#war pigeons

[jeonseoguu]

please provide me with a pigeon fact

how about i provide you with... three pigeons facts..!!!

32 pigeons in total from WWI to WWIII were decorated with dickin medals for gallantry (the animal equivalent of the victoria cross), and a separate pigeon named cher ami recieved the croix de guerre (war cross)

male pigeons can "lactate" (both males and females produce a type of milk formula for their young in their crops)

all of those feral pigeons, fancy pigeons, utility pigeons, and flying pigeons that you see are all descendents of the rock dove (columba livia), making all of them columba livia domestica

these are the ones i could list off the top of my head but honestly once you get me ranting, i would never be able to stop

[thepastisalreadywritten]

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Quotes - The Animals In War Memorial

Quotes The Animals In War Memorial The Animals In War Memorial Beneath the main heading “Animals in War”, the memorial has two inscriptions:

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[petsincollections]

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 twelve important messages within the American sector at Verdun; on his last mission, October 4, 1918, he was shot through the breast and leg by enemy fire but still managed to return to his loft with a message capsule dangling from the wounded leg. The message Cher Ami carried was from Major Charles S. Whittlesey's "Lost Battalion" of the Seventy-seventy Infantry Division that had been isolated from other American forces. The message brought about the relief of the 194 battalion survivors, and they were safe behind American lines shortly after the message was received.                                      

For his heroic service, Cher Ami was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with palm. He was returned to the United States and died at Fort Monmouth, N.J. on June 13, 1919, as a result of his 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 Pigeon Fanciers in recognition of his extraordinary service during World War I.             

From National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

[bumblesanimation]

Battlefield 1 Funny Moments returns!

[ub-sessed]

War of the Birds

[et-alia]

“One of the more unusual (but still fascinating) exhibitions at Bletchley Park is all about the role pigeons have played in the First and Second World Wars. Aircrews used them as rudimentary black boxes, writing their coordinates on a message and releasing the pigeon if they had to ditch or crash land. There was also a cull of birds-of-prey all along the south coast during World War Two to ensure the pigeons could get back safely.”