‘Hall of Heroes’ honour for rescue dog Rip who saved 100 lives during the Blitz

A Second World War rescue dog credited with saving more than 100 lives is among a new “Hall of Heroes” celebrating heroic figures spanning centuries of history.

Rip the rescue dog, who searched for people buried in the rubble after bombing raids during the Blitz, is just one character included in the new collection aimed at celebrating everyone from unsung underdogs to wartime heroes.

Family history website Findmypast wants people to share their own heroic family figures to help create the “Hall of Heroes” reflecting figures from throughout history, with the site donating £10 to the British Red Cross for every real-life story published.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

To mark the launch of its campaign, the site is releasing four new sets of records to help people find out more about their own family heroes – Victoria Cross (VC) Recipients 1854-2006; the Royal Navy 1914 Star Medal Roll 1914-1920; the Marriage Registers of the British Royal Marines 1813-1920; and the Falklands War British Deaths 1982.

The VC collection includes the 1,349 people awarded the highest military honour for valour, given to heroes from conflicts including the Crimean War, the Boer War and both world wars.

Rip, who was originally found in Poplar, London, in 1940 by an air raid warden, was awarded the Dickin Medal for bravery in 1945, and died in 1946 after a courageous life.

The Hall of Heroes will also include Dorothea Crewdson, one of 38,000 Voluntary Aid Detachment nurses who went overseas to care for injured servicemen during the First World War.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Alongside other unsung heroes, the collection will remember some of the well-decorated figures from the First World War, such as Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, one of three people ever to have won the Victoria Cross twice, and the only person to be awarded both the Victoria Cross and bar during the First World War.

For more information, people should visit heroes.findmypast.co.uk

Related topics: