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 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: back to the show Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always 3 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: so much for tuning in. Uh we are but as 4 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:37,840 Speaker 1: always proud to be accompanied with our super producer fellow 5 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: cat lover, the one and only Max Williams. Give it 6 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: up for him. Uh they called me Ben. This is 7 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:50,239 Speaker 1: part two of our dive into the world of military cats. Uh, 8 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: you don't know. Over the break our quote unquote break 9 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: for this two part episode, I was thinking, do you 10 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: think either either of your cat you've met my cats too, 11 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:07,839 Speaker 1: do you think any of our forecats would be military worthy? Oh? Man, Well, 12 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,760 Speaker 1: a previous cat of mine who still exists. His name 13 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,600 Speaker 1: is Fernando a k A. Robert a k A. No, 14 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: I think that's the only two names you guys. Um, 15 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: he was an indoor outdoor is an indoor outdoor cat. 16 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: I think it's definitely a requirement for a military cat. 17 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:25,040 Speaker 1: You gotta be able to rough it in the out 18 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 1: of doors. And he would just, you know, do some 19 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: really intense stealth kills and present his his prey to 20 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: me and my my former roommate in the most elaborate 21 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: and bizarre of way. It's pretty sure that cat is 22 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,199 Speaker 1: a bit of a psychopath. He killed like a rabbit, 23 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: like a full grown rabbit. So yeah, I think Robert 24 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 1: would probably definitely cut it, probably in some sort of 25 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: weird black ops kind of assassination squad perhaps. Yeah. Um, 26 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: I think Dr Bankman is more of a lover than 27 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: a fighter, more scientists than a scholar than a soldier. 28 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 1: But the other cat, the cat of many names, would 29 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: go full Colonel Kurtz. For anyone familiar with Heart of Darkness. 30 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: I think they would have to send the equivalent of 31 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: of a special cat operative to stop his reign of terror. Luckily, uh, 32 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: the cat we're talking about today in Part two of 33 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: our Military Cats episode is not a feline Colonel Kurtz. 34 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: His name is Simon. As we said in part one, cats, 35 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:33,640 Speaker 1: like many animals, have been accompanying humans into war for 36 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: a very very long time. I believe one of our 37 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 1: first examples was ancient Egypt. But this guy, Simon, this 38 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: cat had such an amazing story that we decided to 39 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: dedicate an entire episode to him. Yeah, you may recall 40 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 1: from episode one. If you haven't listened to that one, 41 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: by the way, you should. But this woman will stand alone, 42 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: so if you don't want to write away, you can 43 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: hold it off for another day. But part one is 44 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:00,680 Speaker 1: a doozy. And then then we talk about a pair 45 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: of cats named Faith in Panda during the London Blitz 46 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:08,680 Speaker 1: of World War two around nineteen thirty six, and Faith 47 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: was nominated for what's called a Dicken Medal, which we 48 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:16,079 Speaker 1: describe which is like this like medal of valor specifically 49 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 1: given to animals. Faith was nominated, but she did not 50 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 1: make the cut. She was not eligible because she was 51 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: a civilian cat. But she did get a medal for 52 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,799 Speaker 1: bravery anyway, like a special you know, kind of like 53 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: a like a participation awards sort of but still really 54 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: nice for a faith. Today's cat, Simon, is the only 55 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: cat to ever receive this prestigious animal award, the Dicken Medal, 56 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: the highest British honor for valor in the field of battle. Yeah, 57 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: this guy, Simon has been reported on in Time dot com, 58 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: has been reported on in uh per infer dot org. 59 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: Of course the massively fam us in the United Kingdom 60 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: by our friends at mental Floss as well. So we 61 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: just want to give another shout out to Jackie mead 62 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: Over at Mental Floss for the excellent work on war 63 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: cats or cat war heroes. Here's Simon's origin story. Simon 64 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:22,320 Speaker 1: is a stray. It's there's a seventeen year old with 65 