Lassie, as promised.

Today in WWI brought to you by the History Channel's excellent This Day in History which everyone should be super into and read every day. They break happenings down by categories of interest, from specific conflicts like WWI to today in disasters and literature.

But let's talk about Lassie.

Today in WWI, the British ship Formidable was torpedoed in 1915. 233 of the 780-man crew survived. Happy freaking New Year.

Those who were unlucky were recovered as best as possible. Those who were very unlucky were on a raft that broke free from the recovery efforts and floated off course to Lyme Regis, where a patriotic innkeeper offered his basement as a temporary mortuary.

The innkeeper had a dog. That dog was, you guessed it, Lassie.

Good girl.

Lassie took a particular interest in one of the dead servicemen, cuddling up until - no fooling - the guy woke up.

And there's your feelgood story about the reviving powers of animal companionship in the face of the abomination of war.

May your 2018 be filled with snuggles and very few torpedoes.