Homing pigeons have long played an important role in war. Due to their homing ability, speed, and altitude, they were often used as military messengers because they were less likely to be intercepted by enemy forces.[1] Carrier pigeons of theRacing Homer breed were used to carry messages inWorld War I andWorld War II, and 32 such pigeons were presented with theDickin Medal.[2] Medals such as theCroix de Guerre, awarded toCher Ami, and theDickin Medal awarded to the pigeonsG.I. Joe andPaddy, amongst 32 others, have been awarded to pigeons for their services in saving human lives. Pigeons had a 95% success rate in delivering their messages.[3]
During World War I and World War II, carrier pigeons were used by the Australian, French, German,American, and UK forces, to transport messages back to their home coop behind the lines. When they landed, wires in the coop would sound a bell or buzzer and a soldier of theSignal Corps would know a message had arrived. The soldier would go to the coop, remove the message from the canister, and send it to its destination bytelegraph,field phone, or personal messenger.
A carrier pigeon's job was dangerous. Nearby, enemy soldiers often tried to shoot down pigeons, knowing that released birds were carrying important messages. Some of these pigeons became quite famous amongst the infantrymen for whom they worked. One pigeon, named “Spike”, flew 52 missions without receiving a single wound.[4] Another, namedCher Ami, lost his foot and one eye, but his message got through, saving a large group ofsurrounded American infantrymen.
Before the advent of radio, carrier pigeons were frequently used on the battlefield as a means for a mobile force to communicate with a stationary headquarters. In the sixth century BC,Cyrus, king ofPersia, used carrier pigeons to communicate with various parts of his empire.[5] In Ancient Rome,Julius Caesar used pigeons to send messages to the territory ofGaul.[6]
During the 19th-centuryFranco-Prussian War (1870–1871), besieged Parisians used carrier pigeons to transmit messages outside the city; in response, the besieging Prussian Army employed hawks to hunt the pigeons.[5] The French military usedballoons to transporthoming pigeons past enemy lines.[7]Microfilm images containing hundreds of messages allowed letters to be carried into Paris by pigeon from as far away asLondon. More than one million different messages traveled this way during the four-month siege. They were then discovered to be very useful, and carrier pigeons were well considered in military theory leading up to World War I.
The United States military first used pigeons for communication during theSpanish–American War. TheCoast Signal Service used pigeons that were trained to return to lighthouses along the Atlantic Coast, and the North Atlantic Squadron relied on the Naval Pigeon Messenger Service during exercises. Both the Boston Homing Club and the National Association of American Homing Pigeon Fanciers offered their birds to the war effort. After war was declared, the Naval Pigeon Messenger Service provided communications between ships off the East Coast. Pigeons were used on torpedo boats at naval headquarters in Key West and on ships leaving San Francisco. A regiment from Colorado sailing to the Philippines sent messages back to San Francisco to notify GeneralWesley Merritt of their progress. However, developments inwireless telegraphy led to the discontinuation of the Naval Pigeon Messenger Service, and the birds were auctioned off.[8]: 50–64
Homing pigeons were used extensively during World War I. In 1914, during theFirst Battle of the Marne, the French army advanced 72pigeon lofts with the troops. TheUS ArmySignal Corps used 600 pigeons in France alone.
One of their homing pigeons, a Blue Check cock[a] named Cher Ami, was awarded the French "Croix de Guerre with Palm” for heroic service delivering 12 important messages during theBattle of Verdun. On his final mission in October 1918, he delivered a message over 25 miles (40 km) despite having been shot through the breast or wing. The crucial message, found in the capsule hanging from aligament of his shattered leg, saved 194 US soldiers of the77th Infantry Division's “Lost Battalion" in theBattle of the Argonne, in October 1918.[10][11] When Cher Ami died, he wasmounted and is part of the permanent exhibit at theNational Museum of American History of theSmithsonian Institution.[12]
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.[13]
Pigeons were considered an essential element of naval aviation communication when the first United States aircraft carrierUSS Langley was commissioned on 20 March 1922, so the ship included a pigeon house on the stern.[14] The pigeons were trained at theNorfolk Naval Shipyard whileLangley 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 whileLangley was anchored offTangier Island, the pigeons flew south and roosted in the cranes of the Norfolk shipyard.[15] The pigeons never went to sea again.[14]
During World War II, the United States military trained 54,000 homing pigeons. Over 36,000 of those pigeons were used overseas by 12 signal pigeon companies throughout each theater of operation.[8]: 113 Upon arriving in Germany, members of the 285th Signal Pigeon Company located over 1000 homing pigeon lofts and clipped the feathers of over 15,000 pigeons to prevent their use by the Germans.[8]: 119
During World War II, the United Kingdom used about 250,000 homing pigeons for many purposes, including communicating with those behind enemy lines such asBelgian spyJozef Raskin. TheDickin Medal, the highest possible decoration for valor given to animals, was awarded to 32 pigeons, including theUnited States Army Pigeon Service'sG.I. Joe and the Irish pigeonPaddy.
