"Unlikely Allies" by Chuck Oshaben: A story about crows and young pigeons

This article was published in Racing Pigeon Digest, Vol. 28, No. 20, March 15, 2020.  It appears here courtesy of the author, Chuck Oshaben, and the Editor/Publisher of Racing Pigeon Digest, Gene Yoes.  You can send correspondence for Mr. Oshaben to chuckoshaben@gmail.com and for Racing Pigeon Digest to pigeondigest@gmail.com.

The question people ask me most often about the war pigeons is, “How did they find their way back?”  Chuck’s story gives us a look into the bird world. His story is a testament to birds’ intelligence and to how well they understand us and therefore it offers some insight into why the war pigeons would risk their lives over and over again to deliver messages for their human friends.  

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Middle East Breeding Centre and School, 50 pigeons needed at Aden,1943, and talk about Enigma by Dermot Turing, 2020

Royal Air Force Operations in Middle East and North Africa, 1940-43

Armoured cars and vehicles rest on the track between Lahej and Musemir in the mountains of Southern Arabia, during a reconnaissance patrol by the RAF Armoured Car Section, based at Khormaksar, Aden.  Photo taken by RAF Official Photographer.  Imperial War Museum  © IWM (CM 5249)

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

Catalog numbers:  AIR23/998  #138, #139, #144

On February 13, 2020, Alan Turing’s nephew, Dermot Turing, gave a talk about his latest book X, Y and Z, The Real Story of How Enigma Was Broken at the International Spy Museum.  You can listen to the talk on the C Span 3 website.  Search Dermot Turing in the search box near the top of the home page.  This will take you to the page where you can click on the blue play button next to “Breaking the German Enigma Code.”  The talk includes questions and is about 98 minutes long. Turing does an excellent job of giving the Poles the credit they deserve for their contribution to breaking Enigma.  Sadly, the talk was given on the 90^th anniversary of the death of Christopher Morcom, Alan Turing’s brilliant and inspirational friend. They met in 1928 at Sherborne School.  Christopher died unexpectedly on February 13, 1930.  To learn more about their friendship, check out the documentary Codebreaker releasd in 2012.

Below is a link to the talk:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?469330-1/breaking-german-enigma-code

50 lofts needed in East Africa and Pigeon Loft 271 to serve Bombers USAAF, 1943

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

Catalog numbers:  AIR23/998

#121, #122, #123, #134, #135, #136, #132, #131, #130, #128, #124

NOTE:  Yesterday, March 7, marks the 75^th anniversary of the Allied capture of the Ludendorf Bridge across the Rhine.  For an account of this operation, check out “Hitler’s Last Bridge,” an episode of the TV documentary World War II’s Greatest Raids, produced in 2014.

Supply of Pigeons from South Africa and Establishment of Lofts for Middle East Pigeon Service, Jan-Mar 1943

The Royal Air Force East Africa Command, 1940-45

Bombs explode among Italian Caproni Ca 133s on 'K14' satellite landing ground at Assab, Ethiopia, during a raid by Bristol Blenheim Mark Is of Nos. 8 and 39 Squadrons RAF, based at Khormaksar and Sheikh Othman, (respectively), Aden. Three Ca 133s were destroyed and one damaged.  Photo by No. 8 Squadron RAF.  Imperial War Museum  © IWM (CM 2)

No date available for photo

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

Catalog numbers in the order in which they appear:  AIR23/998

#118, #119, #120, #116, #110, #111, #112, #113