Rob ( dog ) Rob ( 1939 – 18 January 1952 ) was a Collie dog who in 1945 was awarded the Dickin Medal , considered to be the animals ' Victoria Cross . He was alleged to have made over 20 parachute descents during the North African Campaign , serving with the SAS . However in 2006 , his actions were revealed as being a possible hoax perpetrated by members of his regiment in order to prevent Rob leaving after his original owners requested his return . Early life and military service . Rob was a working dog on a farm in Shropshire until 1942 , when his owners , Basil and Heather Bayne , enlisted him as a war dog . Assigned to the Special Air Service at the base in Wivenhoe Park , Essex , Rob ' s official designation was war dog No 471 / 322 . He was used as a messenger and a guard dog . When the troops based there departed for Arnhem in the Netherlands , he was not allowed on the ship and so was forced to stay behind . Dickin Medal . Rob received his medal in London on 3 February 1945 . The citation read " For service including 20 parachute jumps while serving with Infantry in North Africa and SAS Regiment in Italy . " Rob won other medals for bravery , including an RSPCA silver medal . Hoax . According to Quentin Hughes ' autobiographical account of his time in the 2nd SAS , " Who Cares Who Wins ? " , the actions which led to Rob ' s Dickin Medal were in fact a hoax . He reported that instead of completing parachute drops as reported , the dog acted as a companion to the regiment quartermaster , Tom Burt . Hughes wrote that when hearing that the family which donated Rob to the Army Veterinary and Remount Services had requested the dog back , he and Burt worked together to keep Rob by exaggerating his exploits . At one point they attempted to carry out a parachute jump with Rob but weather conditions were unfavourable and they couldn ' t follow through with the jump as Hughes wrote , " We had a suitable parachute harness and I phoned through to the RAF and made arrangements for Rob to have a short flight , unfortunately , quite a strong wind blew up during the flight and the RAF decided it would be dangerous to drop Rob on that day . " They had hoped to send a letter to his owners following the successful drop , and after the failure decided to send it anyway . Rob ' s owners passed the letter about the dog ' s actions to the PDSA , resulting in Rob ' s Dickin Medal in January 1945 . Although Hughes died in 2004 , the possibility of a hoax wasn ' t revealed until 2006 when a painting of Rob was featured in an exhibition entitled " The Animals War " at the Imperial War Museum in London . According to Hughes ' friend Mickey King , who remembered the author discussing the incident , " Quentin said that nobody survived 20 parachute drops , let alone a dog . You were lucky to survive three . " Later life . Following his military service , he returned to his owners in Tetchill , Shropshire . He died in 1952 and was buried on the family farm , marked with a stone memorial which reads : " To the dear memory of Rob , war dog no 471 / 322 , twice VC , Britain ' s first parachute dog , who served three and a half years in North Africa and Italy with the Second Special Air Service Regiment . Died 18th January 1952 aged 12 1 / 2 years . Erected by Basil and Heather Bayne in memory of a faithful friend and playmate 1939 – 1952 . " In literature . A children ' s book has been written about Rob , entitled " Rob the Paradog " , written by Dorothy Nicholle and published by Blue Hills Press .