Figure 6: Our Dutnb Friends League Bronze Medal

The recipient of the bronze medal in Figure 6 was William

Donald Omand, a stretcher bearer in the Westminster Air

Raid Protection in 1940. The reverse of this medal is

engraved S/BR MR. D. OMAND / IN RECOGNITION OF HIS BRAVERY / IN RISKING HIS LIFE TO / RESCUE A DOG FROM A HOUSE / OUTSIDE WHICH A DELAYED ACTION BOMB / WAS EXPECTED TO EXPLODE / WHILST HE WAS ON HIS / ERRAND OF MERCY. / 13-9-40.

I am pleased to inform readers that we have, in the membership of the Orders and Medals Society of America, a recipient of the Our Dumb Friends League silver medal, Jack Boddington, who was recognized for saving a sheep from a swollen river in Wales in 1946.

Research to ascertain details of a rescue or to confirm the award of an animal life saving medal can be a challenge. All four of the awarding organizations exist today and will respond to inquiries, but their records appear to range from slim to none, and collectors should bear in mind that the primary missions of these organizations are animal welfare and funds solicitation, not award presentation nor archival maintenance. For some years like the war years, when many awards were made for rescuing animals from bomb damaged buildings, no records exist. No doubt many thrilling stories have been lost.

It appears that one of the best sources of information may well be reports made in local newspapers. Frequently, when these reports can be found, they contain details of the rescues and of the presentations of the resulting awards that are not available from any other source. For example, regarding the medal in Figure 5, I was provided copies of newspaper cuttings by the Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals. One of these, from the St. Marylebone Record of March 31, 1950, I learned that this medal was awarded to Police Constable Lewin at the Harrow Road Police Station, Paddington, by Deputy Commander Childs of Number 2 District, with 40 fellow policemen looking on. The Peoples Dispensary for SickAnimals was represented at the presentation by a Miss Killbourne.

Research is clearly an area where medal research associations could provide a valuable service. Pertinent items of information need to be extracted from whatever records may exist and converted to accessible databases before there is any further loss of information. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is making great progress along these lines. A beginning database has been created covering the Silver and Bronze Gallantry Medals by extracting pertinent information from the Society’s awards register.8

Figure 7: Obverse of the British Empire Medal, Civil awarded

to James Pilling Cundy.

In closing, it should be noted that the Sovereign may also recognize acts of bravery in the rescue of animals. The British Empire Medal, Civil, shown in Figure 7 was awarded to James Pilling Cundy, late Sergeant, Army Service Corps, a stableman with the Exeter Cooperative

3 2 JOMSA

Society, in 1942. The stables where Mr. Cundy worked were set afire by incendiary bombs. There were 14 horses in the stables. Mr. Cundy went into the stables to cut the halters and release the horses despite the duel dangers of fire and terrified horses. He was able to save all but two which had been overcome by smoke. Mr. Cundy, a Great War veteran, entered France in August 1914 with the Second Division Train, Army Service Corps, as a horse transport noncommissioned officer, and was accustomed to handling horses.

The author would like to acknowledge the assistance of the following people who assisted in researching this article: Mr. Chris Reed, Information and Records Officer, Headquarters, RSPCA, Horsham, West Sussex and Mr. Gill Hubbard, Awards and Archives Officer, Headquarters, PDSA, Telford, Shropshire.

Endnotes:

1. Conversations with RSPCA Staff, 2008. 2. Wilson, John. "The Margaret Wheatly Cross," The Life Saving

Awards Research Society Journal No. 32: 3.

3. Conversations with RSPCA Staff, 2008. 4. NCDL web site: www.ncdl.org.uk. 5. Email correspondence with PDSA, 2008. 6. PDSA web site: www.pdsa.org,uk. 7. Email correspondence with The Blue Cross, 2006.

8. Conversations with RSPCA Staff, 2008.

OMSA CONVENTION 2009

August 13-August 16, 2009.

Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and the

Devoss Place Convention Center

187 Monroe NW Grand Rapids, Michigan

616-776-6400

See you there!

IN THE NEWS

Medal of Honor Winner Russel Dunham Dies

Former Technical Sergeant Russell E. Dunham who received the Medal of Honor on the Franco-German border in 1945 died at his home in Godfrey, Illinois on April 6, 2009, at the age of 89. Dunham was born in East Carondelet, Illinois on February 23, 1920 and grew up in Fosterburg, Illinois.

