Famous Pigeons

[DOVEScot]

Cher Ami

 

In October of 1918, the 77th Infantry Division of WWI was stranded behind enemy lines without ammunition or provisions. The commander of the 'Lost Battalion' made a number of efforts to communicate with division headquarters.  All attempts were unsuccessful.  Numerous pigeons carrying messages were released and each was detrimentally wounded or killed during flight. Cher Ami, the last remaining bird, was released with a crucial message contained in a capsule that was attached to his leg.  Like the other pigeons released that day, he too was hit by shrapnel, but continued the 25-minute flight to his loft and saved the troops of the 'Lost Battalion' from certain death or surrender. The amazing part of his flight was that he was shot in the breast and leg and when he arrived he was missing most of the leg to which the message capsule was attached. Cher Ami was awarded the French palm for heroic service but died the following year from wounds he received in battle.

 

G. I. Joe

 

G.I Joe is one of the most famous pigeons in history, most noted for saving a thousand soldiers during WWII.

During the month of October 1943, British troops were trying to advance on the German held Italian town of Colvi Veccia. In an effort to weaken the German position, the infantry ordered an aerial bombardment of the town by the allies. On October 18, 1943 the German resistance fell and British soldiers took up positions inside the town.  Because the bombing was scheduled to take place within the half-hour, a panicked message was tied to the leg of G.I Joe and sent to the headquarters. A thousand British soldiers held their position, prepared to take whatever came their way.  As the bombers were taxiing the runways at headquarters, G.I Joe arrived with the message to cancel the operation.  He had flown 20 miles in 20 minutes and his speedy delivery saved 150 British troops from disaster by less than five minutes.

 

 

Martha, the Last Known Passenger Pigeon

 

For those of you unaware, Rocky Mountain Adventures’ pigeons are homing pigeons.  They are often mistaken for carrier pigeons or passenger pigeons.  However, the passenger pigeon became extinct in 1929.  Here is a short history of how that came to be.

 

Prior to its extinction, there were estimates that 3 to 5 billion passenger pigeons flew the skies of America at the time European settlements were beginning.  There were so many, that there were reports that the skies would blacken with their passing overhead.  Cotton Mather noted that there were so many birds that it would take hours for the flocks to pass and that they would stretch out for the width of a mile or more.  

 

Their extinction is primarily due to over hunting.  They provided a source of food and barrels upon barrels of the hunted bird were sent to New York markets.  Large numbers of the birds were shot for sport.  With the advent of railroad lines, commercial hunting became more prosperous.  During this time, the telegraph was even used to inform hunters of the locations of flocks.  It was stated that about a quarter-million passenger pigeons were shot in a single day in 1986.  The hunters were reportedly aware that they were shooting the last wild flock.  Over a decade later in March of 1900, a 14 year-old boy in Ohio shot what was believed to be the last wild passenger pigeon.

 

After about the mid 1860’s it was apparent that the great flocks were no more.  Efforts were made to capture the wild bird but few survived or reproduced in captivity.  The clearing of forest land for farming and cities without doubt contributed to the pigeons’ demise.  From 1909 to 1912, rewards were offered by the American Ornithologist’s Union to anyone who could find a nest or nesting colony.  No one claimed the award.

The last known passenger pigeon, "Martha" died at the Cincinnati Zoological Garden at 1 p.m. on September 1, 1914 at the age of 29.  Her corpse was sent packed in ice to the Smithsonian Institution where her mounted body can be viewed today.

 

 

 

[Guest]

   very interesting  

[snowy]

"PADDY"   the pigeon..

thats another famous one

[sammy]

white vision is another one and maybe homer49 can tell us all the story of it  

[harky]

white vision is another one and maybe homer49 can tell us all the story of it  

 

was that pigeon not bred locally sammy

[sammy]

your right harky think bred in motherwell

[harky]

your right harky think bred in motherwell

 

yip was it a mr mcfadyen who bred it

[sammy]

 

yip was it a mr mcfadyen who bred it

 

not sure better ask homer he knows its history

[rednyellow]

"winkie the pigeon that won the vc" read this in one of the boys annuals, think it might have been "tiger & scorcher" great story of a bomber going down in the sea and all the crew saved thanks too "winkie". think "winkie" was a dundonian? :) :)

[JSTOON]

I used to know a very lovely chap, the late Bob Arnold, from Datchet Slough, who sadly passed away last year.  He served for country and queen in the war and  was responsible for feeding the birds in the war, and whilst doing so made good friends with i believe Maurice Delbar, it was definately one of the Delbar family, whom also had the responsibility of feeding and looking after the birds. A great friendship was struck up, and both prepared the birds for rigerous journeys, which saw them later in life, racing pigeons and both becoming great long distance champions in their own right. It was Bob who first brough the Delbar family of birds into this country some many years ago, as both survived the horrors of war, and became very good friends.