wire hair fox terrier received the Dickin Medal on 12 January 1945.

Olga, Upstart and Regal

The three police horses were awarded the medal for their time on patrol duty in London on separate occasions during the war.

After being showered with debris when a flying bomb exploded nearby, Upstart (pictured centre above) was praised for quietly staying on duty with his rider controlling traffic until the incident had been dealt with.

The horses received their awards on 11 April 1947.

GI Joe

Pigeon USA43SC6390, also known as GI Joe, is credited with making the most outstanding flight by a USA Army Pigeon in World War Two.

Making a 20-mile flight in the same number of minutes, it brought a message which saved the lives of at least 100 Allied soldiers from being bombed bytheir own planes.

The bird was awarded in August 1946.

Simon

Simon is the only cat to have ever received the Dickin Medal, which was awarded posthumously 1949.

He served on HMS Amethyst getting rid of rats but was wounded by a shell blast.

The PDSA says Simon's behaviour throughout the incident was of "the highest order".

Appollo

New York police dog Appollo received the Dickin Medal on behalf of all the search and rescue dogs at Ground Zero and the Pentagon following the terrorist attack on 11 September 2001.

"Faithful to words of command and undaunted by the task, the dogs' work and unstinting devotion to duty stand as a testament to those lost or injured," said the PDSA.

Buster

In March 2003, arms and explosives search dog Buster found an arsenal of weapons and explosives hidden