By the time she was a year old, Judy had already endured a night spent lost on the streets of downtown Shanghai and a fall into the fast-moving Yangtze, both of which should have proven fatal. Transferred along with much of the crew to the HMS Grasshopper in the spring of 1939, Judy quickly developed the reputation of being both brave and foolhardy.

As tensions rose across the Far East and the South Pacific, the Grasshopper let out of Shanghai for the relative safety of British-controlled Singapore. The ship was still stationed there on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941 (December 8 local time), when waves of Japanese bombers attacked Singapore with the same ferocity as Pearl Harbor, some 7,000 miles to the east.

In the chaos that followed, the Grasshopper fled, only to be caught by twin-engine bombers on Valentine's Day 1942. Visions of escape ended when the ship slammed into rocky shallows 50 yards off an unnamed Pacific island.

She was not, however, afforded a ration allotment — and what was given to the human prisoners was barely enough to keep starvation at bay. As they all withered away, Judy's protectors sacrificed a portion of what little they had to keep her alive.

Up to this point in her life, ownership of Judy was somewhat collective. She was looked after by a number of the crew, some of them having come and gone after the shipwreck, others having died at the hands of the Japanese. But a new arrival at Gloegoer One changed all that.

RAF Leading Aircraftman Frank Williams arrived at the camp shortly after Judy and was immediately drawn to the emaciated pointer. He took it upon himself to look after her, and she would remain by his side until the day she died.

One of Judy's pastimes at the camp was sneaking under the wire to scrounge for food, but her protectors eventually discovered that wasn't all she was up to. Some time into their stay at Gloegoer One, Judy gave birth to five healthy puppies.

Seizing an opportunity, Williams used the litter as a chance to protect Judy. It was well-known the Japanese commandant was a dog lover, and Williams bribed the Colonel with the gift of a puppy. In return Judy was officially registered as a POW and given a daily ration allotment.

Two years went by at the camp.

On June 26, 1944, the ship headed east across the Pacific with 700 POWs packed like sardines in its sweltering hull. Judy was lying across Williams' legs fast asleep when an explosion rocked the ship. A moment later, a second torpedo ripped into the hull. As the water rushed in, Williams pushed Judy out of a porthole before escaping himself. The ship sank in 12 minutes.

Williams was rescued two hours later, but Judy was nowhere to be found.

When he staggered into their new camp in Singapore two days later, he was immediately knocked to the ground by a blow to the back. Rolling over, there was Judy — standing over him and licking his face, still stained and stinking from the oily seas she was pulled from.

Judy had not only survived but had pulled a half dozen or more men to safety before being rescued. This had taken an incredible toll on her body, which was already on the verge of collapse from two years in a POW camp. Slowly, Williams and the rest of Judy's family nursed her back to health. She had now survived the sinking of two ships, which had claimed the lives of over 200 men in total.

She recovered just as the war ground into its final year. But there was no light at the end of the tunnel for Judy or her compatriots as the noose tightened on the Japanese Empire.

By August 1944 the crew was back in Sumatra as forced laborers on what became known as the "Pekanbaru Death Railway." Here the POWs treatment went from inhumane to unfathomable. They worked endlessly, and rations were reduced as Japanese supply lines were cut by the Allies. Judy's rations were cut completely, as even the guards began to starve.

After three years and six months at the hand of the Japanese, Judy, Williams and the remaining crew of the Grasshopper were going home.

After six months in quarantine back in England, Judy was awarded the Dickin Medal, the animal version of Britain's highest military honor. She remains the only dog to ever be officially registered as a prisoner of war.

Judy and Williams lived together in Portsmouth, England until 1948, when Williams accepted a job in Tanzania. Naturally Judy tagged along.

She spent her final years chasing wild game in East Africa, until one afternoon she lit off into the bush and didn't return.

She was found four days later by local villagers, who passed the word along to Williams. He arrived at the village expecting the worst, and there was Judy — still alive yet again

But this time, the exhaustion from her adventure was too much. Judy of Sussex died in Tanzania on February 17, 1950 — she was 14 years old.

She was buried not far from Williams' home.