AS the World War I gas alarms rang out, Digger the brown and white bulldog would race up to his human comrade to be fitted with a mask.

He would even take food to wounded soldiers stranded in no man’s land and bring back handwritten messages.

Digger, a stray dog who attached himself to Australian soldiers, has now been honoured with a memorial – unveiled last Saturday – at the West Croydon and Kilkenny RSL.

Sergeant James Harold Martin, an electrician living in Hindmarsh, enlisted in 1914 at the age of 22 and adopted Digger as a mascot.

After they sailed together from Melbourne, Digger remained by his owner’s side through the fury of Gallipoli and the perils of the Western Front.

Records show he had been wounded and gassed at Pozieres in 1916, shot through the jaw, lost three teeth, blinded in one eye and left deaf in one ear.

media_camera Digger the bulldog.

The club’s president Marie Southall said the sub-branch was chosen to house the sculpture because of it’s connection to Martin.

“He was from Hindmarsh and they wanted the memorial put somewhere in that area,” Ms Southall said.

The RSL club’s secretary, Natalie Hickman, said Charles Sturt Council and the Australian War Animal Memorial Organisation paid for the sculpture.

“There was an idea to place it on Port Rd but we all felt that was not a safe home for it because of the major roadworks,” Ms Hickman said.

“An RSL is one of those place where we can look after it and make sure it is maintained.”

Digger survived the gas and the gunfire, but not the fireworks at a post-war Empire Day celebration.

Thinking he was under fire again, he tried to jump a fence and burst a blood vessel.

He managed to drag himself back to Sgt Martin’s house, where he died on his wartime companion’s bed.