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‘Victoria Cross Pigeon 2709’

Known as the ‘Victoria Cross Pigeon’, the heroic last flight of carrier pigeon 2709 is remembered in the Royal Signals Museum at Blandford Camp.

During World War I, the British Army used pigeons to carry messages. A miniature container would be attached to a bird’s foot in which a note with a message would be put. As pigeons can fly quite fast, the message could be delivered quite quickly. A bizarre feature of the time was the mobile pigeon loft. These were initially horse drawn but later London buses were converted into pigeon lofts. Quite a strange sight they were on the Western Front and some change from their previous role in the streets of London. Each vehicle could carry 60 to 75 birds in specially made coops on the upper deck with feed, stores and an office below.

In October 1917, pigeon 2709 was given an important message to deliver from the Passchendaele front-line to the Divisional Headquarters. It left from the Menin Road area at around 1.30pm on the 4th October 1917. The flight should have taken about 20 minutes but it took around 21 hours for the bird to arrive at its destination. Pigeon 2709 had been shot by a German sniper in mid-flight which broke one of its legs. Despite this injury it still managed to deliver eventually its message but it died soon after arriving at its final destination.

So respected was pigeon 2709’s achievement that it was stuffed and was presented to the Royal Signals Museum now located in Blandford Camp. The heroic bird became known as the ‘Victoria Cross Pigeon’ after the prestigious military decoration.

So important were carrier pigeons to the war effort that anyone interfering with a homing pigeon could expect a fine of £100 or up to six months imprisonment. The Germans also had their own pigeon task force. Many came from Belgium where pigeon breeding was a fine art. Trained hawks were also brought to the front line to try to stop the brave little messengers.

In 1943, the Dickin Medal was instigated to honour the work of animals in wartime – the recipients have included pigeons, dogs and horses. Since then many such medals have been awarded.

(Illustrations: Mobile pigeon loft & P2709, the 'VC Pigeon'.)

Credit: Royal Signals Museum, Blandford Camp.








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