Pigeons Used in the War
The Use of Pigeons in World War One
Pigeons played a vital part in World War One as they proved to be an extremely reliable way of sending messages. Over 100,000 were used in the war with an astonishing success rate of 95% getting through to their destination with their message.
Pigeons were used extensively in World War One. Man-made communication systems were still crude and unreliable, so dogs and pigeons were used. Pigeons would have been found just about anywhere on the Western Front. At the First battle of the Marne in 1914, French troops stopped the German advance on Paris. As the French troops advanced and pushed back the Germans, their pigeons advanced with them. In the Pigeons proved to be the best way of sending messages to the French headquarters. At the Marne, the French had 72 pigeon lofts. As the French advanced, the lofts advanced with them - but many of the pigeons were 'on duty' carrying messages and could never have known where their loft had moved to. Incredibly, all the pigeons at the Marne returned to their lofts - despite the fact that they would have flown 'blind' not knowing where their loft was.
This ability to get home was vital for those who used them as messengers. A pigeon's great strength was not only its extraordinary homing instinct but also how fast they flew. Shooting one down would have been all but impossible. In many senses, a pigeon would always get through. The only natural way to counter them was to bring birds of prey to the front line and let one of nature's great battles occur. A falcon could bring down a pigeon - a marksman almost certainly could not.
In October 1918, as the war neared its end, 194 American soldiers found themselves trapped by German soldiers. They were cut off from other Allied soldiers and had no working radios. The only chance they had of alerting anybody about their desperate situation was to send a pigeon with their co-ordinates attacked to its leg. The
Pigeons played a vital part in World War One as they proved to be an extremely reliable way of sending messages. Over 100,000 were used in the war with an astonishing success rate of 95% getting through to their destination with their message.
Pigeons were used extensively in World War One. Man-made communication systems were still crude and unreliable, so dogs and pigeons were used. Pigeons would have been found just about anywhere on the Western Front. At the First battle of the Marne in 1914, French troops stopped the German advance on Paris. As the French troops advanced and pushed back the Germans, their pigeons advanced with them. In the Pigeons proved to be the best way of sending messages to the French headquarters. At the Marne, the French had 72 pigeon lofts. As the French advanced, the lofts advanced with them - but many of the pigeons were 'on duty' carrying messages and could never have known where their loft had moved to. Incredibly, all the pigeons at the Marne returned to their lofts - despite the fact that they would have flown 'blind' not knowing where their loft was.
This ability to get home was vital for those who used them as messengers. A pigeon's great strength was not only its extraordinary homing instinct but also how fast they flew. Shooting one down would have been all but impossible. In many senses, a pigeon would always get through. The only natural way to counter them was to bring birds of prey to the front line and let one of nature's great battles occur. A falcon could bring down a pigeon - a marksman almost certainly could not.
In October 1918, as the war neared its end, 194 American soldiers found themselves trapped by German soldiers. They were cut off from other Allied soldiers and had no working radios. The only chance they had of alerting anybody about their desperate situation was to send a pigeon with their co-ordinates attacked to its leg. The