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: the name George Hickenbottom who brings Simon from Hong Kong 66 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: to his ship, the HMS Amethysts and not going Afterwards, 67 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: the Amethyst gets their orders. They are to proceed up 68 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: the Young Sea River to guard the British embassy from 69 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: the Chinese Communist Revolution. Halfway there, the ship takes fire 70 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: from the p l A, the People's Liberation Army. Simon, 71 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:53,280 Speaker 1: similar to Pouli that we mentioned in our previous episode, 72 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:57,280 Speaker 1: is snoozing during the fight. He's sleeping in the cabin's 73 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,839 Speaker 1: quarters when a shell goes through the bulkhead and Simon 74 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:04,840 Speaker 1: gets his first wartime injuries. He has shrapnel in his legs, 75 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:08,719 Speaker 1: his face and his back are burned. The ship runs 76 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: the ground and they can't like other British sources, can't 77 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 1: rescue them because there's too much enemy fire. Yeah, if 78 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:20,280 Speaker 1: you want to see a picture of Simon, highly recommend 79 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: uh jumping on over to p d s a dot Org, 80 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:26,719 Speaker 1: which is an animal welfare organization. They have a whole 81 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: page about Simon Um and his time on the d 82 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 1: M fifty four destroyer, and there's a really great picture 83 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: of him with some crew members get have given him 84 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: a good little scritch, But he is a tough looking cat, 85 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,040 Speaker 1: let me tell you. He's just got this look about 86 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: him like he's seen some stuff. And that's because he 87 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: has seen some stuff. And yeah, the seventeen year old 88 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:52,679 Speaker 1: who was what's known as an ordinary seaman. That's probably 89 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:56,719 Speaker 1: the lowest rank that you can get on a naval vessel. Uh, seventeen. 90 00:05:56,839 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: I guess they must have been playing a little fast 91 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: and loose with enlistment aged Limon, so maybe it was 92 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,359 Speaker 1: just younger back then. Um. But he actually he takes 93 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: a shine to this little school, scrawny stray and he decides, 94 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: I Am going to smuggle this cat onto my ship, 95 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:17,359 Speaker 1: which is called the Amethyst. So there's a guy, you know, 96 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:21,200 Speaker 1: like a guard or whatever, and George Hickenbottom hides the 97 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: cat under his dress, you know, his this sailor's suit, 98 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,920 Speaker 1: his tunic, and he takes him to his tiny, tiny 99 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: bunk that's where he keeps him. And George was eventually 100 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: appointed captain of the Fox Soul. It seems like it's 101 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 1: some kind of British slang that was used in uh 102 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:43,599 Speaker 1: in military parlance. Um, but what that basically means is 103 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:46,159 Speaker 1: like he's in charge of like scrubbing the toilest with 104 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,720 Speaker 1: the toothbrush and making sure everything is neat and tidy. 105 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:55,480 Speaker 1: He's essentially like the maid for the whole ship. Forecastle's forecastle. 106 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: It's the upper deck of a sailing ship, uh, the 107 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:01,600 Speaker 1: forward part of a ship, of the sailor's living quarters. 108 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: So it's a humorous title, yes, exactly, very tongue in cheek, 109 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 1: very British indeed. But of course, I mean, come on, cats, 110 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:13,040 Speaker 1: you can't really hide the cat forever. I don't know 111 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:15,040 Speaker 1: if anyone's ever tried to hide one from their landlord 112 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: to keep from paying a pet deposit. I sure have. 113 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: But inevitably, they don't really like to be controlled. You know, 114 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: they are gonna do what they're gonna do, and whether 115 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: that means me alling when you block them in a 116 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: room or something like that, or shut them away so 117 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 1: no one sees them, they're certainly not going to play 118 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: along with whatever your schemes might be. So yeah, the 119 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: captain of the ship eventually met Simon thankfully. Though the captain, 120 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:42,239 Speaker 1: Lieutenant Commander Ian Griffiths, really doug cats. He had several 121 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: family cats back home. UM, so this was a fortuitous 122 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: encounter and he didn't reprimand George at all. In fact, 123 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: he was he was kind of excited about it. And 124 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: it turns out that the Amethyst needed a ship cat. 125 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 1: This is the thing we talked about this. Throughout the 126 