|
|
- Contributed by听
- Freddy Dyke
- Article ID:听
- A1909271
- Contributed on:听
- 23 October 2003
The National Pigeon service and
Special Operations.
'Winston'had promised to 'Fight on the beaches and in the streets and never surrender and he was now determined to carry the fight to occupied countries.Men and women would be trained and Parachuted into enemy territory now
occupied by the 'Jerries'and send'INFO'back to
London.IT was this type of action that the Special Section Army pigeon service was used to
allow our agents to transmit much needed and vital locations of enemy secret weapons so that we could take any necessary steps to counter them.
But there was another series of important 'OPS'
that our birds were involved in and that was the act of saving human life.At this stage I will only
refer to one particular act when the Pigeon named
'White Vision'was responsible for saving 11 members of the crew of a RAF Flying Boat that had to ditch in the sea of the Hebrides. At about 8.20am one morning in Oct.1943 the call sign went
out that the plane had ditched in the sea but bad weather hindered rescue operations and the search called off,the thick mist made location impossible
After some delay the bird was released and at about 5pm that afternoon the bird arrived at her loft with a message giving the position of the stricken plane.The search was now resumed and the entire crew was rescued,now 'White Vision'had flown over 60 miles of rough seas against a head wind of 25 mph and visibility of some 100yds when she was released,and only a 300yrd visibility when she arrived.For this noble effort the bird was awarded the animal VC [the Dicken Medal]and of a total of 55 awards to animals in war, 32 of these awards were won by our Pigeons.I give more details of the valiant and life saving efforts of
our birds in the book of 'MEMOIRS of a Wartime Teenager' I have just written and I hope to get it published shortly.
In memory of our birds that we owe so much to in
saving of human life the 'Animals in War Memorial'
which when completed and erected in Park Lane in
LONDON next year, will help to enlighten members of the general public to the wonderful efforts our birds played in helping our country to defeat
the 'Jerries' and the 'Japs' in the greatest danger our country faced in 1939-45.
FREDDY DYKE.
漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.
Forum Archive
This forum is now closed
These messages were added to this story by site members between June 2003 and January 2006. It is no longer possible to leave messages here. Find out more about the site contributors.
Message 1 - Wartime pigeons
Posted on: 21 November 2003 by barrieboy
I am amazed that these birds actually could find missing persons/planes. How were they trained etc.?
听
Message 2 - Wartime pigeons
Posted on: 23 November 2003 by Freddy Dyke
Hello Barrieboy,
Thank you for your interest in my posting of the National Pigeon Service
and wartime pigeons,but I think you are a little confused in the understanding of the way our birds were used.Firstly the pigeons did not find lost persons or planes,they were taken aboard our planes[ 2 pigeons in each of our Bombers]or 2 birds accompanying our agents dropped by Parachute in occupied Europe.These birds were released if the radios in the aircraft was unusable from damage or water problems after crashing, thus returning to their home loft in this country, giving the location of the plane so that rescue could be attempted where possible.IN the case of our agents in France, Holland or Belgium the birds were released with their message containers giving us much needed 'INFO' about the German Troops and their movements plus very vital news of most of the secret weapons that the 'Jerries' were planning to use against our country.
Our birds were trained to home to many fanciers and service lofts in the course of the sport of Pigeon racing,but due to the value placed on their abillity and reliabillity to return from great distances [subject to the weather]the Air Ministry and War Ministry made use of our 'Winged Messengers'by the Armed Forces which proved so valuable in helping to defeat the forces of Germany and Japan. The birds are normally trained
in the early months of their birth and continue a racing career for 6-7
years.Many fanciers who in civilian life find a very great deal of enjoyment in the weekly races from April-Sept in their local clubs and look upon this sport as a great relaxation in social and family life.
I trust this posting will help you to understand just how valuable the humble pigeon can be in times of war.
All for now, Freddy Dyke.
Message 1 - White Vision
Freddie, were you yourself working in the Special Section Army pigeon service? Presumably only larger aircraft likely to crash at sea such as Coastal Command aircraft carried pigeons. Were the crews trained to wait for better weather and low wave heights to give the pigeon a chance? Good luck with the publication anyway.
paul
听
Message 2 - White Vision
Posted on: 24 November 2003 by Freddy Dyke
Hello Paul Gill,
Thanks for your message re'White Vision' and I would like to answer your questions
听
Message 3 - White Vision
Posted on: 24 November 2003 by Freddy Dyke
Hello Paul again sory about the other posting just a slip of the finger.
