:52,280 Speaker 1: And they talked to a guy named Dorin Cart who 198 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:56,280 Speaker 1: is the senior curator the National World War One Museum 199 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: and Memorial over in Missouri in Kansas City, and Court 200 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,920 Speaker 1: says that there was one medical officer in the British Forces, 201 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:08,280 Speaker 1: a guy named Lieutenant Philip Gross, who wrote about his 202 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 1: pet cat in nineteen fifteen and said she was quote 203 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:17,120 Speaker 1: very intelligent and affectionate the most confidential cat I ever knew, 204 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:19,959 Speaker 1: and was forever whispering something in my ear which I 205 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:22,760 Speaker 1: could never quite catch. While I was writing. She would 206 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 1: come and sit very close beside me and read what 207 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:29,719 Speaker 1: I wrote and per loudly. You can, Yeah, you can 208 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:33,600 Speaker 1: also see like a multiple pictures of people from World 209 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:38,320 Speaker 1: War One, like whole groups of soldiers proudly posing with 210 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: their cat, which is like, you know, that's a nice 211 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:45,120 Speaker 1: break from the horrors of conflict. I would say, no question. 212 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:47,600 Speaker 1: It reminds me of not to get back to podcast movement. 213 00:13:47,679 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: Every year I've been I don't know who does this, 214 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 1: some podcast adjacent company, but there's like a puppy snuggling station, 215 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: very popular attraction. But again, it's weird that all I 216 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:03,000 Speaker 1: remember is that it's a puppy snuggling station and nothing 217 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 1: about what it's advertising. So maybe not as effective in 218 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: that department, but it kind of reminds me of that 219 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:13,320 Speaker 1: type of deal. Yeah, same dude, same We know that. 220 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:16,120 Speaker 1: I think we mentioned little earlier. Cats can be kind 221 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: of like mascots. A lot of animals can, and according 222 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:24,360 Speaker 1: to cart the most famous mascots during World War One 223 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:28,760 Speaker 1: were a pair of not house cats, but lion cubs 224 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: for the Lafayette Eska Drill, which is a French flying 225 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 1: unit that was oddly enough made up of American volunteers. 226 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: They were named I love this whiskey and soda. That's adorable. Man. 227 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:44,120 Speaker 1: People drank a lot back then. Um. Do you think 228 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 1: if you got if you became friends with lions when 229 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 1: their cubs and just kind of hung out with them 230 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:49,920 Speaker 1: throughout their life, they'd be cool to you when they 231 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:52,320 Speaker 1: were adults, or they still want to eat you alive. 232 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 1: It's a hundred percent, but usually um, depending on how 233 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:00,280 Speaker 1: they are reared. It is such a bummer. But I 234 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,680 Speaker 1: have to say this, Uh, I expect my fun police 235 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:09,800 Speaker 1: badge in the mail. Responsible zoologists. Lions are wild animals. 236 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: They are not domesticated. Wild animals can be tamed in 237 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: specific instances, but it is important to note that on 238 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:22,480 Speaker 1: a one on one unarmed p VP situation, a lion 239 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 1: will absolutely mop the floor with you. It will not 240 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: take long. You can be on good terms with them, 241 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 1: but always be aware. You know what I mean, don't 242 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 1: turn your back what I'm saying. Let's not forget too 243 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 1: that you know cats. Given Let's say you live alone 244 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: and you you know sadly pass and no one finds 245 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 1: you for a while. The cats will eat you when 246 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:49,120 Speaker 1: your smell changes, because cats, like dogs, are very smell oriented. 247 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:51,560 Speaker 1: So we we said, there are a lot of pictures. 248 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 1: We we can also see photos of German soldiers, you know, 249 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:58,920 Speaker 1: on the other side of the war, they're in the trenches. 250 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: You can see pictures of them with their kitty mascots. 