A further example, and a delightful one, in another of the RAF’s brilliant PR campaigns. The photograph was released in October 1943, and the official ‘story line’ which accompanies it reads:

BONZO JOINED THE RAF IN ITALY

Wing Commander Duncan-Smith, DSO, DFC, with the Bonzo Bulldog mascot of the famous Spitfire Squadron in Italy. Bonzo joined as a ‘volunteer’ at Taranto and refused to leave when the squadron moved. He has been with them ever since.

British Official Photograph, Air Ministry