G.I Joe saves the day!

homing pigeon G.I.Joe saved 150 british troops from bombing..

Pigeon Expresso: Famous Pigeons

other ww2 pigeon heroe's

http://twoworldproductions.blogspot.com/2008/10/famous-war-pigeons.html

 

Very interesting Ray. Those pigeons are so famous that there is even a display at the Wright Patterson museum in Ohio. Thanks for posting.

 

thanks eric,good to hear from you,ray..

 

More flying rats heroism
Was looing for the story of a famous pigeon i've seen the documents from on display at the museum in the center of Verdun but found another story of a decorated WW2 pigeon called "Winkie".
enjoy

The Animal V.C.

The 1st pigeon to be awarded the Dickin Medal was a hen bird later christened 'Winkie'. She was supplied to the war effort by a Sunderland breeder. This is her story…
Following a mission to Norway in February 1942, a Bristol Beaufort aircraft was returning to her base, RAF Leuchars, Scotland. She had been badly damaged by enemy fire and there was no alternative but to ditch into the sea, some 120 miles off the Scottish coast.
Struggling in the freezing waters, the crew remembered one piece of vital equipment, a blue chequered hen number NEHU 40 NSL. It was a long shot, but she was their only chance as the crew did not have time to radio an accurate position before ditching. Struggling to release the bird from its container, her feathers were contaminated with the oily sea water, a potential disaster, but the plucky bird fought to take off, encircled the stricken plane and disappeared from view.
As soon as RAF Leuchars lost contact with the plane a rescue mission was scrambled, but few hours of daylight remained. Without an accurate position for the stricken aircraft, it would be an almost impossible task to locate the stricken aircraft.
A very bedraggled, exhausted bird flew into her loft shortly after dawn the following day. Sergeant Davidson of the RAF Pigeon Service established that she was from the downed plane. Using the time difference from the plane ditching, to the arrival of the pigeon in the loft, and taking into account the wind direction and the inhibition to her flight speed caused by oil spoilage to her feathers, Sergeant Davidson was able to approximate where the plane ditched. Another search was instigated and within 15 minutes the crew’s position had been located and a rescue vessel dispatched.
On 2 December 1943, Winkie, as blue chequered hen NEHU 40 NSL had been christened, was awarded the Dickin Medal. The citation read ‘for delivering a message under exceptional difficulties and so contributing to the rescue of an Air Crew while serving with the RAF in February 1942.’ Winkie ‘received’ her medal from Maria Dickin in March 1943; she was the first of thirty-two pigeons to receive the award.


​

 

Wasn't G.I. Joe the only American pigeon awarded the Dickin Medal? Or is he the only non- UK pigeon awarded same?

 

I think the last Clint ..still haven't found the story of the WW1 Verdun birdy yet , that bird was given a high british (?) order and was real famous , seen greeting cards with the bird on there too . It wasnt the dickin's award though if I remember it right.

think I found the birdy in question : 'Cher Ami' (Dear friend)
The award given was the french war cross or cross de guerre with palms .
Cher Ami was an american pigeon ..

World War I
During World War I some actions were undertaken after forces were informed by photos taken by military pigeons. German forces took possession of more than one million Belgian race pigeons. A war memorial reminds of the military pigeons and their fanciers who died during the war. There is also a war memorial in Lille (France) that reminds of the more then 20.000 military pigeons that were killed during the war. Airplanes and war-ships were always accompanied by racing pigeons. Military pigeons brought 717 tidings of crashed airplanes at sea. 95% of the military pigeons returned from their mission. All 72 pigeons returned to their destination during the offensive of Aisne-Marne. They brought 78 important tidings. 442 pigeons were used during the offensive of Mense-Argonne, they brought 403 tidings. Many birds were badly injured. Some of the most famous military pigeons were Cher Ami, President Wilson, Big Tom, Colonel's Lady, Steady, Lord Adelaine, The Mocker and Spike CHER AMI- was the last hope of a New-York battalion. Many pigeons were already killed. Cher Ami reached his loft although he was wounded very badly. He saved 194 lives of the "Lost Battalion". Once in America, he became the mascot of the Department of Service.


"Cher Ami" was a registered Black Check Cock carrier pigeon, one of 600 birds owned and flown by the U.S. Army Signal Corps in France during World War I. He delivered 12 important messages within the American sector at Verdun, France. On his last mission, "Cher Ami," shot through the breast by enemy fire, managed to return to his loft. A message capsule was found dangling from the ligaments of one of his legs that also had been shattered by enemy fire. The message he carried was from Major Whittlesey's "Lost Battalion" of the 77th Infantry Division that had been isolated from other American forces. Just a few hours after the message was received, 194 survivors of the battalion were safe behind American lines.”Cher Ami" was awarded the French "Croix de Guerre" with Palm for his heroic service between the forts of Verdun. He died in 1919 as a result of his battle wounds. "Cher Ami" was later inducted into the Racing Pigeon Hall of Fame in 1931 and received a gold medal from the Organized Bodies of American Racing Pigeon Fanciers in recognition of his extraordinary service during World War I.

and another addendum:
One of the most famous German pigeons was the "Kaiser". He was born in 1917 and was trained for special missions. The Kaiser was captured in 1918 by American forces in the battle of the Meuse. He was a very clever and beautiful bird and had many descendants who proved their intelligence in the races. The Kaiser died when he was 32 (yes thirty-two) years old.

