In October 1916, a chateau near Etaples in northern France was converted into a field hospital. Hundreds of men came through on a regular basis. One group of wounded men happened to be from the Royal Sussex, and they were placed in a ward with other wounded soldiers.
One of the men saw a large, shaggy dog walking through the ward, stopping at each bed to greet the soldiers with a friendly wag. The man recognized the dog as Bobby and called to him. Bobby instantly stopped and then ran to the soldier, barking with joy.
After that, Bobby inspected every group of wounded soldiers and found some of his other comrades. However, Bobby's job was not finished. In April 1917, the hospital was bombed by airplanes, and all of the wounded were rushed to the cellars of the chateau, which had not been used for years. Like most buildings of that time, the cellars were infested with rats. These rats were not afraid of humans and would bite the wounded men, especially those who could not defend themselves. Almost immediately, Bobby caught and killed all of the rats and kept the cellars rat free for the rest of the time the soldiers were kept in the cellars.
The mystery of how Bobby wound up at the field hospital was solved when a nurse explained that she originally had seen Bobby wandering around as if lost and brought him to the hospital. After a while, Bobby was returned to his regiment, where he resumed his work as a messenger dog. When the war ended, he was sent to England, where he was adopted and had a peaceful, happy life.
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