251 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: And then we also know that cats were so common 252 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:08,760 Speaker 1: animals in general were so common during World War One. 253 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: Let's remember that some intelligence agencies decided to use them 254 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 1: as spies. So on the British side, at least twice 255 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:23,960 Speaker 1: officers accused cats of being German spies. But as as 256 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:29,040 Speaker 1: r d dot com points out, historians nowadays largely believed 257 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: the cats were not spies. They were just probably trying 258 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: to get some scritches, trying to get some mice. But 259 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 1: this continues right Noll into World War Two, where we 260 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: have a few incredibly heroic cats in the historical record. 261 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 1: That you have a hero cat, it makes me think 262 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: of that episode of Nathan for You where he uh 263 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,120 Speaker 1: does the whole viral YouTube stunt with the hero pig 264 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 1: who rescues the drowning baby goat maybe I think anyway, 265 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: check that up said if you haven't seen it, but 266 00:16:58,120 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 1: it's true, and a lot of this that where we've 267 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 1: got a couple of we've already sided with mental flaws. 268 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,160 Speaker 1: There's a really cool list of heroic cats who served 269 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:08,240 Speaker 1: in the military by Melissa Mills on Reader's Digest. But 270 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:11,760 Speaker 1: it wasn't just cats that the military was fond of 271 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:17,320 Speaker 1: using in warfare. It actually used dogs as well as pigeons, 272 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 1: horses a little more obvious, and mules. And this comes 273 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:24,960 Speaker 1: from Tony M. Kaiser, who's the assistant director for Collections 274 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:28,399 Speaker 1: and Management at the National World War Two Museum in 275 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:32,040 Speaker 1: New Orleans, and he says the following. He says, cats 276 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:35,440 Speaker 1: were definitely one of the more common animals, along with dogs, 277 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:38,600 Speaker 1: used as mascots and adopted as pets, but they often 278 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:41,880 Speaker 1: played a useful role as well. Cats were often kept 279 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:46,280 Speaker 1: to keep down rodent populations and even some insects populations 280 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: on posts around mess or dining halls, and often aboard ships. Um. 281 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:56,240 Speaker 1: So yeah, not only that they could be trained to 282 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 1: help warn of bombs that were on the way. Uh. 283 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:04,720 Speaker 1: If we go to that Reader's Digest article, we see 284 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:08,480 Speaker 1: a cat by the name of CoDIAK Cat who was 285 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: the mascot for the seventy three bomb wing. And then 286 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,399 Speaker 1: our historian Mr. Kaiser goes on to say that, you know, 287 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:20,480 Speaker 1: while cats were used to warn of impending bombing attacks, 288 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:23,800 Speaker 1: which apparently had to do with their ability to detect 289 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:27,920 Speaker 1: changes in atmospheric pressure, Is that right then? Yeah, that's correct. 290 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:33,040 Speaker 1: Without knowing the specifics of how the situations go down, 291 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:36,440 Speaker 1: we know that, for instance, uh, the same way dogs 292 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:40,960 Speaker 1: are able to sniff out bombs, cats are very sensitive 293 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: to changes in atmospheric pressure, so that is probably how 294 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 1: they were able to uh notice something obviously. Also, cats 295 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:54,920 Speaker 1: have better hearing than humans, right, Also, um, this sounds 296 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 1: sort of weird, but cats do have a better sense 297 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,520 Speaker 1: of smells, so they could probably I would I would 298 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:05,160 Speaker 1: say they could probably not poisonous gas encroaching. But they 299 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,600 Speaker 1: were also used, this kind of sad uh to spread 300 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: poisonous gas or there was a plan to turn them 301 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:15,119 Speaker 1: into gas bombs, which we may have talked about in 302 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: a previous episode of our our pure podcast stuff they 303 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:21,960 Speaker 1: don't want you to know. But yeah, I got ugly. 304 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:24,480 Speaker 1: It digged ugly, and as I was beating around the 305 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: bush at uh. In addition to being used to the 306 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 1: tech bombs, cats were actually used to test bombs uh. 307 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:33,040 Speaker 1: Much like you know, shooting a monkey into space, only 308 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:38,960 Speaker 1: with much more predictable and devastating results. Yeah. Yeah, it 309 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:43,040 Speaker 1: seemed that in those tests, from what I recall, the 310 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:46,359 Speaker 1: original cats who got the who drew the unfortunate short 311 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 1: straw passed out too quickly for their bombs to be successful. 