Outdoor portrait of 3926 Private (Pte) Frederick John Whitcher (seated) and 1708 Private William ...

Outdoor portrait of 3926 Private (Pte) Frederick John Whitcher (seated) and 1708 Private William Harold (Willie) Martin, both of the 50th Battalion, posing with the mascot dog of a section of the unit. Pte Whitcher told his family that the poodle was a stray found in a ruined French village and after he fed it a can of bully beef it stayed with his section. After the Armistice, units were instructed to leave their masots, but the men decided to smuggle the dog back to England inside the base drum. Whitcher was a member of this band and he noted that the scheme worked until the band had to play the men onto the ship returning them to England and the base drummer was trying not to drum too loudly. The Sergeant Major (Sgt Maj) noticed this lack of play and when he stopped the base drummer, the dog barked. The Sgt Maj remarked to the drummer said "you had better get on board with your drum and make sure you don't forget to give it a bone". The dog was found a home in England.