After the remarkable story of Gloucestershire Regiment's own War Horse was unearthed last month, it has now been revealed that a dog survived the same journey.
The Sikh accompanied the Gloucestershire Regiment during the First World War, riding back and forth from the trenches in France and dodging shellfire during battles in Serbia and Bulgaria.
Chris Chatterton, curator of the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum, unearthed the remarkable story last month but after looking deeper into the archives he has found mentions of a dog called Buller.
He said: "We found a brief mention of the dog and the horse accompanying Lieutenant A C Vicary and both ending up in retirement with him in Devon.
"More research is going on in attempt to find out more but it is a very laborious process of going through thousands of images and diary extracts."
The Sikh was one of two million horses taken to the frontline during the First World War.
Her journey echoes the plot of War Horse, the Michael Morpurgo novel that has been adapted into an award-winning play and film in which a teenager from Devon and his horse, Joey, are both put to use on the Western Front.
The Sikh's story has gone global after being picked up by newspapers across the world including Hungary, India, Singapore, China and Russia.
Mr Chatterton said: "It is unbelievable how much interest The Sikh has received.
"I have had phone calls from The Times of India and TV channels in China which is bonkers.
"The story has also appeared in equine publications and military magazines and we have worked out from circulation figures that it has reached more than 900million people."
The Sikh was bred in Australia and sold to India before arriving in North China with the 36th Sikh Regiment and passed into the ownership of Lt A C Vicary.
In November 1914 when the 2nd Battalion was given orders to return to Europe, Lt Vicary obtained special permission to take his horse with him.
She was the only horse to accompany the Battalion from China and spent the eight week voyage in a makeshift open box on the deck and went ashore at Hong Kong, Singapore, Port Said and Gibraltar.
The Sikh accompanied her master throughout the whole of the First World War, regularly coming up to the trenches and led the 16th Gloucestershire Regiment in their victorious march through Serbia and Bulgaria.
She also spent time in the trenches of France and Flanders.
She proceeded with the Regiment to South Russia, and followed them home through Turkey, Greece, Italy and France and died in peaceful retirement at Vicary's home in Devon.
Mr Chatterton has been contacted by five sculptures offering to make a statue to honour the remarkable horse.
"It is fantastic that the story has had such an impact on people," said Mr Chatterton.
"The Sikh is a symbol of all the hundreds of thousands of animals which were involved in combat.
"They went through the same horrible experiences as humans but have been completely forgotten and written out of history.
"We would love to have a statue of The Sikh at the museum but cost is a problem.
"We will have to sit down and talk about it properly and think about launching a public campaign to raise money."
