Wednesday, July 15, 2026

WW II And the Cats of London

  

I'm not sure how many cats the, at that time, 19 years old Iris Davis saved from the debris of the bombed London, but the number 600 has been mentioned. Probably she saved even more when she went out looking for the poor pets, who - just as their humans - had lost their homes and all of a sudden had to fend for themselves. She used a kind of laso that made it possible for her to catch and secure the cat.

This is an image we are used to see from all kinds of wars: A hapless animal, struck down by the weapons that were meant to kill humans. Without Iris, London might also have seen an awful feline tragedy. Not that she saved all the poor homeless cats, but with her the number of victims was reduced.

I'm not sure that this is Iris, but whoever it is does what has to be done to save helpless pets. However, pets also saved humans, and several of them were awarded medals for bravery, for instance when they found and thus rescued people who e.g. were stuck in the rubble. 

As to Iris and her efforts for the cats of London, she became quite famous at the time as a cat saver, but her war fame doesn't seem to have stuck with her, as I haven't been able to find her biography. Anyway, there is an irony in her humane work as an animal saver, as pet owners had been advised to euthanize their pets before the bombings started, namely to save them from starvation. This led to what has been called a "massacre" of maybe 500,000 pets or even more. 

 

https://www.historyonthenet.com/war-animals-55-birds-dogs-horses-saved-thousands-lives-world-war-two 

 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205357526 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24478532 

 

https://x.com/TheNameofWar/status/2067980781809475917 


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