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,280 Speaker 1: history of the military, there have been cat employed to 127 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: keep the pest population down on a ship. Especially that 128 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 1: can be a thing. There are definitely rats that can 129 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: get aboard ships at different ports and they can clean 130 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 1: out food supplies and all the rations, and that can 131 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: be a real problem, and they can carry diseases, especially 132 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: if you're traveling in real humid, kind of nasty hot weather, 133 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: which they were. So the captain allows George to keep 134 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: the cat and allows the cat to occupy that role. 135 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 1: But since George is the foxel or the forecastle, um, 136 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:36,959 Speaker 1: he's also responsible for cleaning up after the cat. Uh. 137 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: And the captain, according to George himself, says that if 138 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:45,360 Speaker 1: he sees any cat droppings cat leavings aboard the ship, 139 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: he would quote have me up on a charge. Uh. 140 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 1: And he actually got a lot of help and support 141 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: from his crewmates who also liked the cat um so 142 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: any uh they called it muck that was seen was 143 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: quickly thrown overboard. And you can find a lot of 144 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:04,839 Speaker 1: these accounts in that fabulous article from per and for 145 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:09,720 Speaker 1: dot org, which is a lovely name for a cat website. Yes, 146 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 1: and uh, Simon did something that I understand but don't 147 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:20,080 Speaker 1: philosophically respect. Uh. He was a social climber. He was 148 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 1: in the networking and nepotism. Uh. He of course made 149 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: friends with everybody, but he really wanted to make friends 150 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: with the captain. And we must assume that there was 151 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,320 Speaker 1: something he could sense about the hierarchy of a ship. 152 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: And also side note um George Hickenbottom at seventeen was 153 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 1: it was legally enlisted. Even now, at least in the 154 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 1: u S. Seventeen is the minimum age for enlistment for people. 155 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: But but is that too young to go to war? 156 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 1: I definitely think it affects someone's outlook later in life anyway. 157 00:09:57,600 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 1: So Simon's one of those things where if you can't 158 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: like seventeen year olds, there's a lot of things seventeen 159 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: year olds can't. They can't buy alcohol, again, drink in 160 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:10,160 Speaker 1: a bar. They can't buy cigarettes or vapes in these days. 161 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: It just feels like a little bit of a stretch 162 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 1: for to expect them to be able to, you know, 163 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:19,080 Speaker 1: die for their country when their country doesn't treat them 164 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: as a full human in other respects. None of those 165 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: things are like the end all be all of what 166 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 1: it means to be alive, but it still does feel 167 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:27,560 Speaker 1: I've always felt that was a little bit of a mismatch. Well, 168 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 1: you do get exceptions when you're in the military because 169 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,839 Speaker 1: of that very reason. Those laws, those laws are different 170 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: from military members, but also the human brain is not 171 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: fully fully developed until the mid twenties, so anyway, anyway, 172 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:44,800 Speaker 1: that's a story for a different episode. But here's what happens. 173 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 1: Simon is all about kissing up and he becomes an 174 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: honor student. If he's not hanging out in George's room, 175 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:55,200 Speaker 1: he's hanging out at the captain's cabin. And when he 176 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:58,840 Speaker 1: kills rats, he's you can either say he's trying to 177 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: curry favor her or he's trying to brag, because he 178 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:09,560 Speaker 1: starts taking some of these dead animals to the captain directly, 179 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 1: sometimes even leaving them on his bunk, and Captain Griffiths 180 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:18,840 Speaker 1: and Simon really dig each other like this cat will 181 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:23,559 Speaker 1: follow Griffith's around. And then if Griffith's like whistles or 182 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 1: you know, if you have ever lived with a cat, 183 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 1: you know the move like sport. Uh yeah, then uh, 184 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:36,240 Speaker 1: Simon will come running to Griffith's. And no one had 185 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:40,679 Speaker 1: a like a soul responsibility for feeding him, but he 186 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: always he never went hungry. Everybody loved him, and they 187 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:47,120 Speaker 1: all like you know, they all wanted to give him 188 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: treats and wanted to pediment stuff. So this is a 189 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 1: pretty great situation for Simon. In December of that year, 190 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:57,720 Speaker 1: a new captain comes aboard a guide, him Captain Skinner. 