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Lassie
The sinking of the Formbidble with the death of 500 sailors was a tragedy for the British Navy, but out of the tragedy came a story that would continue, usually without its origins being known, for years to come as a Hollywood trope.
When bodies from the Formidible began to wash up on the shore near Lyme Regis they were brought to the basement of a pub for organization and identification. Soon more than 100 bodies were lined up in the basement. A local half-collie Lassie was seen by many working with the bodies to find one particular one and curl up to it, occasionally licking its nose and seeming to try to warm the dead man back to life. After several hours of this behavior a caretaker came to take Lassie away, worried that the dog was being traumatized by the dead sailors. Lassie refused to leave the "dead man" John Cowan's side and was then left to her devices. When the job of arranging the bodies was finished a caretaker was amazed to discover Cowan moving his hands - this was especially so since each body had been checked several times to assure they were indeed dead, and the mans skin was nearly frozen from the cold.
Cowan survived, and later came to visit the dog that saved his life, who became a local hero. Lassie would eventually be published as a short story by Erik Knight in 1940 with no reference to the actual original Lassie.
Another dog, Bruce would also make the news. Bruce was Captian Loxeley's (commander of the Formidible) dog, who was last seen sitting calmly by his owner as the ship sank. He would be found washed ashore in Abbotsbury, where he was buried in a local church yard with a grave marker.
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