Skip to content

WW2 pigeons remembered as racing season opens

Getty Images A black-and-white photo of two soldiers holding pigeons next to a basket during World War Two.Getty Images
Pigeons played a vital role in the war effort

The role of pigeons during World War Two has been remembered as owners gathered for the start of a pigeon club's racing season.

The birds carried vital messages about troop positions and early news of the D-Day landings.

The British International Championship Club (BICC) - a pigeon racing organisation - held a commemorative party at Sarisbury Green in Hampshire, as fanciers met to prepare for the first official race on Saturday.

President Jill Rogers said: "Pigeons were a very important part and they got medals for their saving of lives."

Jill Rogers stands in a room in front of a poster which reads "VE Day 80 - VJ Day 80" and lists dates of three pigeon races starting in France. She has short, grey hair and wears a gilet over a dark blue hoodie. The room also has a table with a Union Jack-decorated covering.
Pigeon race club president Jill Rogers is organising commemorative events for fanciers

She added: "People gave their racing pigeons up to be part of the war effort.

"A quarter of a million birds were used. There wasn't the same technology and also they could do it securely without it being got at by enemy forces."

Thirty-two pigeons during World War Two received Dickin Medals for animal gallantry.

One recipient - RAF bird Winkie - was released by the crew of a plane that came under fire and ditched in North Sea. Winkie made it home covered in oil and led to the crew's rescue.

Pigeons also carried D-Day despatches home from Allied forces and journalists in Normandy.

Heroic World War Two pigeons

  • Winkie was the first pigeon to be responsible for the rescue of airmen during World War Two when she flew 120 miles in February 19443 to alert rescue services that a Beaufighter had crashed in the North Sea
  • US Army pigeon G.I. Joe carried news of the liberation of an Italian village in 1943 just in time to save at least 100 Allied soldiers from being bombed by their own planes
  • RAF pigeon Gustave brought back the first despatch from the Reuters news agency on D-Day - 6 June 1944
  • The pigeon Duke of Normandy brought back the first message on D-Day from British airborne forces
  • On 12 June 1944, the pigeon Paddy carried coded information on the Allied advance from Normandy to Hampshire, setting a record homing time of four hours and 50 minutes

(Sources: IWM, Larne & District Historical Society, PDSA)

PDSA A black-and-white image of a pigeon with a large medal around its neck. The medal bears the words: "PDSA. For gallantry. We also serve."PDSA
A US Army pigeon called G.I. Joe won the Dickin Medal for gallantry

Bill Edwards from BICC said modern-day fanciers are proud of the role of pigeons during the war.

He said: "There was the National Pigeon Service that mobilised lofts around the front line.

"All the aircraft... took two pigeons with them in case the aircraft were shot down."

A previous commemorative race, organised by another club in Normandy on 3 May, was won by a pigeon called VE Day Surprise from Wales.

You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.

More on this story
Related internet link