191 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:02,719 Speaker 1: Luckily for Simon and for the crew, Skinner also digs cats, 192 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 1: and so Simon leaves pretty much lives his life as 193 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 1: he did before under the rule of Griffiths. So now 194 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: things are going pretty well until that faithful river trip 195 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 1: we teased in the beginning. Maybe we can talk a 196 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:29,840 Speaker 1: little bit about what was going on in context here. 197 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 1: It's doubtlessly something by the way that Simon as a 198 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,199 Speaker 1: cat would not care about. But here's what's going on. 199 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:40,520 Speaker 1: There is a brutal, bloody civil war in the Nation 200 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: of China, Communist insurgents for the People's Liberation Army p 201 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: l A led by Mause Dong and the ruling Nationalist 202 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 1: Party of Tchang Kai Shek. The country is embroiled in 203 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:58,320 Speaker 1: this and the Amethyst is ordered up the river up 204 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:01,760 Speaker 1: Young z from Shanghai. It's and Un King to relieve 205 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:05,560 Speaker 1: another ship called the HMS Consort. The Consort had been 206 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:10,400 Speaker 1: guarding the British embassy for a while, but they needed 207 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:15,320 Speaker 1: some time off, and time was of the essence because 208 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,960 Speaker 1: both sides of the civil war had signed a ceasefire agreement. 209 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:24,320 Speaker 1: That ceasefire agreement had an expiration date midnight on April 210 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 1: fighting could resume, so Mao's People's Liberation Army um, we're 211 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 1: holding the north side of the Yangtze and these nationals 212 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:39,600 Speaker 1: were controlling the south bank, and Britain hadn't really picked 213 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:42,800 Speaker 1: a side yet in this conflict. They weren't expecting it 214 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: to be an all out blood bath. British officials, however, 215 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:50,320 Speaker 1: believed that the Amethyst could reach Nan King in time 216 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:54,840 Speaker 1: to take advantage of the ceasefire. But then on the 217 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:59,240 Speaker 1: morning of April the Amethyst was sixty miles from the 218 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:04,280 Speaker 1: city when the ceasefire abruptly came to an end from 219 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 1: the north shore. Uh. There were explosions all around, gunfire, mortar, 220 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 1: all of that good stuff, and an explosion hit the ship, 221 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:19,120 Speaker 1: and the bridge and the wheelhouse and the power room 222 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 1: took the brunt of that impact. The ship got hit 223 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 1: more than fifty times, and nineteen of his crew, including 224 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:32,000 Speaker 1: the captain, lost their lives on that attack on April 225 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: um seven were injured, and Uh the Amethist eventually was 226 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 1: able to limp away and taking refuge in a shelter 227 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: in a creek that was a little bit upstream. So 228 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:51,440 Speaker 1: essentially the Communist had the Amethyst backed into a corner. 229 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:56,080 Speaker 1: They were running scared. Um. So there was a series 230 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 1: of negotiations that then began um with the Communist to 231 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:01,920 Speaker 1: allow them to you know, let them go on their 232 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:04,600 Speaker 1: merry way. Yeah, this is what I was talking about earlier. 233 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: So we think Simon was most likely snooze in a 234 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,840 Speaker 1: way and in a cabin somewhere when a Chinese shell 235 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 1: knocked a huge hole in the hull of the ship. 236 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,400 Speaker 1: Shards of shrapnel hit this sleeping cat in his back 237 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:25,280 Speaker 1: and his legs and as he's either running or he's 238 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: thrown by the explosion. I think he's running due to 239 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:33,480 Speaker 1: our conversations with the amazing Rachel Lance, the world's pre 240 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:38,440 Speaker 1: eminent expert on maritime explosions. Simon's face has burned, his 241 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 1: whiskers and eyebrows gets singed. He has you know, traumatic injuries. 242 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:46,200 Speaker 1: He crawls as far out of the way as he can. 243 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 1: He passes out. He's missing for several days, but eventually 244 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:54,760 Speaker 1: he staggers on deck and another Griffiths, not the former captain, 245 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: a petty officer named George Griffiths, finds him and, like 246 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,360 Speaker 1: you would with any other sailor, he has taken to 247 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: sick bay. He's in terrible shape. He's weak, he's dehydrated. 