Equine recipients of the Dickin Medal

There have been five equine recipients of the Dickin Medal since its creation in 1943. The first three were British horses Regal, Olga, and Upstart, the Canadian Corps Cavalry horse Warrior and the American Sergeant Reckless. The first three received their awards at a ceremony on 11 April 1947 at Hyde Park in recognition of the courage they exhibited during World War II. These three were mounts used by members of the Metropolitan Police Service during official duties and to aid civilians during the Blitz and later bombings from September 1940 to late 1944. Warrior served on the Western Front during World War I and was awarded an honorary posthumous medal in September 2014. Another posthumous award was given in 2016 to Sergeant Reckless, a mare who served during the Korean War with the United States Marine Corps and was given the rank of staff sergeant. Of the recipients, three were honoured for courage during active duty, one for remaining calm when his stable was bombed on two separate occasions and one to commemorate the actions of animals during the First World War. The first three horses were selected primarily as a way to honour the entire mounted police force instead of singling out any particular deed. Olga, Upstart and Regal are buried at the Metropolitan Police Mounted Training Establishment at Thames Ditton which also displays their medals in a museum.

Approximately 186 horses were part of the Metropolitan Police mounted division during the second World War. Mounted patrols were stationed throughout London to aid in controlling traffic and improve the morale of Londoners during the frequent German V-1 and V-2 bombing raids that wracked the city during the early to mid-1940s. The horses typically had one handler during their entire career in the service and were required to remain calm during stressful situations.

Regal was a bay gelding with a small white star on his forehead and socks on his hind legs. Regal's handler during the war was P.C. Hector Poole. Regal served in the north London suburb of Muswell Hill. On 19 April 1941 during the closing months of the Blitz, incendiary bombs dropped near the Muswell Hill police stables caused a fire to erupt in the forage room, soon spreading to the area around Regal's stall. Not panicking, Regal was led out of the burning stable without injury. Three years later on 20 July 1944, the stable was again damaged when an explosion from a nearby V-1 flying bomb impact caused the station roof to partially collapse and injure Regal with flying debris.

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