Nan, also known as
Celestine and sometimes referred to as
Billie, was a female goat who served as the official mascot of the
21st (Eastern Ontario) Canadian Battalion of the
Canadian Expeditionary Force (
CEF) during the
First World War. Nan was purchased by a soldier of the 21st while the battalion was in
Brockville,
Ontario and served with the battalion throughout the next four years in
Canada,
England and in continental
Europe. Due to the care given to her by members of the battalion, Nan survived the war and holds the distinction of being the first Allied mascot to cross into Germany after the
armistice on
November 11,
1918. Despite a close run-in with the Board of Agriculture in England following the war, Nan was able to accompany the battalion back to Canada in the spring of
1919.
Upon arriving back in Canada, the battalion was disbanded in
Kingston and Nan was placed in the care of various persons and facilities before ending up in the stables of the
Royal Military College (RMC) in the fall of 1919. While there she would be presented to the visiting
Prince of Wales by her former handler
Piper William Nelson, and was awarded three separate
medals for her service to the British Empire and Canada. By the fall of
1924 Nan had begun experiencing the affects of old age. On
September 22 of that year Nan was quietly put to sleep under the direction of a military
veterinarian, and was buried with
full military honours by several surviving members of the 21st Battalion.
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