Horrie the Wog Dog

Horrie the Wog Dog was the unofficial mascot for the 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion of the Second Australian Imperial Force. An Egyptian terrier, the dog was befriended by a soldier serving in the unit when it was stationed in Egypt during the Second World War. The dog subsequently followed the battalion throughout various locations in the Middle East and in Greece and Crete, before being smuggled back to Australia in 1942. In 1945, the dog became the subject of a book by author Ion Idriess, and is believed to have been destroyed by quarantine officials, although this remains the subject of speculation with some researchers claiming that the dog survived after its owner switched it with another prior to destruction.