312 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:55,239 Speaker 1: So there were there were negative sides to this. There 313 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,639 Speaker 1: were there was a dark side to animals in the military, 314 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:01,919 Speaker 1: cats in the military. If we want to talk about 315 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:05,199 Speaker 1: I want to talk about the human interest stories, some 316 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:08,439 Speaker 1: of the real morale boosters. We got to talk about 317 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:13,280 Speaker 1: cats like Faith. This is from another Mental Fluss article 318 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:19,320 Speaker 1: five Fantastic Feelines by ms Celania Uh. And this this story, 319 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,520 Speaker 1: the story of Faith is interesting. Faith was a stray 320 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:28,480 Speaker 1: cat who wandered into a church in London in ninety 321 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:31,440 Speaker 1: six St. Augustine's and St. Faith's, so you can see 322 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,159 Speaker 1: where the name comes from. She got adopted by the 323 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:37,560 Speaker 1: rector and the parishioners and she would like literally hang 324 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,359 Speaker 1: out at the pulpit while uh the guy preached. Father 325 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 1: Henry Ross in nineteen forty, she gave birth. She had 326 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,640 Speaker 1: one kitten. The kitten was named Panda by the parishioners. 327 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,920 Speaker 1: And on September six, she got into the church basement 328 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: and she carried her cat down into the cellar. Father 329 00:20:57,119 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: Ross tries to get the kitten out of the seller twice. 330 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:04,080 Speaker 1: Each time Faith carries him back downstairs. And then the 331 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,720 Speaker 1: very next day nol air raids begin in the Battle 332 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:12,920 Speaker 1: of London, and somehow, uh, at least you know, to 333 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:16,399 Speaker 1: the true believers, somehow Father Ross seemed to know what 334 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:22,119 Speaker 1: was happening there, and we're we're talking like massive destruction 335 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:25,440 Speaker 1: the Battle of London. By September nine, hundreds of people 336 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: have been killed. Eight churches have been just ruined by bombs. 337 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:34,919 Speaker 1: His church. Father Ross's church was no exception. But he 338 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: found that Faith in Panda had survived. And just for this, 339 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 1: this is not really a military story, right, but just 340 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:45,800 Speaker 1: for this, Faith is nominated for something called a dick 341 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:48,160 Speaker 1: In Medal. What's the dick In Medal? No, a dick 342 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:53,159 Speaker 1: In Medal uh is an award The p D s 343 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:56,480 Speaker 1: a dick In Medal that was created in nineteen forty 344 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,879 Speaker 1: three in the U K by Maria Dicken who was 345 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:03,960 Speaker 1: a push for social change, was also a huge proponent 346 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:07,879 Speaker 1: of animal welfare and founded the People's Dispensary for Sick 347 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:12,120 Speaker 1: Animals or p ds A and nineteen seventeen UM. But 348 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 1: she pushed for the creation of a metal specifically for 349 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 1: animals that presented heroic behavior in the line of duty. 350 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: I guess right, yeah, exactly. And this is a morale function, 351 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:30,399 Speaker 1: right people, the people of England and London reading about 352 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:33,720 Speaker 1: this during this terrible time, and it's just the kind 353 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: of human interest story you need to feel a little 354 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,359 Speaker 1: bit less terrible. Uh. Specifically, by the way, the words 355 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: that she used are the words and establishing this metal 356 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,879 Speaker 1: where that this this was for animals who quote displayed 357 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:52,720 Speaker 1: conspicuous gallantry or devotion to duty while serving or associated 358 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:57,160 Speaker 1: with any branch of the armed forces or civil defense units. 