There was a 72-strong contingent from UK International Search and Rescue, headed up by Lincolnshire Chief Fire Officer Mike Thomas. They flew out to Haiti within hours of the news that the earthquake had struck, devastating the area around Port-au-Prince and killing an estimated 150,000 people.

Neil Woodmansey, group manager of Lincolnshire's urban search and rescue team, and his seven-year-old search dog Holly were among the specialist crew tasked to search collapsed buildings for trapped survivors.

He said: "It was a tough one with a lot of tragic scenes. For the first two days we were sent into mostly collapsed school buildings for everyone from little kids to colleges and the total figure of people dead in the ones we searched added up to over 2,000."

The UK team managed to free four of the 126 survivors rescued by 59 teams from around the globe.

They arrived home at the weekend after 11 harrowing days passing hundreds of bodies in the streets.

Unlike other search dogs on site, Holly carried on working daily throughout the whole expedition, showing tremendous stamina.

The two British dog teams did large sweeps to speed up the search in what became the longest time the search team had been out, covering the biggest ever area. On the sixth day the team experienced tremors from a secondary quake.

The firefighters had to be totally self-sufficient, pitching tents on the airfield and bringing their own food and drink.

Neil said the team had to travel everywhere in convoys guarded by the UN, army or police but added: "The people were so friendly, helpful and dignified considering what they have been through.

"I feel privileged to have been part of the team and so thankful for where we come from as it is so underdeveloped and poor out there. It was a rollercoaster of frustrations but there were highs from finding someone alive."

Holly caused a stir among locals who had not seen a black dog on the island for years as a previous dictator had believed his dead political opponent would be reincarnated as a black dog and had them all destroyed.

Sadly, now back in the UK, heroic Holly will have to spend six months in quarantine for her pains.