With the regimental mascot, 1904

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Credit: Image © Durham Record Office (D/DLI 7/194/8)

Description

Here, Jimmy is pictured at Aldershot in 1904 with the regimental mascot, a sheep named 'Robert Canning', or Billy as he was generally known. The sheep was acquired on board the Royal Indian Marine Ship 'Canning' when the 2nd Battalion was travelling from Mandalay, Burma, to Wellington, India in December 1900. Billy was given as a prize, by the officers, for sports on board ship, and was destined for their Christmas dinner. However, 'E' Company, on winning the sheep, decided to keep him as a pet, assigned him the number 9999 and called him 'Robert Canning'. He travelled to Aldershot with them in 1902, where he was free to roam where he pleased in the barracks. A bandsman colleague of Jimmy's, Charles Henry Chester, recalls that Jimmy usually led the sheep on parade at Aldershot. A newspaper cutting (D/DLI 2/2/32), however, claims that the sheep marched by himself out in front of the troops on parade. 'Robert Canning' died on 6 January 1905 after eating the Christmas decorations.

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