359 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,200 Speaker 1: So that's you know, I really like that for as. 360 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: I think I'm gonna bring that back, conspicuous gallantry. I 361 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:08,760 Speaker 1: love specific compliments, So unspicuous gallantry. Uh, that's that's gonna 362 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 1: be one of the one of the highest compliments I 363 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: given comments. That's when you really flaunt your gallantry. It's 364 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:19,480 Speaker 1: not you know, low key gallantry. That modest gallantry. This 365 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:23,399 Speaker 1: is gallantry out there for all to see. Yeah, yeah, 366 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,479 Speaker 1: maybe it's a little problematic. This true gallantry doesn't need 367 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:37,240 Speaker 1: to be conspicuous. Get what she's saying. But let's let's 368 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:41,240 Speaker 1: let's talk about just a few more cats. So here's 369 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:45,879 Speaker 1: one guy that should be a Pixar movie. Unsinkable Sam. 370 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:49,119 Speaker 1: Is it the name of an old sea salt or 371 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:54,359 Speaker 1: is it the name of like a wildly rambunctious bar fly. Well, 372 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 1: kind of the former. Unsinkable Sam is awesome guy. We 373 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 1: learned about, think to Ruslan book Nick, who was writing 374 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:07,640 Speaker 1: for war History Online. So Second World War we've got 375 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:13,520 Speaker 1: a lot of maritime conflict and many cats. As a result, became, 376 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:18,480 Speaker 1: you know, famous for living on some of these warships. 377 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:23,480 Speaker 1: Unsinkable Sam, whose street name with his friends, his oscar, 378 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,639 Speaker 1: This little guy, this black and white cat, is famous 379 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:32,639 Speaker 1: for surviving the sinking of not one, not two, but 380 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 1: three different warships. And he was also uh he kind 381 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:38,560 Speaker 1: of played both sides. Did you say that part? He 382 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 1: sure did. Uh. He ended up being a member of 383 00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: both German and British fleets during the war where he 384 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:50,680 Speaker 1: survived these three different sinkings. Who's This reminds me, who's 385 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,240 Speaker 1: that woman that survived the sinking of the Titanic who 386 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:56,640 Speaker 1: also was in like another very high profile ship wreck, 387 00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:59,840 Speaker 1: And I think she was called Unsinkable something I believe 388 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,800 Speaker 1: in movie she was played by Kathy Bates. Well, there's 389 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:08,560 Speaker 1: Violet Jessup, also known as Miss Unsinkable. She survived three shipwrecks, 390 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,439 Speaker 1: including the Titanic. That's the one I was thinking of. 391 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:14,119 Speaker 1: But also this funny that the Kathy Bates character in 392 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:18,000 Speaker 1: the Titanic was known as the Unsinkable Molly Brown. She 393 00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:20,760 Speaker 1: was a socialite who only survived the Titanic, and that's 394 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:23,120 Speaker 1: actually got that nickname. So I think Jessup's got her beat, 395 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:27,879 Speaker 1: as does our hero cat Here. Yeah, Unsinkable Sam. He 396 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 1: wasn't named Unsinkable Sam at first, it was just called Oscar. 397 00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:36,119 Speaker 1: A sailor on a German battleship called the Bismarck brought 398 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:42,480 Speaker 1: him aboard, and on eight the Bismarck sailed from an 399 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:46,920 Speaker 1: occupied Polish city during something that translates to the exercise Ryan. 400 00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:51,199 Speaker 1: They were tasked with tying down British escort ships and 401 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: then there was another heavy cruiser on the German side, 402 00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:58,360 Speaker 1: the Prince Eugene that was supposed to attack merchant ships 403 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:03,760 Speaker 1: and sink able Sam was along for the ride. Spoiler 404 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 1: alert on mats when he's seven. The third day of fighting, 405 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 1: British forces sink the Bismarck and it's brutal. Only a 406 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:17,200 Speaker 1: hundred and fifteen sailors out of the two thousand, two 407 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:22,280 Speaker 1: hundred aboard actually survive, as does Sam. So that's his 408 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:24,520 Speaker 1: first crash and he doesn't sink. Well, you know, all 409 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:26,600 Speaker 1: of this stuff really does track with I think what 410 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:28,680 Speaker 1: both you and I and any cat people out there 411 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,399 Speaker 1: or even