Carrier Pigeons in History
Did you know that animals have saved lives and delivered important information in war time? This week btw takes a closer look at carrier pigeons, which were used throughout history to carry lifesaving messages back and forth, often behind enemy lines. These amazing birds carried valuable information that led to rescue missions. They are still used to communicate in some parts of the world today.
Why Pigeons?
Carrier pigeons have been known to fly hundreds of miles with great accuracy to return to a known home base. Even more remarkably, they have sometimes done this under fire. Because of this accuracy and range, they have been used to transmit messages during wartime. What gives them this unusual ability?
Carrier pigeons are a domestic variety of the rock pigeon, bred for their incredible perseverance and their “homing” ability (meaning, their ability to find their way back to a home location over great distances). The pigeons navigate using a combination of visual landmarks, the Earth’s magnetic fields, and even their sense of smell.
Operation Columba
The most famous use of carrier pigeons in warfare was “Operation Columba” in World War II. The British government dropped small containers of pigeons by parachute into parts of Europe that were occupied, or controlled, by Germany. The civilians who found them used the birds to send messages back to the British, reporting on German military activity in their area. Over a thousand messages were carried successfully by these birds. Most of them were dropped in northern France, and many flew over four hundred miles to deliver their messages back to home.
Though a thousand birds were successful, that represents only about ten percent of the total number of birds used. Threats included bad weather, predators, and the birds falling into the wrong hands. The Germans knew about Operation Columba and made it illegal for anyone to keep pigeons. Pigeon ownership was seen as an act of espionage. The Germans also used hawks to prey on pigeons.
Over thirty pigeons were awarded the Dickin Medal during World War II for “outstanding acts of bravery or devotion to duty displayed by animals.” One of them, Winkie, was aboard a British bomber when it was stuck down into the freezing waters of the North Sea. Winkie flew 120 miles home to its owner, George Ross, in a suburb in Scotland. Ross notified authorities, who were able to locate the bomber and save the men. Another pigeon named G.I. Joe saved an entire Italian village. The village was scheduled to be bombed by the Allies, but it had already been liberated by the British. G.I. Joe carried the message explaining the liberation and the town wasn’t bombed after all. Thousands of lives were spared.
A Long History
But World War II wasn’t the only time when pigeons were used in combat. In ancient Rome, the armies of Gaius Julius Caeser used the birds to carry messages during the conquest of Gaul. In the Second Punic War (218-201 B.C.E.), pigeons were used during Hannibal Barca’s invasion of Rome to communicate from remote locations in the Alps. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), Paris was cut off from the rest of France, so Parisians sent out pigeons by hot air balloon to deliver messages.
Pigeons were used in World War I as well, saving the lives of many pilots whose planes had been shot down. The most famous World War I pigeon was Cher Ami, who delivered twenty-two messages over some of the most dangerous battlefields of the war. On his final mission, he was shot by the enemy but flew twenty-five miles anyway, with the message still attached to what was left of his leg. He delivered his message successfully.
Even in modern warfare, carrier pigeons are still used from time to time. In the Gulf War (1990-1991), Iraqi troops in Kuwait sent pigeons when their communications system was intercepted and jammed.
Carrier Pigeons Today
Today, carrier pigeons still play a role in police operations in the city of Odisha, India. It’s the only operational government-run pigeon messaging system in the world. It consists of a team of 150 pigeons who are trained to fly more than three hundred miles. These birds have been useful whenever Odisha has faced a natural disaster, such as widespread flooding in 1982 and a super cyclone in 1999.
When traditional communications systems were wiped out, the pigeons were able to fly between remote areas and emergency response teams to coordinate relief efforts. However, it costs about $6,000 per year to maintain the pigeons and pay their keepers. The Internet and cell phones may have started the end of Odisha’s pigeon force.