WAR PIGEONS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 181, 20 April 1918, Page 7

WAR PIGEONS

A VISIT TO MESSAGE-CARRIERS AT THE- FEONT. A chaplain .with the British Expeditionary' I'orco writes in the London "Times":— The pigeons are part of my flock. They, live—some GO of them—in a London motor-omnibus from Piccadilly. The outside top part of the omnibus is roofedi in to fprm a cnge, while the men occupy .the-inside—or, rather, three-quarters of of" the'inside, because the front part of the inside is also part of the cage, '■which is. entered by a door from tlie men's loom, and also by a door at the top of'the back staircase. There is an openirgl in tho front of the cage, cleverly arranged, so that the birds can - enter when, they return from their flights, but cannot fly out when they are inside. A board is" deftly poised just inside the opening, so that whin a bird steps on it nn electric bell rings inside the omnibus to tell the men that n pigeon has como home. Two arrived wlulo I was there; they had come from the trenches five miles away in twelve minutes. Ihe pigeons aTO taken out in baskets t'o the trenches, to brijig messages back in case tho wire communications should be cut by the enemy's fire. If not wanted! for this- purpose, they are sent flying back after '24 hours with some message just for practice. Each pigeon lias a ring put on ivs leg when quite young, and is known by the number on. llio ring. As soon as the bird arrives at tho loft, a man creeps' into the cage, witches it, reads the message, writes it down in duplicate, and sends an orderly at once with a copy to the signal officer, whence it is sent forth like an ordinary telegram to wherever it ought to go. Birds ere always sent in couples, each with the same message, in case one should be shot by tho eneniv."

An Army pigeon recently equalled the feat of Napoleon's A.D.C. who galloped up with :i message in the press of battle, and being asked: "You aro wounded?" replied, "Pardon, sire, I am t:;eail," and fell lifeless. This pigeon flew homo with one of its logs shut away, only to fall dead in the. loft floor. But its message, almost driven into its body by. the shot. s-.i-ed the lives of hundreds of men. Gas clouds aii'l barrage aro often need by the enemy to prevent communication, but the pigeon from tho frouf-linc trenches homes through without a turn, when nothing else could live through it, and then to it? loft, whence tho message is sent to Headquarters by the speediest means. Many valuable messages have come through by pigeon messenger, but aji amusing story is told of ono occasion when anxiety was felt as lo the progress of an important battalion. The General Staff were all awaiting news with lively expectancy when a pigeon .wiw seen homing to its loft at top speed. The message was eagerly opened, and this is what it contained!: "Lucky pigeon to escape from this hell of a place.' It was signed by n. Canadian officer. The Germans have a good pigeon service, but their pigeons are not as" good as English-bred birds.