248 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 1: He hasn't recovered from miss injuries. Medical officer named Michael 249 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,840 Speaker 1: Fearingly goes to work removing the shrapnel in a couple 250 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:18,440 Speaker 1: of different places, stitching Simon's body up and then looking 251 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 1: at his face. They were concerned he might have gone 252 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: deaf due to being so close to the blast, and 253 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 1: they also find that his heart seems incredibly weak, so 254 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: Fearingly has to be the bearer of bad news. And 255 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 1: he tells the crew, yes, Simon survived, but he's not 256 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 1: out of the woods yet. So they're trying to figure 257 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 1: out what to do. And then a guy who's not 258 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: a cat fan enters the fray, Lieutenant Commander John Kieran's. 259 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:54,400 Speaker 1: He had come across land from Nan King and now 260 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 1: that Captain Skinner was dead, he was in charge of 261 00:16:57,360 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: the Amethyst, and he was like, look, I don't like cats. 262 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna let this cat sleep in the captain's quarters. 263 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:08,600 Speaker 1: And so now the cats start sleeping in the and 264 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:11,000 Speaker 1: the petty officers mess which is like, you know, the 265 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:14,440 Speaker 1: lunch room. Uh. And then he's just you know, if 266 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 1: you've ever had a pet that's been injured, you know, 267 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:18,520 Speaker 1: when it's touch and go, you try to make them 268 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,399 Speaker 1: as comfortable as possible. There's not really anything you do 269 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 1: but hope they pulled through. That's right. Um, And the 270 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 1: ship doctor doctor Fearnley suggested that Simon actually live a 271 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 1: little closer to the sick bay, um, because him being 272 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:39,480 Speaker 1: you know, convalescing cat could potentially boost moral for the 273 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 1: the young crewmen who were there trying to recover from 274 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:45,760 Speaker 1: their wounds as well. This attack, after all, was a 275 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:48,520 Speaker 1: huge hit to moral that's about as big a hit 276 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:50,240 Speaker 1: as you can take. Is one of the form of 277 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:52,560 Speaker 1: a mortar round. They get shot at your ship. They 278 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:55,760 Speaker 1: had lost their fellow crew members. There was a lot 279 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: of sadness and suffering and uh, you know, people really 280 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:03,040 Speaker 1: wondering what was next for them, and so having this 281 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: cat around because he also had to endure those same adversities, 282 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,399 Speaker 1: it was really kind of like a solidarity situation, like 283 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:14,720 Speaker 1: a real boost them around. They felt that they were 284 00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: all kind of in this together. And it's silly sounding 285 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:20,359 Speaker 1: in a way, but it's also really really moving because 286 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:23,160 Speaker 1: if you think about it, I could see how that 287 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:25,439 Speaker 1: would exactly be the case, just feeling like, oh this 288 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:27,800 Speaker 1: cat make if this cat could make it, this little 289 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 1: scrappy guy, that we can make it too. Yeah, that's 290 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 1: that's exactly what happens. So Simon is is familiar with 291 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 1: the ways of hierarchies and oceans now and he tries 292 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:43,800 Speaker 1: to win over this lieutenant commander who would be like, 293 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:45,679 Speaker 1: if there were a bad guy in or in this 294 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 1: Pixar film that I'm seeing, it would be this lieutenant 295 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:53,400 Speaker 1: commander Karen's So Simon gives him a dead rat as 296 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: a present. This guy is now captain the ship, has 297 00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:00,240 Speaker 1: no idea what to do, so he just it's funny, Gus. 298 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:02,439 Speaker 1: He like he knows it's a gift, and so like 299 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 1: re leads down and pet Simon for the first time. 300 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:09,600 Speaker 1: Wait still, Cimon's nott paid attention throws the rat overboard, 301 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,520 Speaker 1: but he has now sort of taught Simon that you 302 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:17,920 Speaker 1: will be rewarded for rats, which becomes very important very quickly, 303 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:21,560 Speaker 1: and they, uh, they befriend each other. The Pixar moment 304 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,480 Speaker 1: is when the captain takes sick. He gets a virus 305 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:26,879 Speaker 1: and he's bedridden for a few days, and so Simon 306 