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The Quest for Simon

This article is about my research into the story of Simon, of HMS Amethyst, who was awarded the Dickin Medal for gallantry under enemy fire. While it contains further information, photos and associated links, you need to read Simon's main story for the account of the Yangtse Incident itself and how Simon came to receive his 'Animal VC'.
Two further pages connected with Simon can also be accessed.

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I cannot remember when I first heard of Simon, the ship's cat of HMS Amethyst — but I knew little other than that he had been awarded the Dickin Medal for gallantry (often referred to as the 'Animals' VC'), and that he was buried in the PDSA animal cemetery in Ilford, Essex.

The Dickin Medal
I began to extend my knowledge in 2002 following an article in my local newspaper about a dog from the area that had also gained the medal. Subsequently I came into contact with a gentleman who had known the dog in question, and who in fact had been the person in charge of receiving war dogs back into Britain after WW2 and reintegrating them into civilian life. However, although interesting, this did not advance my knowledge about Simon, so I turned next to the internet.

Entering 'Dickin Medal' on the search engines gave me plenty of information about it and about the PDSA, the organisation that awarded it and that had itself been founded by Maria Dickin — hence the medal's title. I learned that the medal had been introduced in 1943, and I found out to which animals and birds it had been given; also that the 1949 award to Simon was the last until a further, posthumous award had been made in 2000 to a wartime dog from 1942. I still wasn't clear whether that marked the end of the story, so to speak, or whether it remained possible for an animal to win the medal; so I wrote to the PDSA — which coincidentally, I found, has its headquarters in Shropshire, at Telford, quite near where I live.

Ship's Cats
Searching for 'ship's cats' on the internet produced a quantity of interesting material. In particular it gave details of a book entitled Ship's Cats in War and Peace, published by Nauticalia of London in 2001. I ordered a copy right away, and when it arrived was pleased to find a full account of Simon's story. There are many other tales and accounts in the book: a good read for cat lovers. I was able to contact the author, Val Lewis, who referred me to the Imperial War Museum archives in London as a source of material about Simon and who also kindly supplied me with the address of a very valuable contact, an officer who had been on Amethyst at the time, and who had helped her with information and photographs of Simon.

Information from the PDSA
In the meantime, the PDSA in Telford had been very helpful. In particular, I had still wanted to know the current status of the Dickin Medal, and also whether the cemetery in Ilford was accessible to me as a member of the public, so that I could visit it to see and photograph Simon's grave and memorial. While the medal had been introduced originally as a wartime award for animals in the armed services, further awards have been made more recently, notably in connection with the Twin Towers attacks of 11 September 2001. This was considered to be a suitable occasion to amend the rules a little; I presume, therefore, that the medal could now be presented again to any animals whose conduct in time of war or terrorist attack merited it (see the main Simon story for more details of awards that have been made). I was sent an attractive and informative booklet about the medal, its history and the animals that have won it, including up-to-date details of the New York awards. I learned also that the PDSA cemetery in Ilford is always open and accessible to the public, and was able to establish its exact location using internet maps. It is, in fact, very close to the east London end of the M11 motorway, and so is easy to find and reach, being situated behind the PDSA Animal Hospital on the outskirts of Ilford (see location map). I determined to visit it.

The Animal Cemetery at Ilford
Therefore, one glorious 'Indian summer' Saturday in October 2002, with sunshine all the way there and all the way back, I drove the couple of hundred or so miles from the Welsh border to east London and found the cemetery. On a Saturday the hospital was closed, and I had the place to myself. I found it be a remarkable spot: amidst all the nearby motorways, power lines, traffic and hustle and bustle of a Saturday afternoon in suburban London, it was an oasis of tranquillity. So peaceful; I just didn't notice the traffic or other extraneous noise, and with a variety of trees and shrubs in their autumn colours it was unforgettable and really quite a special place. I was so pleased to have made the trip, and took many photographs.

I located Simon's grave and his quite splendid memorial with its inscription: Throughout the Amethyst incident, his behaviour was of the highest order. There were many other memorials to beloved pets, mostly cats and dogs, with some very poignant inscriptions expressing great devotion to long-departed companions. Most of these graves looked to be half a century old or more; at this time many of the graves' surface features had had to be removed, as they were more or less derelict, and in places the uneven ground was becoming a hazard to visitors. No matter: the grass was cut, the place was very tidy and it gave the impression of being well cared for. Just a very few graves showed signs of recent attention — including Simon's (left) which had some plastic flowers in a container — but then the great majority of the owners of pets buried here must themselves have passed on by now. It is perhaps unlikely that succeeding generations of the families would bother with the graves of pets they probably didn't even know.

