In 1943, a camouflaged ship set off from Australia to England carrying top secret cargo - a single young platypus.
Named after his would-be owner, UK prime minister Winston Churchill, the rare monotreme was an unprecedented gift from a country desperately trying to curry favour as World War Two expanded into the Pacific and arrived on its doorstep.
But days out from Winston's arrival, as war raged in the seas around him, the puggle was found dead in the water of his specially made "platypusary".
Fearing a potential diplomatic incident, Winston's death – along with his very existence – was swept under the rug.
He was preserved, stuffed and quietly shelved inside his name-sake's office, with rumours that he died of Nazi-submarine-induced shell-shock gently whispered into the ether.