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,239 Speaker 1: starts hanging out with him. Uh, and then from that 307 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:35,119 Speaker 1: point on Kerans and Simon's are friends. But while that's happening, Look, 308 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:39,240 Speaker 1: the Amethyst got rocked in the worst way. The ship 309 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:44,200 Speaker 1: is really deteriorating. Rations have to be cut in half 310 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: because the Chinese forces that are kind of keeping them 311 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: locked in there, they're not supplying food and they're not 312 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:56,000 Speaker 1: allowing things to come through. Uh. The negotiations aren't going 313 00:19:56,040 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 1: well because the Chinese forces want the British to say 314 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:04,479 Speaker 1: the Amethyst had fired first, and that's not true. So 315 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:08,840 Speaker 1: the British aren't going to aren't going to play ball here. 316 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: So the ship and its crew are stranded and that 317 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:21,359 Speaker 1: little creek for almost ten weeks. This is bad. Ten hot, sticky, gross, 318 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,400 Speaker 1: humid weeks. And of course, as we talked about, that 319 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 1: hot wet condition is really really a good one for 320 00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:36,120 Speaker 1: rat breeding. Uh So that became a thing. The food 321 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:40,440 Speaker 1: supplies were in really really serious danger of being consumed 322 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,280 Speaker 1: by the now teeming piles of rats that were on 323 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:47,080 Speaker 1: the ship. And let's make no mistake, these were not 324 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:50,639 Speaker 1: like cute little white rats you know that you see 325 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,480 Speaker 1: perched on people's shoulders and stuff, or running around in mazes. 326 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: Uh these were nasty guys. These were attack rats, vicious 327 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:04,160 Speaker 1: rat it, you know, just absolutely feral, massive rats. One 328 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:08,560 Speaker 1: particularly nasty one, which the crew members nicknamed mouth say tongue, 329 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 1: would repeatedly attack the food supplies and learned to evade 330 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 1: the traps that were set for it. Uh So, with 331 00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:24,119 Speaker 1: Simon finally took this bastard out, the crew were absolutely 332 00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:28,639 Speaker 1: beside themselves. They promoted Simon to able seacat, which is 333 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,439 Speaker 1: the cat equivalent of able seamen, which would be you 334 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 1: know a higher rank of like a kind of just 335 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:38,840 Speaker 1: basic crewman, and they again symbolic he was already this 336 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: amazing symbol of resilience. Now he was literally helping them 337 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:47,240 Speaker 1: survive by killing these nasty rats that were going after 338 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:50,840 Speaker 1: their food in a very real way. And this is 339 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:55,720 Speaker 1: an unsustainable situation. Despite Simon's heroism, there's almost only so 340 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:58,800 Speaker 1: much he can do. So it's nearly three months after 341 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:03,320 Speaker 1: that original attack. Negotiations are at a stand still, and 342 00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:07,280 Speaker 1: the captain is thinking, look, negotiations are growing nowhere. We're 343 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: running out of fuel, we're running out of food. At 344 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: some point we're gonna have to make a run for it. 345 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 1: So he waits until the night of July. The moon 346 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 1: is included. There's a very low light, and there's a 347 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:33,399 Speaker 1: merchant vessel named the kang Ling Liberation that's passing the Amethyst. 348 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,000 Speaker 1: It's heading down the river. At about ten pm. The 349 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 1: captain seizes the moment and he makes a hundred and 350 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:45,520 Speaker 1: four mile run down to the open ocean. The enemy 351 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:50,479 Speaker 1: is not super aggressive, probably because the Amethysts got very lucky. 352 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:53,600 Speaker 1: It took him five hours and they made it. They 353 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:56,880 Speaker 1: ran into the HMS Concord part way up a river 354 00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: called the Hong Pooh south of Wu Song, and they 355 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,399 Speaker 1: escorted the rest of the way. The captain sends this 356 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:05,679 Speaker 1: message say have rejoined the fleet south of Wusung. No 357 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:10,200 Speaker 1: damage your casualties. God save the king. Uh So their 358 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,800 Speaker 1: ordeal is over. They've been held hostage for a hundred 359 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:16,560 Speaker 1: and one days. Their cruising back to believe it or not, 360 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:21,879 Speaker 1: Simon's own birthplace, Hong Kong. On August first. There's a 361 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:25,920 Speaker 1: special ceremony on deck um that represents everything the crew 362 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,000 Speaker 1: has been through. The officers and the and the crew 363 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:34,760 Speaker 1: are standing at attention. One person's holding Simon, and George 364 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:39,159 Speaker 1: Griffith's who he mentioned earlier, is reading out a citation 365 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:45,760 Speaker 1: where able seacats Simon is awarded the Amethyst Campaign Ribbon. 