In 2009, the Australian War Memorial in Canberra had a wonderful exhibition about animals used in wartime called ‘A is for Animals’ and it featured a little dog who was a dead ringer for my Tenterfield terrier, Poppy.

I was really drawn to the image of Leading Seaman Stuka, a little dog with an interesting wartime history and nine years later, in the Year of the Dog, I finally got around to painting him. And as the portrait evolved, the essence and individuality of this brave little dog revealed itself, and he wasn’t like Poppy at all.

But knowing how finely tuned and sensitive these little dogs are, I couldn’t imagine a more unsuitable breed of military mascot!

Taken Prisoner of War along with an Italian Army Unit in North Arica, Fox Terrier Stuka – named after a notorious German-type dive bomber, became mascot to His Majesty’s Australian Ships WATERHEN, DEFENDER & LISMORE respectively, before his eventual transfer to shore duty at the Royal Naval Dockyard Trincomalee, Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

In a twist of fate, the Royal Naval Dockyard at Trincomalee was bombed by Japanese aircraft on April 9, 1942, in what was named the Easter Sunday Raid. Sadly, the fate of our little mascot, Stuka, has been lost to time but he lives on, with love, in this painting.