IN November 1944 the 6th Battalion, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) were part of the effort to liberate Walcheren Island and South Beveland from the German invaders. Among them were Lance Corporal Jimmy Muldoon, handler of Rifleman Khan, a German Shepherd that was skilled in finding explosives. As the soldiers’ craft crossed a stretch of water they came under heavy fire. Muldoon’s boat capsized. The dog managed to reach the shore but Muldoon, unable to swim, struggled helplessly. As he was about to disappear from view, Khan plunged into the water and dragged him to safety as shells continued to fall.
Before the war, Khan had belonged to the Railton family in Surrey. Proving to be an excellent pupil at the War Dog Training School, he had been assigned to the 6th Battalion, where he formed a close bond with Muldoon. In March 1945 Khan received the PDSA Dickin Medal for his bravery in rescuing his handler. He was returned to his family, though Muldoon wrote several times without success to the War Office, asking to be allowed to keep him. Then, in July 1947, at Wembley Stadium, Muldoon and Khan were reunited (pictured) at a parade of Dickin medal winners. Their mutual affection was so touching that Mr Harry Railton shook Muldoon’s hand and told him: “The dog is yours.” Thus did Muldoon and Khan spend “their remaining years together in Strathaven, far away from the mud and falling shells of Walcheren,” to quote the Cameronians website.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here