Bamse ( St . Bernard ) Bamse ( Norwegian for " teddy bear " ) ( 1937 - 22 July 1944 ) was a St . Bernard that became the heroic mascot of the Free Norwegian Forces during the Second World War . He became a symbol of Norwegian freedom during the war . Pre - war life . Bamse was bought in Oslo in Norway by Captain Erling Hafto , the master of the Norwegian whale catcher " Thorodd " , and he was taken to sea from an early age . In her childhood memories of pre - war Honningsvåg Captain Hafto ' s daughter Vigdis remembers Bamse as a very kind dog that would look after the children while they were playing . Military service . At the onset of the Second World War , " Thorodd " was drafted into the Royal Norwegian Navy as a coastal patrol vessel , based in Hammerfest , and Bamse was enrolled as an official crew member on 9 February 1940 . After the Nazi invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940 the " Thorodd " was part of the naval opposition to the Germans and had as one of its uses POW transport . Shortly before the 10 June 1940 capitulation of mainland Norway , " Thorodd " was one of 13 Norwegian naval vessels to escape to the UK , arriving 17 June 1940 . She was converted to a minesweeper in Rosyth from June 30 , 1940 and stationed in Montrose and Dundee in Scotland , where she remained for the rest of the war . " Bamse " and his crew . Bamse lifted the morale of the ship ' s crew , and became well known to the local civilian population . In battle , he would stand on the front gun tower of the boat , and the crew made him a special metal helmet . His acts of heroism included saving a young lieutenant commander who had been attacked by a man wielding a knife by pushing the assailant into the sea , and dragging back to shore a sailor who had fallen overboard . He was also known for breaking up fights amongst his crewmates by putting his paws on their shoulders , calming them down and then leading them back to the ship . One of Bamse ' s tasks in Scotland was to round up his crew and escort them back to the ship in time for duty or curfew . To do this , he travelled on the local buses unaccompanied , and the crew bought him a bus pass which was attached to his collar . Bamse would wander down to the bus stop at Broughty Ferry Road and take the bus down to Dundee . He would get off at the bus stop near his crew ' s favourite watering hole , the Bodega Bar and go in to fetch them . If he could not locate his friends he would take the bus back to base . Patriotic symbol . From his ship ' s mascot , Bamse became mascot of the Royal Norwegian Navy , and then of all the Free Norwegian Forces . An iconic photograph of him wearing a Norwegian sailor ' s cap was used on patriotic Easter cards and Christmas card s during the war . The PDSA made him an official Allied Forces Mascot . Death . Suffering from heart failure , Bamse died on the dockside at Montrose on 22 July 1944 . He was buried with full military honours , and his funeral was attended by hundreds of Norwegian sailors , Allied servicemen , schoolchildren and townsfolk from Montrose and Dundee . His grave site in the sand dunes has been looked after by local people and by the GlaxoSmithKline factory . The Royal Norwegian Navy holds a commemorative ceremony every ten years . Post - war honours . Bamse was posthumously awarded Norges Hundeorden on 30 September 1984 for his war service . In 2006 , he was also awarded the PDSA Gold Medal ( sometimes known as the " animals ' George Cross " ) for gallantry and devotion to duty , the only World War II animal to have received this honour . A larger than life sized bronze statue of Bamse , made by Scottish sculptor Alan Herriot , was unveiled by HRH The Duke of York at Wharf Street in Montrose on 17 October 2006 . On the Norwegian side the Norwegian consul in Edinburgh , Bjørn Eilertsen , was present bringing greetings from the Norwegian king , Harald V . Also in attendance were Lathallan School Pipe Band , representatives of the Royal Norwegian Navy , Hans Petter Oset , director of the Royal Norwegian Navy Museum , and the daughter of Bamse ' s owner , Vigdis Hafto . A smaller bronze version of the statue has been purchased by the Royal Norwegian Navy Museum ( Marinemuseet ) at Horten in Norway . In August 2008 a new book , " Sea Dog Bamse " was published . Written by author and columnist Angus Whitson and Andrew Orr of the Montrose Bamse Project , the book draws upon extensive source material and new eyewitness accounts . It charts the life of Bamse from prewar days in Honningsvåg , through the five years of war until his heartfelt death . Stories of the Hafto family , the Norwegian Campaign , the minesweeper " Thorodd " and its crew , the naval war off East Scotland , and the bonds between the Norwegians and the Scots are threaded together by Bamse ' s tales . The hardback book has become a Scottish best - seller , and has been reprinted . It was released as a paperback in October 2009 . The media attention has also renewed interest in Bamse in his birthplace Honningsvåg . The mayor of Nordkapp municipality , Kristina Hansen , and project manager Sigurd Berg - Hansen visited Montrose in November 2008 . They launched a campaign to raise funds to purchase and install a duplicate bronze statue of Bamse on the waterfront at Honningsvåg , where it will be seen by many of the 250 , 000 annual visitors . In December 2008 the Norwegian Minister of Defence , Anne - Grete Strøm - Erichsen announced that her ministry supported the Bamse project in Honningsvåg and would grant to the memorial statue . On 16 May 2009 the statue of Bamse was collected from the Port of Leith , Scotland , by the Royal Norwegian Navy cutter MV Leikvin for transportation to Honningsvåg . On 19 June 2009 the statue was unveiled by schoolchildren from Honningsvåg and from Montrose on the harbour front . The combined bands of the Skolekorps and the pipe band of Lathallan School played in front of a large crowd . Amongst those present were many supporters from Scotland , from Norway , Sweden and from Canada . The new statue of Bamse at Honningsvåg is looking south west towards Montrose , where the Scottish statue is looking north east towards Honningsvåg .