A few years before World War I, Albert Marr discovered a baboon
on his farm in Pretoria, South Africa. The two became such good
friends that Marr took “Jackie” with him when he joined the
Third South African Infantry Regiment, and the baboon became
company mascot, with rations, a pay book, and his own uniform.
In August 1915 the two sailed for the war, where they saw front-
line action against the Turks and Germans and participated in an
Egyptian campaign. In 1916 Marr was hit in the Battle of Agagia,
and the medical team arrived to find Jackie licking the wound.
Marr and Jackie were both wounded in April 1918, and Jackie’s
leg was amputated, but he made a full recovery and was promoted
to corporal and awarded a medal for valor. (In 1973 Marr showed
Jackie’s discharge papers to a Johannesburg reporter. He was
listed as “bilingual.”) In 1919 Jackie took part in a London
victory procession, riding a captured howitzer. Then he retired
to Marr’s farm, where he died in 1921. In other baboon
employment news, I’ve fo