Pigeons of the Airborne

Peter Green was intrigued by the post-mortem by Lieutenant Colonel R J Moberly, Officer Commanding the Division’s Signals during Operation Husky in the War Diary of the 1st Airborne Division. Moberly’s report included a section on the Army Pigeon Service (APS). Sadly the use of pigeons in Sicily was not a success.

Princess Elizabeth helped

Stephen Glencross of the Animals in War group in Cumbria and a pigeon fancier himself, was the obvious person to turn to learn more about the Army Pigeon Service. “The people who made up the army pigeon service were pigeon fanciers themselves or learned from pigeon fanciers within the forces,” he explained.

“Pigeon people donated there best birds for war service, including some really top fanciers from all over the country. Princess Elizabeth had a pigeon called ‘Royal Blue’ which won the Dickin medal for gallantry.” The Dickin Medal is the Animals VC.

The birds should have come from two mobile lofts that the APS established at Souse. But there were problems with these birds. There was not enough time to establish the lofts. The birds were not used to crossing open water – they had not been ‘sea tossed’. Stephen explained this meant that “the pigeons had not trained off ships being liberated at short distances then a bit longer away so forth.” Stephen knew of one pigeon called ‘Princess’ that flew near 500 miles from a ship in distress.”

Malta birds

Owing to problems with the APS birds in North Africa, the 18 birds were used by the Division for Operation Husky came from Malta. The Air Landing Brigade had six birds to use on the operation. Unfortunately all the birds were drowned when the gliders carrying them landed in the sea. The remaining 12 were to be used by 2nd Parachute Brigade, but their operation was cancelled, these birds were then taken by 1 Parachute Brigade for Operation Marston, the assault on Primosole Bridge.

Signals report

The Report in the War Diary continued

“The pigeons were dropped in two 6 bird multi-containers, with separate parachutes, a method which makes the finding of the containers very difficult owing to drift and the absence of container lights.

The more usual method of dropping single bird containers on the main was not adopted because the Brigade Signal Officer did not consider there was time to train for that method, One multi-container was never found, and the birds from the other were liberated, for some reason without messages. Whether or not any reached Malta is not known.”

The report concluded

“For Airborne Operations well established pigeons from fixed lofts within reasonable range of the operations are essential. There limited use, to supplement wireless, could be of great value.”

Stephen is clear in his mind that pigeons played a significant role in WW2. “There was a local bird, ‘Tommy’, that flew from Holland back to its owner Mr Brockelbank in Dalton in Furness and won the Dickin Medal. There is a commemorative plaque in Dalton to remember this pigeon.”

Pigeons played a significant part in WW2. They were used to send reports on the Heavy Water Plant in Norway, the V1 and V2s in Peenemünde, by the French Resistance and by 1 Border at Arnhem. Cumbria's Museum of Military LIfe in Carlisle has a message from Signals Platoon on 25 September 1944 sent by pigeon from Arnhem.