Gunner and the Dumbo

Gunner and the Dumbo (first published in 1945) by Lieut. Dwight W. Follett, USNR, was written for his children at home. Gunner, a small black Boston terrier, is a flyer's mascot in a bomber in the south Pacific during World War II. While flying on a mission targeting an enemy destroyer, the bomber is hit by an antiaircraft shell and forced into the ocean-the crew must take to a lifeboat. Gunner, wearing his own lifejacket, helps to save the crew by warning them of enemy planes and helping them detect a friendly rescuer.