Patience Whitwill, or Pug as she is much better known, was one of the founder members of the North Devon Working Gundog Club. She has always had a love of Flatcoated Retrievers, which she enjoyed working on picking-up duties on Exmoor until only a few years ago.
At the end of January this year, she was presented with a World War Two Royal Navy Service Medal by Royal Navy Regional Commander, Commodore Jamie Miller at a ceremony at her nursing home in South Molton.
Pug joined the Women’s Royal Naval Service and served in many shore establishments, including HMS Spartiate in Glasgow, the MS Beaver in Hull and at a training establishment in Hampstead. She also worked at Bletchley Park, the national code-breaking centre which became famous for breaking the German Enigma codes, a programme in which she was actively involved.
Pug was initially awarded the medal after leaving the Womens’ Royal Naval Service but the award was never presented, so 72 years later she was finally rewarded. We congratulate a remarkable lady!