Catch the Pigeon
Pigeon carrying vest, United States Forces issue, used by the Royal Signals in the Far East, c1939-45. NAM 1997-10-127
Message birds
American paratrooper with a pigeon vest, c1945. Courtesy of US Army Communications-Electronics museum
During the World Wars pigeons were used to carry messages because of their speed and their incredible homing instincts. With a maximum speed of 96 kilometres an hour (60mph) they could quickly fly up and out of range. They could also be relied upon when other forms of communication had failed – 95% of messages sent by pigeon were received. Unfortunately, they could not be used after dark. They were also susceptible to gas, and countermeasures like birds of prey.
During the First World War (1914-18) British pigeons numbered 20,000 by 1918. A force of 380 men handled them. The number of birds used during the Somme offensive of 1916 was approximately 12,000. Pigeons were transported in ‘assault baskets’ carried on the back of soldiers. The average time to carry a message from the front line to headquarters was 25 minutes. Several hundred pigeon messages were passed during most battles. Casualties were fairly high with around 10% of the birds employed during the Battle of Messines (1917) falling foul of enemy fire. Other fatalities resulted from lofts being shelled and gassed.
Illustration from a manual of instruction on the use of military homing pigeons. NAM 2003-10-9-10
During the Second World War (1939-45) several pigeons received the Dickin Medal, the ‘animals’ VC’. One such bird was ‘Mercury’ who won it after ‘carrying out a special task involving a flight of 480 miles from Northern Denmark while serving with the Special Section Army Pigeon Service in July 1942’. Another was the ‘Duke of Normandy’, ‘the first bird to arrive with a message from Paratroops of 21st Army Group behind enemy lines on D Day 6 June, 1944’.