just casual you know, cat fanciers know about 412 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: our feline friends is that they they're pretty resilient. They 413 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:40,119 Speaker 1: are survivors. I mean, there are so many neighborhood cats 414 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:43,480 Speaker 1: uh where I live that just kind of like hang 415 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,240 Speaker 1: around and they somehow managed to take care of themselves 416 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:49,159 Speaker 1: that they're finding and killing little rodents or just you know, 417 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:51,959 Speaker 1: depending on the kindness of strangers or neighbors giving them 418 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,840 Speaker 1: food outside. But I definitely have always been impressed with 419 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 1: how cats always kind of managed to come out ahead. 420 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,400 Speaker 1: The idea they always land on all four of their 421 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:03,760 Speaker 1: feet when they fall, and the fact that you can 422 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,360 Speaker 1: basically like chuck a cat, you know, with all your might, 423 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:08,359 Speaker 1: and it's just gonna like land on his feet and 424 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:12,879 Speaker 1: just trot away. The very impressive creatures. I've never tried 425 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:17,240 Speaker 1: that person. It's just a thing, you see. So they 426 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:20,560 Speaker 1: do have an excellent sense of balance. I agree. This 427 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:24,520 Speaker 1: is such a movie moment. So hours later after the 428 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:30,200 Speaker 1: Bismarck sinks, sailors on a British destroyer find Sam literally 429 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:33,920 Speaker 1: just chilling floating on some wreckage. They take him aboard 430 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,560 Speaker 1: and uh, let me step back and correct myself. This 431 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,560 Speaker 1: is where he gets the name Oscar. The British sailors 432 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:44,080 Speaker 1: don't know what to call him, so they go with 433 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 1: the name Oscar, and it's somewhat inspired. This is interesting. 434 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: If you look at a book called the International Code 435 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:56,200 Speaker 1: of Signals, there is a signal known as Oscar. It's 436 00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 1: a square, it's diagonally red and yellow, and this flag, 437 00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:05,400 Speaker 1: this signal means there is a man overboard. So that's 438 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:08,520 Speaker 1: why they called him Oscar. Interesting. You know, it's also like, uh, 439 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,159 Speaker 1: I feel like I've heard it used where, you know, 440 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:15,119 Speaker 1: when we say things like A as an alpha, B 441 00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:18,200 Speaker 1: as in beda or whatever. I sometimes feel like I've 442 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:22,200 Speaker 1: heard oh as an oscar in terms of a military, 443 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,399 Speaker 1: you know, way of making sure people know what letters 444 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:30,440 Speaker 1: you're you're spelling. You're correct, that's the NATO alphabet Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etcetera. 445 00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:33,879 Speaker 1: And Oscar is the accepted one. Got it? Hey cool? 446 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:37,399 Speaker 1: The old brain's UH firing on mainly all cylinders this 447 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:41,440 Speaker 1: morning and then UH. In October of ninety one October, 448 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 1: to be precise, the h MS Cossack took off from 449 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: Gibraltar from the Port and Gibraltar on the way to 450 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 1: Liverpool as part of a convoy that was escorting the 451 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:56,040 Speaker 1: h G seventy five, and then out of the clear 452 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: blue sea UH, the German U boat the U five 453 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:04,800 Speaker 1: six three, shot a torpedo UM at the flagship there 454 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 1: and seriously damaged the ship. UM. A hundred and fifty 455 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:12,360 Speaker 1: nine sailors lost their lives and the rest of the 456 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:16,400 Speaker 1: crew had to abandon ship and board the h M 457 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:20,520 Speaker 1: s Legion and they then tried to tow UH the 458 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:24,320 Speaker 1: crippled HMS Cossack back to Gibraltar, but they had a 459 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,280 Speaker 1: really hard time because the weather was getting rough and 460 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:30,760 Speaker 1: the tiny ship was definitely tossed. It wasn't a tiny one, 461 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:32,840 Speaker 1: that was a big one. But Gilligan's Island was a 462 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:36,800 Speaker 1: great show. And then on October, a couple of days later, 463 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:41,200 Speaker 1: the Cossack sank completely just west of Gibraltar. They hadn't 464 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:44,200 Speaker 1: quite made it. They were close, but no cigar. And 465 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 1: that's when that cat survived once again. Um and it 466 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:56,160 Speaker 1: was taken by the officers to Gibraltar, and they then 467 00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:59,640 Speaker 1: gifted it with the nickname Unsinkable Sam because at this 468 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:02,880 Speaker 1: point this cat is a legend and it represents kind 469 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:06,120 Speaker 1: of the you know, resilience in the face of adversity 470 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:09,800 Speaker 1: and all of that. Right, it's a symbol, yeah, exactly. 