Nigger the dog

Nigger the dog belonged to a dam-buster; his name was used as a codeword to mean a certain dam had been breached. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2323508/Dambusters-v-Elf-n-Safety-On-70th-anniversary-legendary-raid-jobsworths-banned-wars-bravest-airmen--public--official-fly-past-honouring-courage.html James Holland hopes fresh interest in the raid may also curtail the tedious row about a minor footnote to the raid — Gibson’s black Labrador (killed by a car just hours before the raid). As anyone who has seen the film will know, it was called ‘Nigger’. The same word was the victorious code to let HQ know the Mohne had cracked. The same word is still on the marble slab above the dog’s well-tended grave which lies outside Number Two hangar at Scampton. However awkward it may be, it is a historical fact. Yes, the word is now deeply offensive but, no doubt, many of Gibson’s vintage would be deeply offended by people walking today’s streets in French Connection T-shirts saying ‘FCUK’.