366 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:50,879 Speaker 1: Uh This, as we mentioned the very beginning. Receiving these 367 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: prestigious awards like the Dickle make Simon unique in the 368 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: history of animals in the military. And this guy comes 369 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: in international celebrity. It's covered in the movies, it's covered 370 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:07,840 Speaker 1: in the news. Cameras are recording their ship's arrival in 371 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:11,000 Speaker 1: Hong Kong, and Simon is is well. I'd say he's 372 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 1: kind of posing for pictures. He's a cat. You know, 373 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:16,600 Speaker 1: someone's holding them or someone's waiting until he stops for 374 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,320 Speaker 1: a second. They're like click click click click click for sure. 375 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:22,400 Speaker 1: And like I was saying, you can see pictures of 376 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:24,919 Speaker 1: the cat, there's tons of them out there on on 377 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:27,200 Speaker 1: several of the articles that we cited. And he is 378 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:32,520 Speaker 1: a tough looking dude, really really interesting features and in 379 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:35,480 Speaker 1: the very weathered world where he kind of vibe to him. 380 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:36,880 Speaker 1: But as we said at the top of the show, 381 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:41,520 Speaker 1: this became a massive story. Like you said, he was 382 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:47,359 Speaker 1: an overnight sensation, and he became this international symbol of uh, 383 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: you know, resilience and and the ability to kind of 384 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,920 Speaker 1: come back and push through all of the horrible, horrific 385 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:57,119 Speaker 1: things that people saw an experience during World War Two. So, 386 00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:00,480 Speaker 1: while the ship was being repaired in Hong Kong, the 387 00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:05,359 Speaker 1: Armed Forces Mascot Club, which is part of the pv 388 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:08,119 Speaker 1: s A, which I believe that's the website we were 389 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 1: talking about, that is a longstanding UK organization for you know, 390 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:16,919 Speaker 1: devoted to the welfare of animals, not not just cats, 391 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 1: all animals, and they suggested that the captain or the 392 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:27,240 Speaker 1: military give Simon an official commendation that he should be 393 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:33,119 Speaker 1: awarded the prestigious Dicken Metal for animal gallantry. It was 394 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:37,639 Speaker 1: also referred to often as the Animals Victoria Cross, which 395 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,159 Speaker 1: is the highest military honor that you can get in 396 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 1: the UK. And again, how heartwarman is this? People reply 397 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:48,920 Speaker 1: to this request and they write testimonials, one captain writing, uh, 398 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:51,600 Speaker 1: we won't read the whole quoll, but the excerpt here 399 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 1: that's important is uh. He talked about how dangerous threats were, 400 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:59,400 Speaker 1: how messed up Simon was, and then says throughout the incident, 401 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 1: Simon's behavior was of the highest order. One would not 402 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: have expected a small cat to survive the blast from 403 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:08,720 Speaker 1: an explosion capable of making a whole over a foot 404 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:12,359 Speaker 1: in diameter in a steel plate. And then he says 405 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:17,119 Speaker 1: that Simon's presence was a decided factor in maintaining the 406 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 1: high level of morale and he gets the Dicken Metal, 407 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 1: He gets the highest order in the land in a 408 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,520 Speaker 1: unanimous decision. That's right. And I gotta say they they 409 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:31,800 Speaker 1: buried another player in this story here, Peggy the Dog. 410 00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 1: I want to know more about Peggy the dog and 411 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,680 Speaker 1: why Peggy didn't get more attention. Um, but where there's 412 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:39,920 Speaker 1: a cat's story today? So we'll leave that for another day. 413 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,560 Speaker 1: Maybe we'll do one about war dogs one of these days. 414 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:46,000 Speaker 1: But in August five, the AP broke the news that 415 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,960 Speaker 1: this award was going to be given to Simon. The 416 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 1: headline was Amethysts cat gets dick in metal for catching 417 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:57,760 Speaker 1: rats um and the restless history. It was the only 418 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:03,000 Speaker 1: feeline ever to get a prestigious dicken metal and the 419 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 1: only animal in the Royal Navy you ever earn this 420 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,520 Speaker 1: medal