Technical Sergeant Dunham, a member of Company I. 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division earned his Medal of Honor near Kaysersberg, France on January 8, 1945. During an attack on Hill 616, Dunham single-handedly assaulted three enemy machine guns carrying 12 carbine magazines and with a dozen hand grenades. He advanced in the attack up a snow-covered hill under fire from two machine guns and supporting riflemen. Crawling 75 yards under heavy direct fire toward the timbered emplacement shielding the left machine gun he was hit and thrown back down the hill. Renewing his assault he shot and killed the German machine gunner and assistant gunner. He then proceeded 50 yards through a storm of automatic and rifle fire to attack the second machine gun, hurling two grenades, destroying the gun and its crew. Dunham then attacked the third machine gun emplacement and killed the crew with hand grenades. He then drove the remaining enemy soldiers from their foxholes with grenades and carbine fire. Killing nine Germans, wounding seven and taking two prisoner, Sergeant Dunham, despite a painful wound, spearheaded a spectacular and successful diversionary attack.

In addition to the Medal of Honor, he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and the French Croix de Guerre. After the war he was employed as a benefits counselor with the Veterans Administration in St. Louis, Missouri for 32 years before moving to Godfrey, Illinois.

From the Los Angeles Times Submitted by William M. Wilson

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MAY BE PURCHASED FROM

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Vol. 60, No. 4 (July-August 2009) 33

GERMAN AWARDS FOR OPERATION EAGLE ASSIST

DAVID W. AMENDOLA

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization invoked Article 5 of its charter. This clause essentially states that an attack against one North Atlantic Treaty Organization member is considered an attack on all members, thus prompting a collective response. This was the first time in the alliance’s history that this article had ever been invoked.

An essential part of the U.S. Air Force’s ability to monitor air space is the E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system (AWACS), a modified Boeing 707 aircraft that can handle surveillance duties and act as a flying air traffic control center during combat. In 2001 the U.S. Air Force had just twenty-eight of these planes in use around the world and the additional burden of patrolling American airspace was spreading them thin. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was requested to provide assistance from the E-3A Component, an international AWACS unit based at Geilenkirchen, Germany. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed and the first aircraft were deployed to Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma on October 9, 2001.

This was the beginning of Operation Eagle Assist, which was conducted in overall support of Operation Noble Eagle, the United States campaign to protect American territory against further terrorist attacks. For the next seven months the E-3A Component would fly over 400 surveillance missions over the United States, allowing United States Air Force AWACS planes to concentrate on combat sorties in Afghanistan. Component personnel from thirteen nations would deploy to Tinker for up to six weeks at a time in support of the operation, which officially ended on May 15, 2002.

About a third of the military personnel assigned to the E-3A Component are German. In recognition of their contribution to the success of the operation the German government authorized a medal for them, the

Einsatzmedaille der BundeswehrJ~r den Auslandseinsatz im Rahmen der Operation Eagle Assist ("The Special Action Medal of the German Armed Forces for the Foreign Deployment in Support of Operation Eagle Assist").

The Einsatzmedaille (Special Action Medal) (Figure 1) is a generic campaign medal created in 1996

Figure 1: Obverse (left) and reverse (right) of the

Special A ction Medal with EA GLE ASSIST clasp.

for deployments of at least 30 days (consecutive or accumulated) in direct support of wartime military expeditions and peacekeeping missions. The governing regulation was amended in 2004 to create grades of bronze, silver, and gold to represent deployments of 30, 360, and 690 days respectively. If more than one grade has been received for the same operation, only the highest is worn. The medallion is 35 millimeters in diameter and gilt in the appropriate metal depending on the grade. On the obverse is the German federal eagle surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves; the reverse is blank. It is suspended from a 30-millimeter-wide red ribbon with thin black, red, and gold stripes (the German national colors) on the edges. Attached to the suspension ribbon is a 20-millimeter-wide campaign bar bearing the name or acronym of the operation and like the medallion it is bronze, silver, or gold depending on the grade.

Because Operation Eagle Assist lasted just seven months, only the bronze class of the Special Action Medal has been authorized for it along with the campaign clasp

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