Free The Bomber Dog by Megan Rix

military dog,
especially now both his ears were standing up straight. But whether he could be a
paradog remained to be seen.
    A squad of soldiers jogged past and some
of them stared at Grey.
    ‘Eyes front,
soldiers,’ the sergeant shouted at them.
    ‘Come on, Grey,’ Nathan
said, and Grey looked up at him and wagged his tail at the sound of his name.
    Grey was used to there being lots of
other dogs about at the War Dog Training School, but here there were no sounds of
barking or scents of different dogs in the air. Here he was the only dog, although
other dogs were being trained to parachute jump at other air bases. Nathan
wasn’t sure why Grey and he couldn’t be trained with those other dogs
and their handlers, but he was a soldier and his job was to obey orders without
question, so that’s what he intended to do.
    At least there was a brand-new kennel
waiting for Grey.
    Grey sniffed at it and detected that the
kennel had had a visit from a mouse earlier in the day. Grey was very fond of mice
and thesmell reminded him of happy times with Molly in the shed
back in Dover, when they would hunt for mice together.
    ‘Welcome to your new home,’
Nathan said as he clipped Grey’s lead to the kennel and went to find his
commanding officer. Grey barked as he left, but Nathan didn’t turn back. Grey
barked again and then he whined, but Nathan was gone. So Grey had a long drink of
cool water from the bowl beside his kennel and then lay down to wait for his friend
to come back. He was getting more and more used to Nathan leaving him, and gradually
learning to trust that he would come back for him.
    ‘You’ve heard about the
Calais mission?’ Nathan’s commanding officer, Major Parry, asked
him.
    ‘Yes, sir,’ Nathan said.
    ‘Well, as Calais is the closest
port to your hometown of Dover, you’ll know all about theGermans’ efforts to attack it with the large cannon-like guns they’ve
aimed squarely at it,’ Major Parry explained.
    ‘Yes, sir. I’m very much
looking forward to the day those guns finally stop firing.’
    ‘Well, the real story is that the
Calais mission is just a decoy mission and not really going to happen,’ the
major said.
    Nathan’s eyes widened in
surprise.
    ‘It’s a trick to deceive the
German military chiefs,’ the major continued.
    Nathan thought the trick had worked very
well so far. Everyone was talking about the Pas-de-Calais mission. It seemed the
only logical area for the Allied forces to strike, especially as it was so close to
Britain.
    ‘The real mission is going to take
place further round the coast, along the beaches of Normandy. We’re looking
for men like you, and your dog, to undertake reconnaissance missions and report back
on what guns andother munitions the Germans have in Normandy,
right up until the moment we attack.’
    ‘Yes, sir,’ Nathan said.
    ‘It’ll be extremely
dangerous and if you’re caught …’ The major looked down at the
papers on the table in front of him. ‘Well, just don’t get
caught.’
    Nathan gulped. ‘No,
sir.’
    ‘You’ll need extra language
and code lessons.’
    ‘Yes, sir.’
    ‘And your dog will need extra
infantry training as well as parachute training. It’s a lot to ask.’
    ‘We won’t let you down,
sir,’ Nathan said.
    ‘Keep all this under your
hat,’ the major told him. ‘Everything I’ve told you today is to be
kept top secret. Hitler needs to keep thinking our intended landing area is Calais
until it’s too late.’
    Nathan left the
major’s office feeling slightly dazed but very excited too.
    He headed back to Grey’s kennel
only to find that the dog was no longer alone. There was a black and white cat
sitting on the kennel roof.
    ‘Don’t mind Astor,’ a
smiling man told him, as he came over with a bone for Grey. ‘She loves dogs
and she’s a great mouser. My name’s Bert, by the way. I’m the
camp’s chef. Pleased to meet you.’
    After supper Nathan took Grey for a
walk round the grounds and