3 World War 2 pigeons deliver film

     

         Paddy and Gustav, Dickin Medal Winners, 1944

(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, UK

Catalog numbers AIR2/4129 #74, #102, #103, #177, #178, #179

The message and the note about 8” of film appear on the sixth document.  The fourth and fifth documents are the forms listing the ring numbers of the pigeons used during this operation.  The second document is a thank you note for another pigeon who delivered film.  These documents may not be that interesting!  I posted them because I have read about the WW2 pigeons delivering film, but have never seen any documents from WW2 in any books which are a record of a pigeon delivering film.  8 inches of film of any kind plus the message would be heavy for the pigeon to carry.

Two fantastic books have been written about the pigeons, dogs, horses, and the cat who won the Dickin Medal for Gallantry.  They are Peter Hawthorne's The Animal Victoria Cross and David Long's The Animals' VC.
Pigeon number NPS 42 21610 delivered the film referenced on the receipt below to RAF Felixstowe on September 19, 1944.  It was then brought to Commander Childs.

 

 

British pigeon message delivered in 1944

 Pigeon in Rome by D. Truong

(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, UK

Catalog numbers AIR2/4129 #147, #148, #149, #150, #151

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The second document contains the message delivered by the pigeon.  The rest demonstrate the procedure for getting pigeons ready for operations and then who received information about the pigeon returns.

 

 

Pigeon message identifies location of SS Div. Adof Hitler

 

Photo of pigeon in Rome by D. Truong

(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, UK

WO208/3556 #34

WO208/3562 #06

The message was one delivered as part of Operation Columba.  Residents of occupied France, Holland, and Belgium sent messages with intelligence about the Germans to Britain with pigeons they found.  The pigeons had been dropped by British aircraft in small boxes attached to small parachutes in country areas.  People wouldn’t retrieve pigeons in more populated areas because sending a message with a pigeon under the German occupation was a crime punishable by death.

Operation Columba Report 1943

(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, UK

Catalog numbers WO208/3556 #22, #23, #24, #25

WO208/3555 #32, #33

Documents exceed the frame for ease of reading.

The British created Operation Columba to gather intelligence from occupied Europe.  Pigeons were dropped from aircraft in small boxes attached to small parachutes.  Residents of France, Holland, and Belgium sent the pigeons back with messages containing intelligence about the German military.

Some points in the report:

Pigeons would continue to be used in 1944 because the service was worthwhile; a message from 1944 is included after the report;

Pigeon loftowners gave their pigeons without charge because they believed they were helping the war effort;

Accuracy of dropping the pigeons was improved significantly by the pilots;

Returns of pigeons from Holland were low because the population feared the pigeons might actually be German pigeons who would return to German lofts with the messages;

Pigeons delivered messages to Britain from Bordeaux, a distance of approximately 400 miles.

 

 

Below is a message delivered by pigeon number 41-2813 from Belgium in 1944.

Photo of pigeon in Rome by D. Truong, 2015.

World War II pigeon delivers 12 page message from Belgium in 1941

(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, UK

WO208/3564 #1, #11, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23, #24, #25, #26, #27
WO208/3556 #47, #48

This pigeon delivered the 12 page message as part of Operation Columba which operated the Continental Pigeon Service.  Between 1941-45 approximately 17,000 pigeons were dropped into occupied Holland, France, and Belgium.  The pigeons were in small boxes attached to small parachutes.  The British hoped those who found a pigeon would send he or she back with information about the Germans.  Sending a pigeon with a message was a crime punishable by death under the German occupation.  Other messages delivered by the pigeons can be found in another post in the August section.  It is “The Brave Message Writers of Occupied Europe.”  You may need to scroll left-right to read the message.  It exceeds the frame for ease of reading.  Before the message is the report which explains the process for verifying the information in the message.

 

 

 

 

1944 pigeon delivers coded message

 

(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, UK

Catalog numbers AIR2/4129 #152, #154, #155, #156, #159, #160

Above are a couple of documents which give a look at the procedures used on short notice to put pigeons out on espionage operations.

Below are the notes about the pigeon who returned with a coded message.

1944 pigeon delivers message too secret to be relayed by phone

(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, UK

Catalog numbers AIR2/4129  #163, #164

This is a log and a letter created after a pigeon delivered a message on January 13, 1944.  The message began with “Good landing” and continued in another language.  Instructions were given to deliver the message under secret cover, instead of reading it over the phone.

1942 plan for pigeon to deliver coded message

Shown above: a message written on rice paper is put into a container and attached to a pigeon by members of 61^st Division Signals at Ballymena, Northern Ireland, July 3, 1941.  More pigeons can be seen in baskets behind them.  Photo purchased from Imperial War Museum Collection; originally from War Office Second World War Official Collection.

(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, UK

Catalog numbers AIR2/4129 #185, #195, #196

The minute sheet outlines the plan for the pigeon, including the codes.   Sid Moon supplied pigeons for the Special Service.

Also below is correspondence from 1942 about the use of pigeons by A.I. 1 ( c ), the Air Intelligence component of M.I.6, the Secret Intelligence Service.  Documents exceed the frame for ease of reading.