The UK maintained theAir Ministry Pigeon Section during World War II and for a while thereafter. A Pigeon Policy Committee made decisions about the uses of pigeons in military contexts. The head of the section, Lea Rayner, reported in 1945 that pigeons could be trained to deliver small explosives orbioweapons to precise targets. The ideas were not taken up by the committee, and in 1948 the UK military stated that pigeons were of no further use. During the war, messenger pigeons could draw a special allowance of corn and seed, but as soon as the war ended this had been cancelled and anyone keeping pigeons would have to draw on their own personal rationed corn and seed to also feed the pigeons.[16] However, the UK security serviceMI5 was still concerned about the use of pigeons by enemy forces. Until 1950, they arranged for 100 birds to be maintained by a civilianpigeon fancier in order to prepare for any eventuality. The Swiss army disbanded its Pigeon section in 1996.[17]
The Army, in coordination with theMaidenform Brassiere Company, developed the pigeon vest, also known as pigeon bra,[3] to enable paratroopers to carry pigeons safely during jumps.[8]: 127 [1] The pigeon vest is abra-like garment specifically developed for use in World War II.[18] 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 companyMaidenform was contracted to manufacture 28,500 pigeon vests for theUnited States Armed Forces. The fabric used in pigeon vests was porous and tightly woven to prevent damage from their claws,[1] and only contained a pigeon's body, leaving their head, feet, and wings free.[3][19] The devices contained adjustable straps so the pigeons could be more easily carried byparatroopers.[1] Once they landed, the pigeon vest would be undone, and then the pigeon would fly to theirhoming base.[3] For the safety of the pigeons, it was recommended against confining a pigeon in a pigeon vest for over six hours.[1][20]
Being produced by the undergarment company Maidenform, the pigeon vests had similar construction to a single bra cup with the lacing of acorset.[21] They may have also been made from the same materials as bras.[22] Contemporary advertisements for Maidenform bras included pictures of the pigeon vest, claiming "There is a maiden form for every type of figure."[23]
After World War II ended, theWar 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?"[24]
In 2010, Indian police expressed suspicion that a recently captured pigeon from Pakistan might have been carrying a message from Pakistan.[25] In 2015, a pigeon from Pakistan was logged into Indian records as a "suspected spy".[26] In May 2020, another suspected Pakistani spy pigeon was captured by Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.[27] After finding nothing suspicious, India authorities released the pigeon back into Pakistan.[28]
In 2016, aJordanian border official said at a news conference thatIslamic State militants were using homing pigeons to deliver messages to operatives outside its "so called caliphate".[29]
In 2019, theAnimals in War & Peace Medal of Bravery was instituted in the United States, with two war pigeons recognized at the inaugural ceremony.[8]: 134
In total, 32 pigeons were decorated with the Dickin Medal, including:[30][31][32][33][34]
A grand ceremony was held inBuckingham Palace to commemorate a platoon of pigeons that braved the battlefields ofNormandy to deliver vital plans toAllied forces on the fringes of Germany.[35] Three of the actual birds that received the medals are on show in the London Military Museum[clarification needed] so that well-wishers can pay their respects.[35]
InBrussels, there is a monument commemorating pigeons that served in World War I, theMonument au Pigeon-Soldat [fr].
Three pigeons have been recognized with theAnimals in War & Peace Medal of Bravery:
![The Monument au Pigeon-Soldat [fr] in Brussels, commemorating pigeons that served in World War I](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBruxelles_-_Monument_au_Pigeon-Soldat_-_02.JPG)
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