New literary tribute to the Norwegian dog who captured Scottish hearts
By Jasper Hamill

He was a hard-drinking Norwegian sea dog whose heroism won him fame in Scotland and at home - now the story of the brave St Bernard will be cemented by a new biography. Two authors from Montrose have spent four years investigating the life of Bamse, an enormous dog whose heroic acts became so famous that he was appointed the mascot for all three of Norway's armed forces during the war.

He arrived in Scotland aboard the minesweeper Thorrod when it was stationed at a Norwegian naval base in Montrose, Angus. Bamse quickly befriended his new neighbours, drinking beer at the bar and taking unaccompanied bus rides, a bus pass hanging around his neck, to gather up sailors from the pub and bring them back to base.

He would even ride on the top deck, allegedly because he knew that dogs weren't allowed on the bottom floor.

Famed for his bravery - which won him a People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) Gold medal, known as the "George Cross for animals" - Bamse would stay on deck during fierce firefights wearing a specially made tin hat, his steadfast courage inspiring other sailors.

He also saved two seamen's lives, dragging one inebriated sailor to safety after he fell overboard and stopping the second in command being stabbed on the Dundee dockside by rearing up on his hind legs and pushing the assailant into the water.

Inspired by these stories, Angus Whitson, a columnist for The Courier, and Andrew Orr, a retired doctor, wrote Sea Dog Bamse: World War II Canine Hero, which is published later this month, to celebrate the life of the "extraordinary" animal. Orr's obsession began on the 60th anniversary of the dog's death, in 2004, when he decided to begin fundraising for a larger-thanlife statue of Bamse. Unveiled by Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, it stands in Montrose town centre.

He said: "After the Norwegian navy came to Montrose on the anniversary of Bamse's death, I woke up to the presence of a wonderful story. When I began to organise the building of the statue, I built up worldwide contacts who started telling me stories and pointing me in different directions.

"I was a GP in Montrose so I also had wonderful access to just talk to people. They would come in with a bad back and start to tell me about the dog they remember from the war. I became aware that a lot of people were beginning to die out so I started scribbling frantically, writing little vignettes about the dog. I knew then that a book had to be written."

Orr enlisted the assistance of Whitson, whose Man With Two Dogs column has been collated into a book, to help pull the stories together.

Whitson said: "Bamse was a quite extraordinary dog with a more than average affinity with human beings. St Bernards were bred to help people in distress, so the idea of succour is innate in them, but Bamse's affinity with human beings was highly developed - he was a one-off, extraordinary dog. I've never heard of any dog of any breed that took on so much personal responsibility, not just for his master, but for all the people that came within his sphere of concern."

Dr Willie Jarl Nilsen, a psychiatrist from South-Troms, is the son of the man Bamse saved from being stabbed. He said: "Although my father did not talk very much about the war, he did tell my family many stories about the amazing exploits of Bamse. The stories about Bamse were part of the bedtime stories for me as a child. My mother has informed me that my father's life was in real danger, and that he had been saved without doubt by the quick action of Bamse."

The St Bernard is a national hero in Norway and was so famous in his lifetime that some reports claim six ships-worth of sailors flocked to his funeral parade in 1944, when he was interred in the sand dunes of Montrose. He was also popular with schoolchildren, who were given the day off to mourn his death.

Kjellaug Myhre, acting Norwegian Consul General in Edinburgh, said: "Bamse has never been forgotten. I have myself recently visited Bamse's grave and can confirm that it is still lovingly tended by the people of Montrose - 64 years after he passed away.

"The Royal Norwegian Navy has sent a ship to Montrose every 10 years to honour his memory. Bamse is an integral part of Norwegian and Scottish second world war history. He is not only a Norwegian hero, but a Scottish one."

Bamse-mania is set to grow towards the end of the year, when the Norwegian Broadcasting Commission releases a short film about his exploits.

Author Jilly Cooper said:"Bamse was one of the most charming, enterprising and charismatic characters in the story of the second world war."