471 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 1: And they had no idea that Sam was going to 472 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:18,720 Speaker 1: go for a three time streak. In November one, he's 473 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:23,520 Speaker 1: transferred to an aircraft carrier, the HMS arc Royal. At 474 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:27,920 Speaker 1: this this ship had also assisted in sinking the Bismarck 475 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:33,160 Speaker 1: way back when the carrier was torpedoed riddled with torpedoes. 476 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:36,640 Speaker 1: Just three weeks later, another ship called the HMS Lightning 477 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:41,440 Speaker 1: comes to search for survivors and then they find Sam, who, 478 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:47,920 Speaker 1: after surviving his third shipwrecked, was according to contemporaneous descriptions, angry, 479 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: but quite unharmed. Because you know, cat or person, you 480 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:54,880 Speaker 1: can imagine by the time it's your third shipwreck, you're 481 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: you're getting to a Larry David moment. Right, how much 482 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:00,000 Speaker 1: more this can we take? And I love to picture 483 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:03,320 Speaker 1: the curb your enthusiasm music picking up right as they 484 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:07,280 Speaker 1: find Sam. Cut to commercial Uh. This this is the 485 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:11,160 Speaker 1: end of Sam's naval career, and so he stays on 486 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:14,560 Speaker 1: shore uh, and he's cared for by the Governor General 487 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 1: of Gibraltar. He lives there for a while. Later he's 488 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:22,000 Speaker 1: taken to the United Kingdom and he lives in a 489 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:26,720 Speaker 1: home for sailors in Belfast. And then later in nineteen 490 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:32,160 Speaker 1: he passes away on the beach. People are aware of him, 491 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 1: they love him. Uh. An artist Georgina shaw Baker even 492 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:39,800 Speaker 1: makes a pastel drawing of him, which you can see today. 493 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:44,320 Speaker 1: Should you visit the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, And 494 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:47,560 Speaker 1: you should because it seems great and you should. Yeah, 495 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 1: I love I love naval museums. But there's another cat 496 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:55,160 Speaker 1: that we want to mention who was also at sea. 497 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:58,720 Speaker 1: This cat had uh in a way well, I don't 498 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 1: know if you say much better luck, but a different 499 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 1: kind of good luck in comparison to Sam Tittles. Tittles 500 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:07,520 Speaker 1: My think that's my favorite name of all of these 501 00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:11,080 Speaker 1: cat names. Yeah, Tittles was a cat. Was a ship cat. 502 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:13,760 Speaker 1: That that was its life. That was the life that 503 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:17,800 Speaker 1: it knew. It hung around on a few Royal Navy 504 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:21,760 Speaker 1: aircraft carriers, but it was its career. If you can 505 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:24,160 Speaker 1: call it that. On the you can, I guess it's 506 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:25,600 Speaker 1: a career if you if you get a medal for it, 507 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:27,920 Speaker 1: you gotta call it a career on the h M 508 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:32,240 Speaker 1: S Victorious, And that was in the early ninties, and 509 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:36,360 Speaker 1: it was the captain's cat, So I mean it's likely 510 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:38,440 Speaker 1: you know, the all the ratting and all that stuff 511 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:41,760 Speaker 1: that we discussed earlier, but a companion to the ship's captain. 512 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:46,440 Speaker 1: He logged more than thirty thousand miles during his time 513 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:51,120 Speaker 1: in the in the Navy um and also potentially is 514 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:54,080 Speaker 1: one of the reasons, at least in Great Britain or 515 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:56,800 Speaker 1: some parts of Great Britain, completely opposite of how it 516 00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:59,440 Speaker 1: is here in the States, a black cat is actually 517 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 1: considered lucky. I am quite fond of black cats. The kitten, 518 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:06,800 Speaker 1: the aforementioned kitten that I recently adopted is pure black. 