jimmy white

thanks mate,, brought a tear to my eye printing it,, many a lesson to learn here ,,for all

cher ami, cher ami, how do you do listen, let me talk to you ill not hurt you, dont you see? come a little closer to me little scrawny blue white flight messenger for men who fight tell me of that deep red scar there,,,just where no feathers are what about your poor left leg tell me cher ami, i beg boys and girls are at a loss, just how you won that silver cross "the finest hour that came to me was when i marched with whittlesey we marched so fast, so far ahead "we are all lost" the keeper said mon cher ami,, thats my dear friend you arethe one we have to send the whole battalian now is lost and you must win, at any cost so with message tied on tight i flew up straight with all my might before i got up high enough those watch full guns began to puff machine gun, bullets came like rain youd think i was an aeroplane when i started tothe rear my? the shot was comming near but i flew on, straight as a bee the wind could not catch up with me untill i dropped out of the air into our own mens camp,,so their but cher ami, upon my word you modest little gallant bird now dont you know that you forgot tell how your breast and leg was shot "oh yes, the day we crossed the meuse i flew to rampart with the news again the bullets came like hail i thought for sure, that i eould fail the bullets buzzed by, just like a bee so close. it allmost frightened me one struck the feathers of this sail another went right though my tail but when i got back to the rear i found they hit me,,here,,,and here but that is nothing never mind old poilo, there is nearly blind i only care for what they said for when they say the way i bled and found in front a swollen lump the message hanging from this stump the french and mine said "tres bien" or very good,, american mon cher ami you brought good news our armies gone across the meuse you surely had a lucky call/ and so im glad, i guess thats all ILL SIT , SO PARDON ME, I BEG, ITS HARD A_STANDING ON JUST ONE LEG,,,, cher ami died of his multiple war wounds on june the 13th 1919, less than a year he had completed his service to the u,s, army signal corps, upon his death a taxidermist preserved the small pigeon for future generations,,,,,,,,,,,,,a bird that had become an inspiration, to millions over the years

each and every one of these gallant pigeons saved so many lifes,every single one with a great story to tell,,, there were off course many more, one of very many was ,,,,,cher ami,, meaning" dear friend",, maybe worth a read,, , probably amongst the most famous of carrier pigeons, was "cher ami",," cher ami" flew many times during the" fall", of 19 18 , he flew 12 important missions to deliver messages. perhaps one of the most important message was the message he carried on oct 4th 1918 mr charles whittelsey was a lawyer in new york, but when the u,s,a called for soldiers to help france regain their freedom, whittlesay joined the army and went to europe to help, he was made the commander of a battalion of soldiers in the 77th infantry div. known as the libert division, because most men wore a bright blue patch, that had on it the" statue of liberty" on oct 3d 1918 major whittelsey and more than 500men were trapped in a small depression on the side of a hill, surrounded by enemy soldiers,many were killed and wounded on the first day,but by the second day, only a few more than 200 men were still alive or wounded. major whittelsay sent out several pigeons , to let the commander know where he was, and how bad the trap was,, the next afternoon he had only one pigeon left,,",cher ami". during the afternoon the american artillary tried tried to save some protection by firing hundreds of rounds of big artillary, into the ravine where the germans had him and his men hopelessly surrounded, unfortunately, theamerican commanders didnt know where the american sodiers were,,,and started dropping bomb shells , right on the top of them, it was a horrible and lethal situation, that might have got major whittelsey and all his men getting killed, by their own army major whittelsey called for his last pigeon" cher ami" he wrote a simple quick note ,telling the the men , who directed the artillery guns, where the americans were located,,the note simpy said "we are along the road parallel to 276,4", "our own artillery is dropping bombs on directy on us,,,for heavens sake,stop it", the note was fitted to a cannister on "!cher ami,s" left leg as" cher ami" tried to fly home , the germans saw him rising out of the brush and opened fire, for several minutes , bullets zipped through the air all around him, it looked like the little pigeon was going to fall, that he wasnt ging to make it, the doomed american soldiers were crushed, their very last hope was plummeting to the earth, against very heavy attack from german bullets, somehow," cher ami" managed to spread his wings, and started climbing higher and higher beyond the range of enemy guns , the little bird, allthough badly injured deliver the all important message , ,,the shelling stopped,,,,and more than 200 american lives were saved ....all because this little bird never quit trying,,,,allthough shot many times , ,,on his last mission he was so badly wounded he could no longer fly, the bird was lyingon his back, covered in blood , he had been blinded in one eye, and a bullet hit his breast bone making a hole the size of a 50 p peice,,,,and from that awfull hole , hanging by just a few tendons was the allmost severed leg of that brave lttle bird,,attached to that leg was a silver canister, with the all important message,,,,,,once again" cher ami ". wouldnt quit untill he finished that all important job "cher ami" became the hero of the 77th div. and when medics worked long and hard, to patch him up. ,,,,when the french soldiers learned of the story of cher ami,s bravery and determination, they gave him one of their own countries great honours,,cher ami, the brave little carrier pigeon with a medal called the french croix de guerre with a palm leaf. though the dedicated medics saved" cher ami,s" life, they couldnt save his leg,, the men of that div. were carefull to take care of their little friend , that had saved the lives of over 200 of their friends,, they even , carefully carved a small wooden leg for him,,, a magnificent story of just one of these gallant pigeons, that saved so many lifes,,, theres a wonderfull poem on this pigeon will post next.