I really think that was one lucky birdie not to have been eaten

A complete list of pigeons awarded
"THE DICKEN MEDAL"​

NEHU.40.NS.1 - Blue Cheq. Hen "Winkie"
MEPS.43.1263 - Red Cheq. Cock "George"
SURP.41.L.3089 - White Hen "White Vision"
NPS.41.NS.4230 - "Beachbomber"
NPS.42.31066 - Grizzle Cock "Gustav"
NPS.43.94451 - Dark Cheq. Cock "Paddy"
NURP.36.JH.190 - Dark Cheq. Hen "Kenley Lass"
NURP.38.EGU.242 - Red Cheq. Cock "Commando"
NPS.42.NS.44802 - Dark Cheq. Cock "Flying Dutchman"
NURP.40.GVIS.453- Blue Cock "Royal Blue"
NURP.41.A.2164 - "Dutch Coast"
NPS.41.NS.2862 - Blue Cock "Navy Blue"
NPS.42.NS.15125 - Mealy Cock "William of Orange"
NPS.43.29018 - Dark Cheq. Cock "Ruhr Express"
NPS.42.21610 - B.C. Hen "Scotch Lass"
NU.41.HQ.4373 - Blue Cock "Billy"
NURP.39.NRS.144 - Red Cock "Cologne"
NPS.42.36392 - "Maquis"
NPS.42.NS.7542 -
41.BA.2793 - "Broad Arrow"
NURP.39.SDS.39 - "All Alone"
NURP.37.CEN.335 - "Mercury"
NURP.38.BPC.6 -
DD.43.T.139 -
DDD.43.Q.879 -
NURP.41.SBC.219 - Cock "Duke of Normandy"
NURP.43.CC.2418 - B.C. Hen
NURP.40.WLE.249 - "Mary"
NURP.41.DHZ.56 - "Tommy"
42.WD.593 - "Princess"
USA.43.SC.6390​

 

"Oh no the Amis captured the Kaiser"


Couldn't resist.

 

hi clint,taken from second link on my post which has details dickinmedal.
Pigeon soldiers were decorated and buried with military honour. The Dicken Medal was instituted in 1943 to honour the work of animals in war recognized for their outstanding acts of bravery and devotion to duty. Recognized worldwide as the animals' Victoria Cross, the medal was awarded 54 times between 1943 and 1949, to 32 pigeons, 18 dogs, three houses and a cat, to acknowledge actions during WWII.

heinrich has added info to that question,ray..good post heinrich....

 

another interesting fact of using pigeons as bomb carriers!

Project Pigeon:
A pigeon-guided missile
During World War II, Project Pigeon (or Project Orcon, for "organic control") was American behaviorist B. F. Skinner's attempt to develop a pigeon-guided missile.

The control system involved a lens at the front of the missile projecting an image of the target to a screen inside, while a pigeon trained (by operant conditioning) to recognize the target pecked at it. As long as the pecks remained in the center of the screen, the missile would fly straight, but pecks off-center would cause the screen to tilt, which would then, via a connection to the missile's flight controls, cause the missile to change course. Three pigeons were to control the bomb's direction by majority rule.

Although skeptical of the idea, the National Defense Research Committee nevertheless contributed $25,000 to the research. However, Skinner's plans to use pigeons in Pelican missiles was apparently too radical for the military establishment; although he had some success with the training, he could not get his idea taken seriously. The program was cancelled on October 8, 1944, because the military believed that "further prosecution of this project would seriously delay others which in the minds of the Division have more immediate promise of combat application."

Project Orcon was revived in 1948 by the Navy and was finally cancelled in 1953.

 

Cool post Ray

ORCON would propably have been the ultimate german racing pigeon owners nightmare ..
Just imagine you are rattling your tin filled with birdseeds and whistling for your piggies to come in and you home in a ORCON missile instead... come come come ..amai

 

thanks heinrich,having kept racing pigeons back in the late 50s,I can just see the loft going up,funny image,cheers for the humour..

 

instead of pigeon toe'd! perhaps it would have been pigeon torpedoed?

 

Thanks Ray ..had a small loft when I was young too , Oh ..those saturday mornings I wished mine were ORCON trained ..when they would be home very early from the races and then refused to come in ...

(..come come come...fieeet ...tsjikke tsjikke tsjikke ..ze bendajos )

 

getting them off the roof eh! little so.s,shake that tin to encourage them,and they sit there and look at you...good times...

 

german pigeon use in ww2..

The Nazi Pigeon And British Peregrine Falcon War

 

theres a very good film on that lost batalion pidgeon, i would recomend to anyone

YouTube - The Lost Battalion

 

thanks for link sapper..

 

April 21, 2009


Pigeons Now Take Aerial Photos (Jul, 1931)

Filed under: Animals, Photography — @ 12:01 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1931
ShareThis| Buy on Ebay

Pigeons Now Take Aerial Photos
AN automatic miniature camera strapped to the breast of a carrier pigeon is the latest method being employed for the making of aerial photographs in Germany. The camera is timed so that shutter is snapped at regular intervals in bird’s flight.
​

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/01/99/wartime_spies/263333.stm

 

April 21, 2009


Pigeons Now Take Aerial Photos (Jul, 1931)

Filed under: Animals, Photography — @ 12:01 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1931
ShareThis| Buy on Ebay

Pigeons Now Take Aerial Photos
AN automatic miniature camera strapped to the breast of a carrier pigeon is the latest method being employed for the making of aerial photographs in Germany. The camera is timed so that shutter is snapped at regular intervals in bird’s flight.
​