too, so double threat Simon. Yeah, and he like 421 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:13,760 Speaker 1: was literally got fan mail people writing fan letters to 422 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,359 Speaker 1: a cat. He would get like two hundred a day, 423 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:19,840 Speaker 1: along with toys and you know, treats and things like that. 424 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:24,080 Speaker 1: And a lieutenant by the name of Stewart Head got 425 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:28,240 Speaker 1: the honor or that the dubious honor, let's just say, 426 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:31,240 Speaker 1: for sorting through all of this crap and making sure 427 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:35,360 Speaker 1: the good stuff got to got to Simon and our 428 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:44,480 Speaker 1: one last note here. Unfortunately, Simon received this tremendous accolade posthumously. Uh. 429 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: He passed away on November after only living two years, 430 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:55,600 Speaker 1: and maybe it was. I mean, the official cause was 431 00:27:55,720 --> 00:28:00,879 Speaker 1: high fever and acute enteritis. His war wound, of course, 432 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 1: had seriously weakened him again. Cards and letters arrived by 433 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:10,679 Speaker 1: the truckload his as we mentioned the very top of 434 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:14,240 Speaker 1: the episode. Uh. He is featured in Time magazine. He 435 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:18,159 Speaker 1: is in the obituary page of Time Magazine. He was 436 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:21,800 Speaker 1: buried at the pds A Animal Cemetery at Ilford, which 437 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:25,440 Speaker 1: is east of London, and especially made casket. Uh. There 438 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:29,520 Speaker 1: was a short ceremony. There was a marker place that 439 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,040 Speaker 1: was a wooden one originally it was later replaced with 440 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 1: a stone monument. And eventually the Amethyst carries out a 441 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:40,760 Speaker 1: search for a new cat and they find another black 442 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:44,800 Speaker 1: and white tomcat. They name him Simon to unlike Simon 443 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,360 Speaker 1: one he comes from London, not Hong Kong. But if 444 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:51,840 Speaker 1: I could paraphrase one of the old cliches, I guess 445 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:53,520 Speaker 1: you never get the cat nip while you can still 446 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:57,840 Speaker 1: snarf it, you know, I can't. You can't get the 447 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:01,680 Speaker 1: flowers while you still smell him hunt. No, it's it's 448 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:04,440 Speaker 1: a great adaptation. I love it. Um. And it's interesting 449 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:07,640 Speaker 1: too because they specifically wanted to get a cat from 450 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:11,760 Speaker 1: the exact area of London Camden, which is like super 451 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 1: hipster central these days. Uh. And they did that so 452 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:19,120 Speaker 1: that's where Simon two came from. Um wraps us up. 453 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:22,240 Speaker 1: I think for the story of Simon really really really 454 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: was worthy of of his own episode and uh so 455 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:27,080 Speaker 1: sad actually, I think there really is kind of a 456 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:29,720 Speaker 1: touching and bitter sweet end of the story that he 457 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:33,040 Speaker 1: only lived two years. In those two years, they were 458 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 1: not an easy two years, but he meant so much 459 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:37,640 Speaker 1: and stood for so much to so many people that 460 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: I think it was a life well lived. Well done, Simon, 461 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 1: You're a good cat. Thanks as always to Casey Pegram, 462 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:48,240 Speaker 1: Thanks to the one and only Max Williams. Uh and 463 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:51,000 Speaker 1: also no thanks to you man. We knocked out a 464 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:53,920 Speaker 1: two parter. Uh and except for this line that I'm 465 00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:57,720 Speaker 1: about to say, we we didn't brag about how we 466 00:29:57,880 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: how we actually were able to plan it except for 467 00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:02,280 Speaker 1: just this one moment. Well we didn't have to because 468 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:06,160 Speaker 1: this was actually conceived as a two partner from the start, 469 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 1: with the amazing help of our research associate Gabe Lucier, 470 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:12,600 Speaker 1: who also is a cat person. If I'm not mistaken, 471 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 1: I believe that is correct. Thanks Everyone's Foster than Animals, Well, 472 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,200 Speaker 1: thanks to Christo Rosciotis, Thanks to Eve's Jeff Code and 473 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:23,840 Speaker 1: thanks to our very own favorite straight Jonathan Strickland, a 474 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:26,360 Speaker 1: k a. The Twister, who at this point is far 475 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:37,040 Speaker 1: overdue for an appearance. We'll see you next time, folks. 476 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:39,160 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, visit the I 477 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:42,120 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 478 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:43,080 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.