519 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:08,680 Speaker 1: And I've had black cats in the past, and that's 520 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:11,440 Speaker 1: because a lot of times here in the States, black 521 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:16,120 Speaker 1: cats get mistreated and are harder to adopt because people 522 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:18,760 Speaker 1: think they're you know, witchy or like they represent bad 523 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 1: luck in some way. So it's good to hear that 524 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 1: they've got a little bit of a better life in 525 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:27,880 Speaker 1: Great Britain because of tittles. Yeah yeah, white, possibly because 526 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:31,920 Speaker 1: the tittles. Uh No, we did mention earlier that British 527 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:36,160 Speaker 1: intelligence accused some cats, at least two, of being spies. 528 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:40,160 Speaker 1: We can't walk away from part one of our War 529 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:45,280 Speaker 1: Cats episode without mentioning a genuine cat spy. I don't know. 530 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:47,240 Speaker 1: I don't know what the sound cue is for that, Max, 531 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:52,479 Speaker 1: but can we try one cats by? Here we go, 532 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:56,160 Speaker 1: There we go. Excellent work is always Mr Williams. Uh 533 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:59,880 Speaker 1: there is. Here's one example of a genuine cats by 534 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:05,360 Speaker 1: Marca of Stalingrad. Now you may remember the Battle of Stalingrad, 535 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:09,360 Speaker 1: fellow ridiculous historians. It is one of the most brutal, 536 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:15,480 Speaker 1: bloodiest battles in modern history, and during this battle in 537 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:19,600 Speaker 1: World War Two, it was often way way too dangerous 538 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:23,400 Speaker 1: for human soldiers to get across the city of stalin 539 00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:26,480 Speaker 1: Grod even when they needed to with vital wartime messages. 540 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:29,840 Speaker 1: So there's this commander on the Russian side and he 541 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:32,640 Speaker 1: notices that there's a cat who lives at the army 542 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:36,600 Speaker 1: h Q that always seems to find a way back 543 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 1: to his food, no matter what evil stuff the humans 544 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:43,959 Speaker 1: are doing to each other at this time. And this cat, Morka, 545 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:48,080 Speaker 1: looks like an opportunity to this Russian commander. So he 546 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:52,160 Speaker 1: has Marka a company scouts on missions in the city, 547 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:57,080 Speaker 1: and wild Mark is walking around with these humans. He's 548 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:01,439 Speaker 1: got messages hidden in his collar, and their messages that 549 00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:06,360 Speaker 1: contain information about the locations of German troops. And so 550 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:10,319 Speaker 1: they would send him out on the scouting missions and 551 00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:13,719 Speaker 1: then he would cross the city looking for the headquarters. 552 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,960 Speaker 1: And every time you found when he got food, treats, attention, 553 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:22,200 Speaker 1: and he also conveyed these crucial messages. He made a 554 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:26,880 Speaker 1: real difference in the outcome of the conflict. Unfortunately, after 555 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:32,719 Speaker 1: several successful missions, Marca went missing in action, which you know, 556 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:36,320 Speaker 1: if you want to be more optimistic, uh, then please 557 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:38,920 Speaker 1: feel free to do what I did and assume that 558 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:42,839 Speaker 1: Marca just found a cool place and decided to live 559 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:45,920 Speaker 1: at that house. I am with you with that silver 560 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:47,959 Speaker 1: lining version of the story. I hope that's the case. 561 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:53,279 Speaker 1: Our final war cat for today's episode is Pouli the Cat. 562 00:35:53,719 --> 00:35:56,040 Speaker 1: And this is the one and only cat that was 563 00:35:56,080 --> 00:35:59,719 Speaker 1: inducted into something that we definitely need to discuss a 564 00:35:59,719 --> 00:36:02,960 Speaker 1: little further at some point, but an organization called the 565 00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:10,480 Speaker 1: Solemn Mysteries of the Ancient Order of the Deep. Yeah, yeah, this, 566 00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:13,480 Speaker 1: this is This is a fascinating thing and a really 567 00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:17,960 Speaker 1: cool name. So Princess Papul was her full name. She's 568 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:22,719 Speaker 1: striped tabby. She's born on July four, Independence Day at 569 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:26,960 Speaker 1: Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and all the sailors just called 570 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:30,680 Speaker 1: her Pooley. She was brought aboard the U s. S. Fremont, 571 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:34,320 Speaker 1: which is an attack transport by a crewman named James Lynch. 