This week I started in on a couple of the Patton books by Denny G. Hair. These include excerpts from Patton’s diaries and stories from people who were there. Fantastic!
(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, Kew, UK
Catalog numbers: WO208/3560 #49, #50, #51, #53, #54, #58, #59, #60
Excerpt from Moon Squadron, by Jerrard Tickell, pages 131-32
“Considerable use was made of homing pigeons by friend and enemy alike and, at one time, to be found in possession of one was a reasonably certain passport to a firing squad. The employment of these engaging and interesting little messengers had only been sanctioned by some sub-ministerial qualms.
Long before the First World War, Sir George Aston, then a junior Intelligence Officer, had had the temerity to suggest to some more senior friends in the War Office and in the Foreign Office that they, on his behalf, might put the carrier pigeon idea forward and call the attention of the Admiralty officially to the courier potentialities of our feathered friends. The file proceeded on its leisurely course via IN, PENDING, and OUT baskets and at least reach the desk of Grander Panjandrums. He clearly forgot-if indeed he ever knew-the part played by pigeons after the field of Waterloo when they bore home the news of Wellington’s victory, sent Britain’s credit soaring and swelled the fortunes of their employers, the House of Rothschild. He read the bulky filed with resistance and distaste. Who can say what small boy remembrances of his grandmother’s parrot calling “Nothing today, Milkman” came into his mind? With the air of one whose time has been wasted and who is recording a foregone conclusion he wrote: NO ACTION. THESE BIRDS MIGHT CARRY MISLEADING INFORMATION. Despite this initial rebuff, however, pigeons came to stay.
They were dropped by 138 Squadron in specially constructed crates to which were attached little parachutes. For the first time in their lives they floated between heaven and earth other than by their own volition and those who came home seemed none the worse for what must have been a great psychological shock. There were many who failed to return and it is sadly assumed that they had, alas, got no further than the inside of an oven. These were hungry times and so delicious an addition to the menu was irresistible.”
A couple of days ago, I listened to an interview with veteran Matt Mckinnon-Pattison. He’s got a boatload of stories and really enjoys telling them. To hear the interview, look up We Have Ways of Making You Talk, the podcast hosted by historian James Holland and comedian Al Murray.
Pigeon Messages from Behind Enemy Lines, 1941
(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, Kew, UK
WO208/3560 #43, #44, #45, #46, #47, #48
We think of you everyday, beautiful dove.
You are not forgotten.
Happy Days! The Record Copying Department at The National Archives, Kew is open. Hopefully I will have some new batches of pigeon files by the middle of December.
It’s an easy process to get copies. You can use the link below to go to the search page. Once you find a file series you might want copies of, the process of getting the copies becomes apparent by following the prompts on each successive page.
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
Having listened to most of the Bletchley Park podcasts several times, one day I scrolled to suggested podcasts. This led to The World Wars on the History Hits Network. Every episode has been fascinating but the best are the interviews with the veterans.
Speaking of first-hand accounts, Moon Squadron by Jerrard Tickell, includes some heart pounding stories by pilots who flew SOE agents to occupied Europe, as well as accounts from the agents themselves. The Special Duties Squadrons also made flights to Poland. These flights were incredibly dangerous. Some of those who survived reveal their stories in Moon Squadron. The book was published in 1958.
(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, Kew, UK
Catalog numbers: WO208/3560 #37, #38, #39, #40, #41, #42
(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, Kew, UK
Catalog numbers: WO169/11296 #15, #17, #29, #30, #51, #52
WO208/3560 #25, #26, #27, #28, #29
Who Were Fasson and Grazier?
On October 30, 1942, a history-changing pinch of documents and code books took place as a German U-boat, U-559, was sinking in the Mediterranean. These documents and code books ultimately were transported to Bletchley Park, where they aided in decrypting the messages encrypted by the German naval Enigma machine.
Ten months earlier, the Germans had added a fourth rotor to that machine which allowed for another layer of encryption of the messages. This resulted in a ten-month blackout of intelligence on the whereabouts of German U-boats. The U-boats sank British merchant ships in such numbers that that the English were in danger of being starved to death.
The code books and the documents retrieved from U-559 led to identifying the the location of fifteen U-boats, and set events in motion for their destruction.
Who retrieved the documents and code books that caused a significant turning point in the war in favor of the Allies and prevented the starvation of millions of people? Colin Grazier and Tony Fasson, who were assisted by Tommy Brown. Brown passed the documents and code books from the U-boat to one of the destroyer’s rowing boats. As the U-boat began to sink, Brown shouted, “Abandon ship!” He survived. Tragically, Fasson and Grazier perished beneath the sea. Their bodies were never recovered.
The Guardian published an article in 2017. Here’s a link to it:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/20/enigma-code-u-boat-u559-hms-petard-sebag-montefiori
The Bletchley Park podcast, episode E68, “Turning Points” includes a feature about the pinch.
When we think of people who made a difference in the outcome of the Second World War, we tend to think of Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, Zhukov, Eisenhower, Patton, and Montgomery. These generals and statesmen led mostly from a place of safety. They slept in a bed and had plenty of clean socks and relatively new footwear, along with clothing appropriate for the season.
Fasson and Grazier, like millions of others, didn’t sleep in a bed, probably only had one extra pair of socks, if that, and had footwear that was on it’s way out. It’s not the fault of the aforementioned generals and statesmen that their job required them to lead from a place of relative safety. They had to be kept alive.
Fasson and Grazier dove into a cold sea and worked as fast as they could to get documents and code books off a sinking U-boat. The U-boat sank so suddenly and so fast, that they couldn’t get out. Can we try to remember them when we think of those who made a difference in the outcome of the war?
Columba Pigeon Messages From Behind Enemy Lines
(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, Kew, UK
Catalog numbers: WO208/3560 #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23
You can use the scroll bar at the bottom to center the document, if necessary.
