World War II Pigeoneers' Stories

This photo is held by The Imperial War Museum

The US Army in Britain, 1942-1945

Corporal Florian S. Nowak and Private First Class Ralph Pellegrin of the 280th US Army Signal Pigeon Company examining a German carrier pigeon captured in Belgium. Photograph taken in their unit base in an unknown location in England, 30 March 1945. Captured pigeons were send there for breeding and all birds in the US Army service were trained by the Company.

Corporal Nowak was a native of Cleveland, Ohio (4110 East 143rd Street) and Private Pellegrin came from 124 Johnston Avenue, Plainfield, New Jersey. © IWM (EA 61372)

   Sergeant Gordon H. Hayes served as a pigeoneer in North Africa and Italy, 1942-45, as part of the 209^th Signal Pigeon Company.  He writes in The Pigeons That Went to War of the important messages delivered by  pigeons such as Rain-in-the-Face, Miss Peggy, Speckel Head, Corn Willy, The Doll Baby, Lady Linda, Boston Lady, Annie, Trailblazer, Anzio Sal, Mater Brian, The Pretty Lady, Miss Brooklyn, Bad Eye, Just Jerry, Miss Kentucky, Little Wonder, Yank, Dogface, Little Girl, Hawk Bait, Wisconsin Boy, Black Magic, Monkeyface, Captain Fulton, Tru Blu, and Lady Astor.  Here is his story about Rain-in-the-Face.

   “I carried with me ten of my best pigeons on my new assignment.  My orders were to establish my combat lofts on the coast of Massa-Carrara, in the province of Toscana….Our birds were now being used by British and American intelligence units operating in this area.  One cold afternoon, a British major came to our lofts, and asked us for our most reliable pigeon, for a very important mission.  He asked us if the pigeon could go without food or water for two days.  He wanted the bird strapped to an agent’s body.  We had such a bird.  Our bird for this critical mission was one called Rain-in-the-Face.

   The black check, splash cock, # S.C. 54 USA 7563, was hatched at the Bizerte breeding base.  As a squeaker, he was picked to go into my mobile loft.  He ferried 52 messages, informing headquarters of enemy positions and movements.  He had done well in fog, rain, and snow in the formidable Futa Pass, and was also active on the Cassino front.  A steady performer, he was always chosen for tough missions.  Big and strong, beautifully feathered, with bright red eyes, he was every inch a champion.

   In December, 1944, he was to carry his last message out of my loft at Massa-Carrara.  Placed in a pigeon sling, he was taken by an intelligence agent through the mountains into enemy territory.  Strapped to the spy’s body for two days, he endured a rough deal with grace.  Pvt. Joe Pomianowski and I took turns waiting for his return.  Rain-in-the-Face hit the loft the fourth day.  Unable to walk, he flapped his wings trying to enter the trap.  I went over, picked him up-a mass of dried blood.  One leg was gone.  Yet he had made it!  A bigger surprise:  the leg bearing the message remained intact!

   Nothing could be done to save Rain-in-the-Face, however hard we tried or sad we felt.  I comforted myself in the faith that he had given his life in a soldierly fashion.  We buried him with honor at the base of a cedar tree.  Later I learned that the message and map contained information on German gun positions.  Thanks to our pigeon martyr, Rain-in-the-Face, those guns were silenced forever.  For this reason this brave bird is permanently etched in my memory.”

   Lieutenant Colonel Jerome J. Pratt served as a pigeoneer in England, France, and Germany, 1944-45, as part of the 285^th Signal Pigeon Company assigned directly under Headquarters, 12^th Army Group.  In Courageous Couriers, Memoirs of a Pigeon Soldier, he writes: 

   “Our assignment to Headquarters, 12^th Army Group, gave us the responsibility of training replacement pigeons for all the United States and France forces under the Group.  As an additional duty, I became the pigeon advisor for the Chief Signal Officer, European Theater of Operations, and Signal Officer 12^th Army Group.  Also pigeon liaison representative to the British Air Ministry and the French Army.  This gave me the opportunity to travel all over Europe to observe the employment of pigeons….

   To keep up with advancing units, a pigeon detachment used two lofts in what we called leap-frogging.  A loft would be settled near the division message center at the command post.  As soon as an advance command post was selected the other loft would move up and start to settle their birds at that location.  When the advance loft became operational, the one to the rear moves forward to the next advance command post, and so on.  From this procedure you can see it was necessary for the pigeoneers to be up front of the main body of troops at times….

   The most needed and desired time for pigeon communication was at river crossings when the battalion headquarters were separated from their regiments without wire communications and maintaining radio silence between the command posts.  Usually the continuous barrage of artillery fire over the river coming from both sides would delay a foot messenger unit until after dark.    When pigeons were available they could be released during the day and get the message through several hours and sometimes a full day earlier.  Infantry soldiers carried the pigeons across the rivers in anything they could sling around their bodies, such as ammunition bags, musette bags, and even a sugar sack.”