572 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:37,359 Speaker 1: This ship fought in the Pacific theater of World War 573 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:41,560 Speaker 1: two and it was evolved in numerous invasions and during 574 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:45,000 Speaker 1: these evasions places like Saipan, Iwa Jima, you name it, 575 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:50,239 Speaker 1: poolly Uh slept in the mail room like specifically during battles. 576 00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:52,719 Speaker 1: This strikes me his very cat like. She went and 577 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:55,400 Speaker 1: found a quieter place the mail room and then she 578 00:36:55,560 --> 00:37:01,279 Speaker 1: just kicked it there. She also participated in a ceremony 579 00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:08,360 Speaker 1: to promote inexperienced sailors and acknowledge that they have become veterans, 580 00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:13,239 Speaker 1: which they called shellbacks. She got her own uniform, she 581 00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:17,440 Speaker 1: got three service ribbons, she got four battle stars, again 582 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:20,920 Speaker 1: for mainly sleeping in the mail room. And there was 583 00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:24,560 Speaker 1: even a story about her in the l A Times 584 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:29,200 Speaker 1: because she survived the war celebrating her fifteen birthday. So 585 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:33,600 Speaker 1: things worked out for Princess POOLI with her mail room strategy, 586 00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:36,359 Speaker 1: which is what I think naval historians call that. Now, 587 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:39,879 Speaker 1: uh and this no, this is this is a this 588 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:42,600 Speaker 1: is a cool ride. We've looked at a lot of 589 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:47,759 Speaker 1: amazing wartime cats, but as we said, this is the 590 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:51,319 Speaker 1: first part of a two part episode because there is 591 00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:56,160 Speaker 1: one cat also naval, one cat we found that deserves 592 00:37:56,200 --> 00:38:00,239 Speaker 1: an episode all his own. That's right, Simon the Cat, 593 00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:04,440 Speaker 1: the most heroic of all the war cats again, because 594 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:06,960 Speaker 1: he really does get his own episode, which you will 595 00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:11,040 Speaker 1: hear later this week. In the meantime, thank you all 596 00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:14,520 Speaker 1: for tuning into this episode. Ridiculous history, Part one of 597 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:17,080 Speaker 1: hero cats, war cats, whatever you want to call them. 598 00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:21,400 Speaker 1: Huge thanks to you, Ben Bolan, my feline loving brother 599 00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:24,879 Speaker 1: from another mother, and we're both leos, so I mean 600 00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:28,799 Speaker 1: we're levels on this one. Yeah, big big thanks to 601 00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:32,919 Speaker 1: my writer die Noel Brown, big thing and happy birthday, Noel, 602 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:36,759 Speaker 1: Happy birthday to me as well. It's conne It's coming, 603 00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:40,680 Speaker 1: It's coming. Uh and uh big big thanks to Casey Pegrun, 604 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:45,160 Speaker 1: big big thanks to Max Williams as well as Alex Williams, 605 00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:49,319 Speaker 1: who composed this slapping track. Well, I was thinking just 606 00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:51,719 Speaker 1: for a second of reaching out to Alex and saying like, 607 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:54,560 Speaker 1: hey man, can you make a cat version of this? 608 00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:57,319 Speaker 1: But he's he's got stuff to do. You know, he's 609 00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:00,400 Speaker 1: got stuff to do, So imagine me Al's when hear that, 610 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:03,640 Speaker 1: or imagine that you know, well maybe you don't have 611 00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:06,520 Speaker 1: to imagine. Maybe your cat like mine, is me owing 612 00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:11,480 Speaker 1: right now. You could do it real quick. Let's say, huh, 613 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:20,359 Speaker 1: how's this has the theme go yeah, I'm yeah Yo. 614 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:25,759 Speaker 1: Really should have laid off on that meatloaf on karaoke. 615 00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:28,840 Speaker 1: I did Paradise by the dashboard lights and shredded my voice, 616 00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:30,880 Speaker 1: but this was the best of my How's that you 617 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:33,320 Speaker 1: can get out of me? We'll see you next time, folks. 618 00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:42,279 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for My Heart Radio, visit the I 619 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:45,279 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to 620 00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:46,200 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.