Pigeons are everywhere in our cities, and it seems that they just don’t get any respect. However, in the not-too-distant past, these birds were highly valued for their patriotic service. During the two World Wars, these brave birdies performed death-defying deeds of valor and saved thousands of human lives.

Our ancestors were quite fond of pigeons, and they were probably the first domesticated birds raised for food. But they also had another very useful characteristic…

Homing Pigeons: They Always Go Home

Throughout history, pigeons have been valued for their homing instinct. These home-loving birds have a strong desire to sleep in their own nests. This means they can be transported great distances, then when released, they will do their best to get back to the place they consider home. 

How do they know their way home? Well, it’s not completely understood, but we know that magnetic fields have something to do with it as does their acute sense of smell and hearing and their ability to recognize landmarks. Even though we don’t fully understand how they navigate, we know that those little birdies will do everything in their power to get home.

Messenger Pigeons in Antiquity

Ancient people knew about this homing pigeon superpower. We can’t be sure how they found out, but just maybe someone went to the market and bought a plump pigeon for his dinner… Then when he opened the cage to take the bird to the chopping block, it flew away and went straight back home. When this happened several times, people began to wonder how they could put this pigeon behavior to work for them.

Soon, they had figured out how to get pigeons to deliver messages. It seems that the ancient Egyptians may have used pigeons to announce the reign of a new pharaoh, or the flooding status of the Nile. The Greeks used pigeons, to announce the winners of the first Olympic games in the 8th century. And the Romans used them for military communications as did the armies of the Middle Ages.

How Do You Get a Pigeon to Deliver a Message?

How exactly do you get a pigeon to deliver a message? First you must take your pigeon from their nice, comfy home and put them in a little box. Take them to wherever the needed information is, attach a message to their leg, and release them. They will head straight for home at breakneck speed taking your message with them. 

For example, let’s say there was a war (as there often was). A battalion would take a box of pigeons with them as they marched to the front. To report back to the king (or commander) with news of the war or with an urgent call for help, they would write a very short message and attach it to the pigeon’s leg. 

Then they would release the bird, and it would immediately fly home (to the base) – and it would get there faster than a human messenger or a horse and rider could. This is because pigeons can fly at high speeds for hours without stopping to sleep or eat. They average 50-60 miles per hour and can travel several hundred miles without stopping.

In fact, pigeons are the ideal war messengers: They’re small and easy to transport, they don’t eat much, they fly fast, don’t get lost, and if they’re intercepted, there is no evidence of their destination. They make great soldiers!

Crates of Pigeons Dropped Behind Enemy Lines

Pigeons have been carried on planes and ships, because if there was a problem, they were the most reliable way of getting help. During World War II, 300 crates of pigeons were dropped into enemy-occupied territory.

Each bird had a message container attached to its leg, then it was put into a box with enough food for 10 days. There were instructions inside, saying basically, “if you find this pigeon, please write down the location of enemy troops on this tiny piece of paper, put it in the canister and release the bird.”

20th Century War Pigeons

Pigeons really showed their value during the First and Second World Wars. In battle, when communication lines were often useless, pigeons could be depended upon.

They could carry messages across enemy lines, through bad weather, over difficult terrain, and through enemy fire. These brave birds wouldn’t stop for anything until they had done their duty and delivered their message (and, of course, got back to their own cozy nests).

Pigeon Buses

During the wars, there were mobile pigeon lofts, made from converted trucks or buses, that would move with the troops. In 1914 the British government requisitioned over 1000 red double-decker London buses and sent them to France.

Some were used to transport troops, but others ended up as mobile pigeon lofts. The top of each of these mobile lofts would be marked with a unique pattern so the pigeons could find it even if it was in a different location when they returned.

Watch Out for the Hawks

When the German’s figured out that the Americans and British were using pigeons to carry messages, they began to train hawks to hunt and kill the pigeons – as if dodging bullets wasn’t bad enough.

Cher Ami: War Hero

Pigeons saved many lives during the wars, and one amazing example is Cher Ami (which means ‘dear friend’ in French). He was a British pigeon donated to the US army in France, and he was famous for his bravery. When 194 American soldiers were trapped behind enemy lines without ammunition and were being fired upon by “friendly fire” they needed help, and they needed it fast.

The commander sent up a pigeon with a message. It was immediately shot down. He sent up a second one. It was shot down too. Then it was Cher Ami’s turn. A message was put into the canister on his leg, and he was lifted into the air (with a prayer, no doubt). And just a few seconds later, he was shot down too. 

Flying Wounded

However, the brave bird must have felt the urgency of his patriotic duty (or he really, really wanted to go home) because, somehow, he managed to take off again. He flew as fast as he could through more gun fire and arrived back at his ‘home sweet home’ homing station which was 25 miles away in just 25 minutes.

He had been shot through the breast, blinded in one eye, and had one leg that was dangling by a tendon. The medics saved his life, and his message saved the lives of 194 men. Before this final act of bravery, Cher Ami had already delivered 12 other important war zone messages. 

Cher Ami Earned His Retirement

After the now one-eyed, one-legged pigeon had recovered, he was sent back to America for a well-deserved retirement. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre medal from France and the Animals in War & Peace Medal of Bravery from the United States.

After his death, he was treated to a session with the taxidermist and is now preserved in the Smithsonian Institution for all to admire.

Hundreds of Thousands of War Pigeons

However, Cher Ami is just one example. Hundreds of thousands of pigeons made an incredible contribution during both World Wars. There were approximately 100,000 pigeons used in World War I and more than 250,000 in World War II.

They could reliably deliver messages in difficult situations when other means of communication were inoperable or compromised. And, incredibly, between 85% and 90% of all messages sent by pigeon were delivered successfully. Until the telegram, pigeons were the most reliable messaging system in the world.

So, the next time you see a pigeon waddling along, bobbing its head and cooing – show a little respect!

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Does this change your opinion of pigeons? Let me know in the comments. And if you would like to read more of my curious histories, subscribe to my blog. (At the top of bottom of this page)

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