Other pet memorials at the Ilford Animal Cemetery — left-click thumbnails to enlarge

Lack of Funding
While sitting in the shade of one of the several fine trees and contemplating this lovely spot for a time, I wondered whether it could be made available again for use. There is space and there would be many people who would gladly pay, and pay well, for a spot and a memorial here to their pets. I made this suggestion in a letter to the Animal Hospital, and that produced a reply from the PDSA's Property Services Department, which is responsible for the cemetery's upkeep. Apparently modern regulations that would have had to be complied with made it impossible at the time, as a considerable sum of money would have been needed to upgrade the plot, and the PDSA — funded entirely by voluntary donations — did not have the funds to spend on it. Therefore the news in late 2006 of funding becoming available to refurbish the whole place was very welcome.
[ See the paragraph Ilford Revisited near the end of this account —Ed. ]

Memorial in Plymouth
One interesting outcome of my correspondence with the PDSA was that I was told there was another memorial to Simon at the PDSA hospital in Plymouth, and I was given their address. This was the first I had heard of the existence of the plaque there, and I thought it would be good to have a photograph of it. Plymouth is a long way from Wrexham, but I resolved to visit when I could at some time in the future.

I later learned that this plaque was sculpted by Elizabeth Muntz, and had been unveiled on 13 April 1950 by Lt Geoffrey Weston, who had been severely wounded in that attack on Amethyst, but had acted as captain until Kerans arrived. The president of Plymouth PDSA, speaking at the unveiling ceremony, had said he could not help feeling that 'the poor cat, having lost his ship, his friends and his liberty, felt there was not much worth living for and died partly of a broken heart'.

What became of Simon's Medal?
Amethyst was decommissioned in 1954 and 'mothballed' at Lishally, Londonderry, in Northern Ireland, as part of the Royal Naval Reserve fleet (my thanks to Ken McCormack of Derry for this information), and Simon's medal is likely to have been held on the ship until then. It would have been treated as a 'naval trophy' — of which each ship had several — but when a ship is decommissioned its trophies go to HMS Nelson, a shore-based establishment in Portsmouth, where they are kept. A reduction in the size of the Royal Navy led to fewer trophies being retained, and so Simon's medal was eventually auctioned and was bought by a Canadian private collector, who kept it until 1993. At that time it came up for auction again, and was expected to fetch £3,000 to £5,000; however, the Eaton Film Company of London bought it for over £23,000 (some 45,000 US dollars)! Apparently they wished to use it in a video film about animals in war.

I contacted them to ask whether they still held the medal and whether perhaps I would be able to see/photograph it. They declined my request, but sent me a photo (of not particularly good quality, considering they are a film company!), a flyer about the video they had made, and confirmed that Simon's medal remained in their bank vault. The medal was released in 1999, when it was loaned for a memorial exhibition in Plymouth to mark the 50th anniversary of the Amethyst incident; and then it was loaned to London's Imperial War Museum in 2006/07 for the 'Animals in War' exhibition.

Lt Cdr Hett
The next step was to get in touch with Lt Cdr Hett, the retired naval officer whose details Val Lewis had given me. I wrote explaining what I was doing and how I had acquired his address, and asked whether he would help my research. He replied that he would be pleased to do so, but I would need to visit him to be able to see his various scrapbooks and mementoes.

A visit was arranged in early February 2003, and I was able to meet him to view and read his material one afternoon, and then return the following morning and take some of it for copying. Hett could hardly have been more helpful: he had arranged several scrapbooks with material from 1949 to date, and had marked where anything relating to Simon was located in the books, so it could be found easily. He also lined up several published books relating to the incident; more about those shortly. I read and noted photographs and articles I thought would be of interest, and took a look at the books. Stewart also possessed a couple of videos, including what I thought was the quite strange one for which Eaton Films purchased Simon's medal. In addition there was a short newsreel clip taken at Amethyst's homecoming in 1949, on which Simon could actually be seen alive. A treasure: I would love to have a copy, but did not wish to take further advantage of Stewart Hett's kindness.

