War pigeon - WikiHQ

War pigeons, commonly referred to as homing pigeons or carrier pigeons, are domesticated rock doves (Columba livia) selectively bred and trained to carry messages in military operations. Due to their speed, endurance, altitude, and homing ability, pigeons were frequently used as military messengers because they were often more reliable and difficult to intercept than other forms of wartime communication. Some pigeons received military honors for their service including 32 recipients of the Dickin Medal, and Cher Ami who was awarded the Croix de Guerre for delivering messages during World War I. Another, named Cher Ami, lost his foot and one eye, but his message got through, saving a large group of surrounded American infantrymen.

Breeds

The breed most commonly used in modern military history was the Racing Homer, developed in Belgium and England during the 19th century through the crossbreeding of various pigeon breeds, primarily the Smerle, French Cumulet, English Carrier, Dragoon, and the now-extinct Horseman.

History

Carrier pigeons have served military forces across multiple continents and civilizations for over three thousand years. Among the earliest recorded instances, the Sultan of Baghdad used message-carrying pigeons fitted with small capsules around 1150 BCE, establishing one of the first known organized military pigeon networks. In the sixth century BC, Cyrus, king of Persia, used carrier pigeons to communicate with various parts of his empire. In Ancient Rome, Julius Caesar used pigeons to send messages to the territory of Gaul. In 1815, a carrier pigeon brought news of the Duke of Wellington's victory at the Battle of Waterloo to London before any human courier would do so. Across the full duration of the siege, approximately 400 birds transported nearly 115,000 official government communications and close to one million private messages into the besieged capital. named Cher Ami, was awarded the French "Croix de Guerre with Palm" for heroic service delivering 12 important messages during the Battle of Verdun. On his final mission in October 1918, he delivered a message over despite having been shot through the breast or wing. The crucial message, found in the capsule hanging from a ligament of his shattered leg, saved 194 US soldiers of the 77th Infantry Division's "Lost Battalion" in the Battle of the Argonne, in October 1918. When Cher Ami died, he was mounted and is part of the permanent exhibit at the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution.

thumb|upright|German [[Pigeon photography|unmanned camera pigeon (probably aerial reconnaissance in World War I)]]

United States Navy aviators maintained 12 pigeon stations in France, with a total inventory of 1,508 pigeons when the war ended. Pigeons were carried in airplanes to rapidly return messages to these stations, and 829 birds flew in 10,995 wartime aircraft patrols. Airmen of the 230 patrols with messages entrusted to pigeons threw the message-carrying pigeon either up or down, depending on the type of aircraft, to keep the pigeon out of the propeller and away from airflow toward the aircraft wings and struts. Eleven of the thrown pigeons went missing in action, but the remaining 219 messages were delivered successfully.

thumb|upright|Leg canister for a war pigeon, U.S. Army Signal Corps, World War I. 1.0 x 2.9 cm, 1.7 gm

Pigeons were considered an essential element of naval aviation communication when the first United States aircraft carrier was commissioned on 20 March 1922, so the ship included a pigeon house on the stern. The pigeons were trained at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard while Langley was undergoing conversion. As long as the pigeons were released a few at a time for exercise, they returned to the ship; but when the whole flock was released while Langley was anchored off Tangier Island, the pigeons flew south and roosted in the cranes of the Norfolk shipyard. The pigeons never went to sea again. However, the UK security service MI5 was still concerned about the use of pigeons by enemy forces. Until 1950, they arranged for 100 birds to be maintained by a civilian pigeon fancier in order to prepare for any eventuality. The Swiss army disbanded its Pigeon section in 1996.

Pigeon vest

thumb|An example of a WWII-era pigeon vest on a pigeon-shaped mannequin

thumb|Paratrooper with pigeon vest

The Army, in coordination with the Maidenform Brassiere Company, developed the pigeon vest, also known as pigeon bra, While pigeons had previously been used in World War I, and parachutes were designed specifically for them, the pigeon vest hadn't been invented before WWII.

In 1944, the women's underwear company Maidenform was contracted to manufacture 28,500 pigeon vests for the United States Armed Forces. The fabric used in pigeon vests was porous and tightly woven to prevent damage from their claws, The devices contained adjustable straps so the pigeons could be more easily carried by paratroopers.

Being produced by the undergarment company Maidenform, the pigeon vests had similar construction to a single bra cup with the lacing of a corset. They may have also been made from the same materials as bras. Contemporary advertisements for Maidenform bras included pictures of the pigeon vest, claiming "There is a maiden form for every type of figure."

After World War II ended, the War Assets Administration salvaged 27,064 pigeon vests as surplus property. The entire batch was purchased by a single dealer. An administration officer with the administration said, "He didn't say what he planned to do with them. What could anyone do with 27,064 pigeon vests?"

21st century

In 2010, Indian police expressed suspicion that a recently captured pigeon from Pakistan might have been carrying a message from Pakistan. In 2015, a pigeon from Pakistan was logged into Indian records as a "suspected spy". In May 2020, another suspected Pakistani spy pigeon was captured by Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir. After finding nothing suspicious, India authorities released the pigeon back into Pakistan.

In 2016, a Jordanian border official said at a news conference that Islamic State militants were using homing pigeons to deliver messages to operatives outside its "so called caliphate".

In 2019, the Animals in War & Peace Medal of Bravery was instituted in the United States, with two war pigeons recognized at the inaugural ceremony.

All Alone (1943)
Winkie (1943)
Tyke (1943)
White Vision (1943)
Commando (1944)
Paddy (1944)
William of Orange (1944)
Gustav (1944)
Beach Comber (1944)
Royal Blue (1945)
Mary of Exeter (1945)
G.I. Joe (1946)

A grand ceremony was held in Buckingham Palace to commemorate a platoon of pigeons that braved the battlefields of Normandy to deliver vital plans to Allied forces on the fringes of Germany. Three of the actual birds that received the medals are on show in the London Military Museum so that well-wishers can pay their respects.

The Mocker, service in World War I (2023)

Gallery

File:A member of the crew of an RAF Coastal Command Lockheed Hudson holding a carrier pigeon, 1942. TR42.jpg|A member of the crew of an RAF Coastal Command Lockheed Hudson holding a carrier pigeon, 1942

File:1972 Musik Kpl uniform.jpg|Left: Swiss homing pigeon service sergeant major, Women's Military Service, uniform of 1986

File:War Pigeon Carrier.jpg|War pigeon carrier at the History on Wheels Museum, Eton Wick, Windsor, UK: The pigeon would be released from this carrying important messages back home.

File:Bruxelles - Monument au Pigeon-Soldat - 02.JPG|The ' in Brussels , commemorating pigeons that served in

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Notes

References

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External links

Smithsonian page on Cher Ami, a decorated World War I pigeon
History of the 77th
Pigeons and WWI
World War 2 History and the WW2 Pigeons
Reuters (21 May 2004)