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Kiddo retired from aviation to live with Walter Wellman's daughter, but Vaniman was not so fortunate, as he died when the airship Akron, on which he was intending to make another Atlantic attempt, crashed at sea on 2 July 1912, killing all on board.
Note: Tabby kitten Whoopsy (or Whoopsie), later renamed Jazz by American admirers, outdid Kiddo in July 1919 when he stowed away aboard British airship R-34 and became the first cat to complete the trans-Atlantic crossing from Britain to America. He was brought on board by a human stowaway, William Ballantyne. They hid in the cramped space between the girders and the gas-bags, but not long into the flight Ballantyne became ill and nauseous and had to reveal himself. There wasn't much to be done, as the airship was by then over the Atlantic, so after recovering Ballantyne worked his passage as cook and general factotum. As for Whoopsy, he was looked after by George Graham, the oldest airman on board, and earned his place by providing entertainment and comfort to the other crew members. He became the airship's regular mascot until it crashed in 1921; the only injury was to Whoopsy, who suffered a bruised paw. We don't know anything of his later history. Some of the information about Kiddo comes from Allan Janus's marvellous book about animals that have flown in balloons, planes and airships, Animals Aloft (Bunker Hill Publishing, Piermont, New Hampshire, 2005). We are also most grateful to Allan for his help with obtaining permission for Kiddo's and other photos belonging to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. You can read about Allan's own cats Max and Maxine here. |
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Our featured feline at the head of the page is Simon of HMS Amethyst.
He remains the only cat ever to have been awarded the Dickin Medal for gallantry under enemy fire,
in what became known as the 'Yangtse Incident' (1949).
Read Simon's story.
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Page created December 2006, with later revisions and additions