The Blitz hero with a nose for survivors
The first thing they heard was the relentless scratching of those eager little paws.
Then a yap or two, followed by some excitable doggy sniffs.
Deep beneath the rubble of a bombed-out building, the light would slowly break through to a helpless victim as wartime rescue teams picked and tore at the devastation with their bare hands.
What a magnificent sight it must have been when a damp, dusty nose finally pushed its way into the tiniest gap to make contact with the trapped or injured victim.
And thus, with a triumphant wag of his stubby little tail, Rip the gallant mongrel terrier chalked up another life saved in an exemplary career as a search dog.
In 12 months between 1940 and 1941, the plucky mutt combined all the inherited skills of uncertain parentage to rescue more than 100 victims of the Blitz from the air-raid ruins of London.
Then he carried on the good work for another four years until the end of the war.
But what made this tale of a shaggy dog so remarkable was that Rip was never trained for search and rescue - he simply attached himself to a Civil Defence team after being bombed out of his home. Then he mucked in as a sniffer dog solely because he enjoyed it.
His astonishing success rate earned him the rare honour of a PDSA Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of a Victoria Cross.
It was an accolade he took to his grave when illness and old age finally laid him to rest in 1946, buried beneath a headstone which records that he 'played his part in the Battle of Britain'.
Rip was made homeless after the Luftwaffe attacked Poplar, East London, in 1940. He somehow survived the bombing but was left to roam the streets, probably stealing scraps to keep himself alive.
One day he came across an Air Raid Precaution Warden called King, and befriended him. Mr King tossed him titbits in the hope that he would go away.
But that brief gesture led to a partnership which endured for the war - and in every sense, for King and country.
Far from disappearing, Rip volunteered for duty and became the unit's first mascot - then, crucially, the service's first sniffer dog.
It wasn't a question of training him, Mr King noted at the time - they simply couldn't stop him.
Rip instantly showed a talent for locating people buried in bomb debris, mostly around the badly hit dock area that became a prime target during the Blitz.
Despite the dangers, he worked courageously through the crashing and explosions of the bombing raids, braved fire and smoke with apparent disdain, and was completely unfazed by the air-raid sirens that used to strike fear into the hearts of the population.
The first sign that someone was trapped in the rubble was a twitching and sniffing of his sensitive nose.
So keen was he to follow it through that he dug at the fallen bricks and masonry like a Jack Russell looking for a rabbit (a trait assumed to have been passed down through what was clearly a highly complex ancestry).
After blackout he would accompany Mr King on his nightly tour of street shelters, always welcoming a tasty treat from grateful people he met.
It was largely due to Rip that the authorities later decided to train dogs formally to trace casualties.
In July 1945, his uncommon valour earned him the PDSA Dickin Medal, two years after it was introduced by the veterinary charity's founder Maria Dickin. He wore it proudly on his collar until he died.
The bronze medal was given to animals displaying 'conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty' serving or associated with the Armed Forces or Civil Defence units, and has since been awarded to animals involved in Iraq.
When Rip died, he became the first of a succession of 'supreme animal heroes' to be buried in the PDSA cemetery in Ilford, Essex.
The headstone inscription reads: 'Rip, D.M., "We also serve" - for the dog whose body lies here played his part in the Battle of Britain.'
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