'Cat Officer'
The following morning we went to photocopy a quantity of material that I would have been unlikely to find elsewhere, certainly not in so readily accessible a form, and I am greatly indebted to Lt Cdr Hett. Following my visit, he kindly answered a few other questions that came to mind when I was writing an article for The Cat magazine, who had expressed an interest in featuring Simon's story. I further discovered that it was actually he who had been appointed 'cat officer', when Simon became famous and someone was needed to deal with all the mail and gifts that arrived — but he was very modest about this and said that the captain had done most of the work.

Other Amethyst Memorials
Hett also told me of two other Amethyst-related locations: a further one near Plymouth and one in Staffordshire. It was interesting that he reported that the majority of enquiries he had dealt with over the years concerning Amethyst had been about Simon!

Books
Upon my return home I wanted to see whether any of the books Stewart had shown me could be found second-hand using the internet. There was a small, contemporary paperback by Vera Cooper devoted exclusively to Simon's story; and Two Perfectly Marvellous Cats by Rosamond Young, detailing both his story and that of Faith, the wartime cat of St Augustine's Church in London. She had also been awarded a PDSA medal, although not the Dickin since she was a 'civilian' cat. And I wanted an account of the whole Amethyst story; so on Stewart Hett's recommendation I sought Escape of the Amethyst by E. Lucas Phillips. I was able to obtain perfectly good copies of all these, as well as They also Serve, a more general account of animals' exploits in wartime.

Time Magazine
Another thread in Simon's story that I came across somewhere along the line was that upon his death his fame was such that he merited an obituary paragraph in Time magazine. I wondered how I might obtain a copy, then more than half a century old, but at the time the internet wasn't much help. A professional contact led me to enquire at the Scottish National Library, where a copy might be held. Sure enough it was, and for payment of a modest fee they sent a photocopy. Time moves on, and now this obituary can be seen online.

More Places to Visit
The remaining leads to follow were those given me by Lt Cdr Hett. The PDSA hospital plaque in Plymouth I now knew of, but apparently there is also a further memorial to Amethyst, and a separate small one to Simon, at the China Fleet Club in Saltash. Hett had a picture of it; but I wanted to take my own, so my future visit would need to include both Plymouth and Saltash.

The National Memorial Arboretum
The second spot mentioned was The National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, in Staffordshire, where there is a memorial to Amethyst and her dead, although nothing specific to the cat. This was a place I had never heard about, but it isn't too far away from where I live. It is quite new (a millennium project), and is a national memorial to those who died in any of Britain's wars. The individual memorials are sponsored by each different regiment, service or other wartime organisation that wishes to do so. I visited it on a bitterly cold day in March 2003; however, it was interesting and I was able to take some photographs, including some of the imaginative Amethyst memorial. It will be a most impressive place in some years' time when all the saplings have grown.

I revisited the Arboretum in the summer of 2005, on a much sunnier and warmer day than for my first visit a couple of years earlier, and it was good to see that the Arboretum had grown, both in popularity and literally in terms of the saplings' growth. The Amethyst memorial had been enhanced by the addition of a black marble plinth at its centre; each side of the rectangular section of it bearing the name of one of the four ships involved in the action and rescue. There is also a plaque with full details of the incident (not pictured). There is much to see here at Alrewas (not far from Lichfield) and a good number of organisations are now represented. Full details — with a plan of the site and suggested routes around it; its history; and forthcoming events — can be found at the NMA official website (see link above) and that of the Friends of the Arboretum.

China Fleet Club, Saltash: Amethyst plaque (left),
memorial to Simon (centre) and detail of Simon's plaque (right) — click to enlarge

Plymouth
Some months later I was able to make the trip to Plymouth, which struck me as a pleasant city; I had never visited before. I called at the PDSA hospital, where the plaque to Simon is situated just inside the entrance, and was kindly allowed to take photographs. I had earlier contacted the China Fleet Club and was expected there, so I made my way across the impressive Tamar Bridge to Cornwall. The manager of the club, Dave O'Sullevan — himself an ex-naval man — was most kind, especially as I was essentially a casual visitor. Over a coffee he gave me a brief history of the China Fleet Club and why it is where it is: a fascinating story in itself (see the History link on their page here). I was then given a comprehensive guided tour and was able to photograph the memorials I had come to see. It was a glorious sunny morning, which is by no means always the case in the Plymouth area.