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tried again ,,error :-/

tried again,, came up error :-/ :-/ :-/

ok ;D ;D ;D ;D try the lads around derby, im sure they will help you, once they meet you good luck

is this a help topic or an advert topic ;D ;D

tried to send one to blaz 2 mins ago,, ,, thought his pm might be full,, but he was able to pm me :-/ :-/ :-/

i remember being [forced by dad ;D] into the" boys brigade", all the boys brigade marching down the main road,,, all mums dads watching on proudly,, mum saying dad" look at our james" ,,,,,,,,hes the only one in step ;D ;D ;D ;D used to see the village pipe band [great site] playing and marching down the main rd.,,,, no pipe band now,, no village now ,, same as the sally am,[salvation army] ,, never see them marching with their band down the main rd ,, poor oots [scottish custom at weddings[ pour outs] when all the guests at the wedding through all their loose change [usually pennies] for all the kids to grab ,, they hardly even marry now ;D let alone throw out cash ;D

must agree with last post,, really fantastic pigeons, well done

ive had this b4 , really very frustrating, the harder you try,, the worse it seems to make them,,, i have found out the best way is to actually leave them,, hard as it is,, try and coax them in each evening, if they dont come in after a few mins lock the hatch, once theve been spooked, it often takes days , for this to leave them , the bigger the spook [fright] the more days it seems to take them , but they will come in sooner or later,good luck

what a fanastic light hearted, [but true ] thread, ;D, i remember many of these happy things, cycling, with a" made up bike" from bits and bobs [no brakes,too dear ;D] to the railway station at esk bank, having the cardboard box[no basket ;D] weighed [with left foot under scales ;D,,cheaper ;D [off course the station master new, but would let us away with it ;D, 10 miles in all all these past posts have def brought back some great memories ,,,,,,memories which are all safe, tucked up in the mind ;D im sure ch pd and roland wont mind me digging this one out,, all are so true, so vivid in the mind a blessing. we met and married a long time ago we worked for long hours, when wages were low no tv, no wireless, no bath, times were hard just a cold water tap and a walk down the yard no holidays abroad, no carpets on floors we had coal burning fires, and didnt lock doors our children arrived, no pill in those days and they were brought up, without state aids they were safe to go out and play in the park and folks could go out and walk in the dark no valium, no drugs no lsd we cured most of our ills, with a good cup of tea no vandals , no muggings, there was nothing to rob, we felt we were rich, with a couple of bob people were happier in those bygone days more kinder and caring, in so many ways milkman and paperboy would whistle and sing a night at the pictures was like a mad fling we got our share of struggle and strife we just had to face it as a pattern of life and now im alone, i look back those years but i dont think of bad times, trouble and tears i remember the blessings, our home and our love and that we shared them together,,,,,,,,,,i thank god above

good luck all , again there will be some very gallant birds make it,, these birds are truly magnificent

im afraid to say ,, the weather here in the loanhead/midlothian is shocking, very damp, misty

well done to all these gallant pigeons, and off course their owners,, my congrats to l mitchell, who was one of these,, l mitchell timed [i think 6th ] in the last rennes smash, with only 21 timed in , some years ago,, i hope more entries arrive home , im afraid to say the weather here in the lothians is shocking,, marvelous how these birds do it,, they still get through

its really soul destroying when probs like this come up,, maybe see "whats wrong with my bird" on health section,,,, ,but my advice would be , to see a good expert, avian vet, my suspicians would be paratyphoid , [theres a post on health , section on this by vic,, [on sticky] ,,

;D ;D good old roly ,, so true ;D

welcome ,,hope you enjoy the forum

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;D ;D ;D very well done,, great going ;D

explain please :-/ :-/ :-/