Since their domestication, animals have always been trustworthy companions to humans, as shown by their loyal service in war with military forces on and off the battlefield. During the Second World War, homing pigeons provided essential assistance to the Royal Air Force and intelligence services.
The method of sending messages by pigeon was developed in the ancient world. Postal pigeons were likely first used by the Egyptians and the Persians. Pigeons are easy to train, so it is no wonder that people used them to deliver messages for thousands of years. Keeping pigeons was also a popular hobby, but everything changed in 1914.
At the outbreak of the First World War, suspicion arose regarding pigeon owners, as the Home Office was concerned that these birds might be used for delivering messages to the enemy. Therefore, owning pigeons was banned under the Defence of the Realm Act 1914, passed on 8 August 1914. Owners were required to release their birds, and those that headed towards the continent were assumed to have connections with the adversary and were ordered to be shot.
Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Henry Osman recognised the potential of using pigeons in war as a form of communication and organised the first Pigeon Service. Homing pigeons were deployed in the war and these feathery messengers turned out to be a great help in delivering important information.
On 1 September 1939, the Second World War broke out. Intelligence services would play a crucial role, as commanders would rely on them to plan operations in the theatre of war. Gathering as much information about the enemy as possible and delivering the obtained data from the front lines could determine the outcome of battles, making communication vital.
Since the deployment of pigeons in the First World War had proved effective, intelligence services adopted this method of sending messages. Osman’s son William continued his father’s legacy, and with his contribution, The National Pigeon Service was founded in February 1939. Membership was offered to those who had at least 20 pigeons.
The birds were first deployed by the Royal Air Force in November 1939. Placed on board aircraft, the pigeons were trained to return to their lofts at the RAF stations with emergency messages should wireless communication break down.
The first pigeon to deliver a message from a forced landed plane was a male bird named ‘Royal Blue’, in October 1940. Another bird, named ‘Winkie’, flew 120 miles carrying an emergency message about an aircraft whose engine had failed. With this message, four lives were saved. In 1943, a flying boat was forced to ditch in the North Sea and its radio was jammed. A female pigeon named ‘White Vision’ delivered their message, flying in poor visibility, fighting a strong headwind and ultimately saving eleven lives.
During 1940, Western Europe was occupied by the Germans. The United Kingdom soon found herself under threat of German invasion. Communication with the occupied countries became risky: the British lost contact with some of their agents. In this uncertain situation, the pigeons came in to their own. The first pigeon who successfully delivered a message from an agent in France was ‘Kenley Lass’. She had to make a parachute jump with the agent carrying her: she was released after 12 days and flew 300 miles home with the acquired information.
The operation of the secret pigeon organisation known as ‘Columba’ was devised. Reginald Victor Jones, a physicist and secret intelligence expert, wrote in his memoir how the British reached out to resistance movements in France, Belgium and the Netherlands with the help of the birds. At night the bombers dropped the homing pigeons in boxes with small parachutes attached to them. After a few hours, the containers opened and the birds were released. The pigeons had little capsules tied to their legs containing envelopes with questionnaires in them. Questions were about the number of Germans in the area, the locations of German radio stations, etc. The locals filled them out, tied the papers back to the legs of the birds, and they returned with the answers to their lofts in the United Kingdom. The British used this information to locate German radio stations during the war.
However, pilots had to be careful where they dropped the pigeons, ensuring the locals would be the ones who found them and not the Germans. It was forbidden to drop them in thickly populated areas. Some locals who sent back the pigeons were caught by the Germans and executed.
The Germans started a counterattack against the dropped pigeons. In the occupied countries, keeping pigeons was forbidden. Snipers were ordered to shoot the birds in flight. Hawks were trained to hunt pigeons headed towards the United Kingdom. Decoy pigeons were also dropped. Since it became harder for the locals to distinguish the British birds from the decoys, the British attached French or Belgian newspapers printed in the United Kingdom to their legs.
The hawks were however a huge problem; they prevented the information from being delivered to the British. To deal with the hawks, a special team was formed called the ‘Falcon Destructive Unit’ to kill the predatory birds so securing the safety of the pigeons delivering the messages. Despite these obstacles and sustaining injuries, pigeons managed to return home.
A female pigeon named ‘Mary’ was severely injured several times, once by a German-kept hawk when her her neck and breast were ripped open. She was also shot multiple times with one of her wings being seriously damaged. After some months of recovery, she returned to service, carrying important messages from France.
The operation was successful; a significant amount of pigeons returned with important data. According to one report, out of the total 16,554 examined pigeons sent across the Channel, 1,722 returned, of which 1,067 had messages with them. From 1939 to 1945 more than 200,000 trained homing pigeons were given to the military of the United Kingdom and the United States forces in Europe.
The Dickin Medal – the Victoria Cross for animals – was instituted in 1943 to honour the valour and devotion of animals serving in the Second World War. 32 pigeons – including those mentioned earlier – were awarded the medal for delivering messages and saving lives.
These birds provided an invaluable service. They flew hundreds of miles within a couple of hours, finding their way back home even in the harshest weather. They smuggled messages out of the occupied territories almost unnoticed and faced deadly obstacles such as hawks, snipers and bad weather but they managed to overcome these hardships and deliver valuable information that contributed to the victory of the Allies.
“We Also Serve”.
By Rose Gombos. I am a Hungarian history student, currently studying at Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary for a Master’s Degree in History. I am specialising in the military history of World War I and World War II.
Published: 11th March 2025.