Answer to your questions, yes I served
with the Special Section APS attached to the Roal Signals and the RAF Pigeon
Service.Secondly the aircrews were not
given specific instructions regarding the release of their birds but would depend on the circumstances at the time,and their choice would final in the success of the birds reaching its
home loft.They were told about feeding
and watering but the 2 birds were not just on board Coastal Command planes but the same applied to Bomber Command as they also carried 2 birds.
I will now give you another VC winner in the name of 'Winkie'who was aboard a 'Beaufort' bomber that had carried out a raid on the Norwegian coast and
had to ditch 129 miles from base.Now the plane broke up on impact with the sea and the pigeon escaped from its container but had no message attached to her leg.The plane was 120mls from the nearest land and there was only 1.1/2hours of daylight left.The pigeon
homed soon after dawn the next morning
wet and exhausted,the search for the crew was on a poor radio fix and was unsuccessful.Sgt Davidson RAF pigeon service deduced from the birds condition and other circumstances that
the search area was incorrect.The search was re-directed as he advised and the crew were rescued after15 mins
The rescued crew gave a dinner in London in honour of the bird they christened 'Winkie'and her trainer.
Another life saving effort by our birds.Here is just one more of the 32
VCs that were awarded to the humble pigeon,this one is 'Cologne'a Red cock
that homed from a crashed aircraft after a raid on the 'Jerry'town but was seriously wounded and struggled home in spite of his wounds,what more
could be expected from 16 ozs of bone
and feather. Well there you have just a small part of the couragous deeds
played by Pigeon service under many
difficulties that sometimes we humans
would say enough.I hope that in the publication of my book many members of
'Joe' public will realise the value that was played by the pigeons and their handlers in the time of our countries greatest danger.
All for now Freddy Dyke.
听
Message 4 - White Vision
Just to say I've now read all your contributions and it's an area which I knew nothing about.
I assume your interest in pigeons long preceded your RAF work.
Obviously you know far more about this than I ever will, but I read a lot about B.F. Skinner who seemed to have dedicated his life to motivating feathered friends. It seems their eyesight and willingness to work greatly exceeds human capabilities
I saw what I think was an Horizon program saying they performed extremely well in German trials to detect mis-shapen drug capsules, a potential killer. However they couldn't be used because if any mistake was made courts would want a human to be responsible. Strange logic!
Hope the book goes well and thanks once again.
Best wishes
paul
听
Message 5 - White Vision
Posted on: 07 December 2003 by Freddy Dyke
HELLO again Paul,
I am pleased you were able to read my other contributions Re the Pigeon Service as it was a wartime service that was kept rather secret, as the work also involved the SOE activity on
the Continent and needed to be kept that way for security reasons.
When the 'Animals in War Memorial' is
completed in London next year we hope that the unveiling will be performed by a member of the Royal Family as the Royal lofts at Sandringham had birds on active service along with our
own and had noteable achievements under fire.
Thanks for your interest Paul.
All for now, Kindest Regards
FREDDY DYKE.
听
Message 6 - White Vision
I'm sure you've seen this and the reference to the Dickin medal but if you haven't ...
About links
The interesting bit to me, as you referred to, is that more than half were pigeons.
One other point. I heard a story some years ago about a dog that received a medal when it was returned to its owners at the end of the war. I think it had been rounding up paratroops. Unfortunately when they asked for details they were told it was secret and the dog never said a word! I can't help feeling this is one of the last stories to come put from WW2. I look forward to the events next year,
paul
听
Message 7 - White Vision
Posted on: 12 December 2003 by Freddy Dyke
Hello again Paul,
I had not seen the reference you referred to in your reply, but I can give you a little more 'INFO'on the 'BUSTER'medal award which is rather suprising as this episode is quite local to me.The soldier who handled 'Buster'is a local lad and was educated in Bedworth at Nicholas
Chamberlain school before he joined the Army.This area is part of the
Nuneaton and Bedworth BORO Council,so
you see it does have some added interest for me.The dog according to the local news was an inmate of the Dogs home in Dorset/Hampshire before his service record,which I can only say 'Well Done'and another medal won in the true spirit of 'BRIT' Wartime
effort.I don't know about the dog you referred to about rounding up 'Paras'
but a lot of funny things happened during the war so maybe this was quite
Secret and the dog was told not to divulge information.Well educated dog.
All for now.
Regards, Freddy Dyke.
|
This story has been placed in the following categories.  
 Story with photo
|
Recommended story