Not long after this trip, British Pathé News made all their archive newsreels available on the internet, and I so I could download the 1949 one that reported Amethyst's homecoming to Plymouth. Simon was briefly shown — so at last I had a fleeting glimpse of him alive!

Unexpected Contact
My quest for information about Simon took two further unexpected turns during 2005, when two people having direct connections to him contacted me as a result of seeing our account of his story on this website.

The first was Anna Grant, elder daughter of Ian Griffiths, Amethyst's captain when Simon joined the ship. She most kindly lent her father's photo albums, containing pictures from his naval career, including some of the vessels he served on or commanded; his wedding and his young family; and — of particular interest to us! — half a dozen photos of Simon when he first became a crew member as a youngster. One is shown here; you will find the others on a separate page dedicated to Lt Cdr Griffiths.

During the summer it was a great pleasure to meet Anna and her husband, and we were able to make the meeting a rendezvous with Lt Cdr Stewart Hett at the same time. I am most grateful to Anna and Stuart Grant for their kindness and help, and we remain in touch.

Simon's Rescuer
A few months later I received a message that turned out to be from George Hickinbottom, a young seaman on Amethyst in 1948, who says he was actually responsible for taking Simon on board in the first place. This revelation caused us to revise our account of how the cat had come aboard. George has a couple of models of Simon (the smaller one he made himself); has done paintings of Amethyst and of the cat; and has written a fascinating book about all seven of the ships that have borne the name of Amethyst between 1793 and 1957, when the last one was scrapped (The Seven Glorious Amethysts, 1994, privately published).

I was fortunate to be able to visit George, and am much indebted to him for agreeing to meet me, as a complete stranger, and for sharing with me some of his memories of Simon and HMS Amethyst. We're delighted to be able to show pictures of some of his memorabilia.

Imperial War Museum
In summer 2006 I visited the Imperial War Museum in London, not just to catch the 'Animals in War' exhibition — for which I was able to assist the Simon tableau in a small way — but to examine two very large scrapbooks in their archives. They include all manner of newspaper articles, photos and other material of the time concerning Amethyst, collected by her captain Lt Cdr John Kerans and others. They are fascinating; there is quite a bit about Simon and I found out some details I hadn't known before.

Ilford Revisited – and good news
In autumn 2006 I made a second journey to the PDSA's Ilford cemetery, looking for the grave of one of the Home Office cats called Peter, said to be buried there. I found several headstones inscribed 'Peter', but none seemed to be the one I was seeking. I felt that the general condition of the cemetery had deteriorated considerably since my previous visit four years earlier, although Simon's grave remained in good shape. Therefore I was thrilled to learn, in November 2006, that the PDSA had been successful in obtaining a grant of £50,000 (100,000 US dollars or so, at present rates) from one of the UK lotteries for the purpose of refurbishing and improving the site. The work was carried out during 2007 and on 13 December the cemetery, now much enhanced, was formally reopened. I was fortunate in being invited to attend the opening, and a full report and photographs can be seen at this page.

Conclusion
And so my research into the story of the life and times of Simon the cat is more or less complete, although one thing I have not been able to establish is what might have happened to his Blue Cross medal (see reference in Simon's main story at the link below). I doubt whether I shall ever find that out. But it has been a fascinating quest, leading in some quite unexpected directions, and it seems that this diminutive feline, who had only a short life more than 50 years ago, is not forgotten. I was struck by the helpfulness of all the people with whom I came into contact, and express my warm thanks to them all. For a fuller list of acknowledgements, see the following link for Simon's story.

Like to read Simon's full story now?

The main page for
Simon of HMS Amethyst
includes more photos, information and links,
and also gives access to three companion pages which may be of interest.

I would be from anyone connected with HMS Amethyst,
or anyone who can provide further information
about Simon and his exploits.

---

If you would like to comment, or provide additional information,
please contact me,

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Our featured feline at the head of the page is, of course, Simon of HMS Amethyst. While this page tells of my research into Simon, you need to read the main story for the account of his role in the Yangtse Incident and how he came to be awarded the Dickin Medal.

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