SPECIAL DUTIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 April 1941, Page 6

SPECIAL DUTIES

PIGEONS ON WAR SERVICE SOUTH AFRICA’S MESSAGE CORPS. BIRDS THROWN FROM PLANES. Pigeons are on service with the South African forces, and large numbers are trained for special messenger duties in the Union. The CarrierPigeon Service performed many meritorious deeds in the Great War, and it is confidently expected that their gallant exploits will be repeated in this conflict. A visitor to one of the largest lofts in the country saw about 110 homing pigeons being prepared for service with the South African Air Force. It is hoped in the near future to increase the number of 200. The birds are the progeny of the best racing pigeons in the province and were all carefully selected. The owners gave them free of charge to the South African Department of Defence.

The birds are all youngsters and are trained for' release from aeroplanes flying over land and sea. The high speeds at which aeroplanes travel today made this task extremely difficult, for a bird would have small chance of survival if it were released in the normal way at any great speed. The difficulty is overcome, however, by stalling the plane while the pigeons are released. If circumstances do not permit the stalling of a machine, the birds are thrown clear in slotted paper bags, which act as a wind resister. It is a simple matter for the birds to get free of the paper bags. The use of pigeons provides an extra margin of safety for the men of the armed forces on land, at sea and in the ajr. especially if the radio is out of action. They were used very successfully in the last war and at the conclusion of hostilities thjere were 22,000 pigeons and 150 mobile lofts on active service with the British Forces. During the four years of the war, a total of 110,000 pigeons were actually on service with the Allied Forces. Four birds are carried at a time in South African bombers and they are placed on board the machines in specially constructed baskets. They are liberated by hand as required.

“Some of my birds have travelled as far as 600 miles in a day,” the officer in charge of the loft said. “They average about 45 miles an hour, but they can easily do 60 miles an hour, depending on the velocity of the wind and the climatic conditions. Air men forced down in the sea or in. the desert will be able to liberate their pigeons if the, radio fails, and the birds will do the rest for them. Pigeons are used with the British Forces in this war and the reports that I have received show that they are again doing splendid work. In my opinion there are at least half-a-million birds engaged on active service with the British Forces on all fronts.” NEW TRAINING METHODS.

Methods of training pigeons have changed greatly in the last few years, and long hours and plenty of patience are requisites for the trainer. Where previously the birds were controlled by use of their instinctive return to the mate, and sometimes by starvation —forcing them to return to the loft for food—now they are trained through kindness. Fanciers throughout the world have long realised that the homing pigeon is intelligent enough to 1 do anything required of it, and a training method has been inaugurated to make the bird feel perfectly contented in the loft and to impress on it what is expected of it outside the loft. Surprising results were achieved in the last, war by this method, and it was found that birds could be taken to new position in mobile lofts, many miles away from their old home, and broken into the new location within a few days. It is easy to recognise their value to an army in the field. When four months old they are taken from their parents and placed in lofts by themselves. Their first training consists of being placed on the loft landing board for a look at the country. As they grow bigger and stronger they are taken a short distance from the loft and forced to fly back. Sometimes they are even trained to return to the loft when called by means of a sound which the birds associate with a “mess call."

When the birds are ready for long flights, they are equipped with leg or back containers. The container on the leg is very light and the messages are written on thin paper so that there is little weight. The back container, designer for carrying. maps and photographs, is held in place by a harness. The harness is very carefully fitted to each bird and the capsule perfectly balanced on its back. Loads of as much as three ounces have been carried successfully by this method. Birds, for active service in the field are transported in mobile lofts, which become their permanent home. They are allowed to mate and breed in this loft. During preliminary training the loft is moved every day so that the birds become accustomed to looking for it.

PIGEONS EARNED FAME. Many pigeons earned fame during the Great War. The French awarded diplomas in the case of birds deserving the Croix de Guerre or Croix Militaire. When Commandant Raynal was surrounded at Vaux, pigeons were at times his only means of communication with Verdun. His second last bird flew through a terrific barrage of enemy fire and was awarded the Croix de Guerre. His final pigeon, badly wounded, dropned dead as it delivered its message. This bird was awarded the Legion d'Honneur. The mangled remains of a British pigeon are to be seen preserved in the United Services Museum in Britain. This bird was with the British Forces al Menin Road in October. 1917. and was sent with a message from the front line to Divisional Headquarters, nine miles away, early in the afternoon. The bird was shot down bv the enemy soon after it was liberated, lay out in the rain all night. but the next morning recovered sufficiently to struggle back with the message. The bird died on the floor of the loft, before the officer could-remove the message-holder from its leg.

“Cher Ami" was the favourite of the American Army in France, and officers and mon of the American. Carrier Pigeon Service never tired of relating her brave exploits. “Cher Ami" delivered no less than twelve messages of vital importance on different occasions—never once failing. Tile bird's last flight was a desperate one on the Argonne. She bravely got through and delivered her message although one log had been shot off and was bleeding' profusely. The message

resulted in reinforcements being hastily sent to the assistance of a unit, which would otherwise have been beaten back with heavy loss of life and war equipment.