Remembering Donkeys at War #2 – Jimmy and Smoke

The first post in this series of donkeys at war looked at donkeys (and mules) contributing to the war efforts of armies throughout the ages – ancient, medieval and modern – as beasts of burden. This post looks at the emotional support that two donkeys, Jimmy and Smoke, offered soldiers in 1916 and 2008 respectively. Here are their stories:

Jimmy (1916-43)

Jimmy was born during the battle of the Somme in 1916. During a lull in fighting, some soldiers of the 1st Scottish Rifles (later the Cameronian Scottish Rifles) noticed a movement in no-man’s land; it was a new-born donkey, covered in mud, whose mother had been killed soon after giving birth. A soldier risked his life to rescue the colt and the regiment then cared for the newborn, weaning him on tins of condensed milk. He remained with the troops until the end of the war. Once he was strong enough, he carried wounded soldiers to safety as well as delivering supplies and ammunition. More significantly however, as war historian Sam Morrell has noted: “Jimmy played an important role in keeping up the morale of the troops, even if he just acted as a distraction from the horror of what was around them.”   

At war’s end, the Scottish Rifles made their way back to Scotland stopping at Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, where Jimmy was sold at an auction. He was bought by a Mrs Heath, who used Jimmy to raise money for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), giving carriage rides to children. Jimmy lived out the rest of his life in Peterborough dying of natural causes in 1943. A memorial was erected to Jimmy in Central Park that commemorates Jimmy and his amazing story. In 2012, Jimmy was posthumously awarded the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) Dickin Medal for bravery – the highest honour that can be bestowed upon an animal in the United Kingdom.

Smoke (unknown-2012)

Fast forward almost a hundred years and another donkey found companionship with soldiers on active service. In 2008, a donkey wandered into a US military base in Iraq. It soon befriended the Marine battalion stationed there, and after consuming one soldier’s packet of cigarettes, it was aptly named ‘Smoke’.

Despite there being an army prohibition on making pets of the local animals, the shrewd commander arranged for a psychologist to write a report supporting Smoke as an emotional support animal. Smoke was allowed to stay. He provided companionship, entertainment and a welcome distraction for the soldiers. Even soldiers families learnt about Smoke and would ask after him and even send him parcels. At the end of the deployment, Smoke was gifted to a local sheik. Yet the camp’s original commander, could not forget Smoke and his contribution to the soldiers’ wellbeing and he arranged to have Smoke brought to America. This turned out to be no easy feat: no-one had ever brought a donkey from Iraq to the United States. After reams of paperwork, a lot of diplomacy, international negotiations and over US$18,000 Smoke arrived in Nebraska. He lived out the rest of his life as a therapy donkey helping children with special needs.

Neither donkey was meant to serve militarily, but that is what happened. Jimmy and Smoke provided emotional support for soldiers during times of war and attest to the mutually beneficial and dynamic relationship between people and animals. Lest we forget.  

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