Once upon a time, during the Crimean War, the British army participated in the Siege of Sevastopol in Russia. It took two years for the city to fall and by the end people were starving. When British soldiers entered the city, on September 9, 1855, they found civilians weak from lack of food. Lieutenant William Gair was in charge of searching for supplies to help the civilians, but also for British soldiers who were low on supplies, too. In the city, Gair came upon a cat covered with dust sitting on top of a pile of trash. The tabby was not afraid and Gair carried him back to his quarters and adopted him. Gair’s mates called the cat Crimean Tom (also known as “Sevastopol Tom”). After a few days, the men noticed the feline was getting fatter. He must be getting food from somewhere, so Gair followed him when he went back into his city. Crimean Tom led them to a storeroom in a city which was filled with food supplies. The food problem was solved. The cat led Gair to other stashes after that and became a hero. When Gair returned to Great Britain, he brought Crimean Tom with him. Sadly, the food-finding feline passed away soon after. It was common for British pet owners to preserve their pampered pets through taxidermy, so Gair had Crimean Tom stuffed. For a while, he was given to the Royal United Services Institute and disappeared. In the 1950s, a woman bought a stuffed cat at a flea market. It is believed that this cat is Crimean Tom and he is now on display at the National Army Museum in Great Britain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_Tom
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/perfect-pals-and-pets-soldiers
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