PIGEONS WITH PARACHUTES USED DURING WORLD WAR II TO FLY MESSAGES TO FRENCH RESISTANCE

Scientific and technological developments made possible by World War II include the radar and penicillin, which are still in use today. However, the war also saw the troops resort to less conventional means of coordination. One of these was the message-delivery pigeon system. A large number of them were put in crates and dropped behind enemy lines in occupied France, strapped to tiny parachutes. After they took off for England with messages attached by the resistance, their efforts won them medals.

Stewart Wardrope told the Daily Mail in 2013 that "the Allies used thousands of racing pigeons in the war and they saved lives and brought very important intelligence back from the French about the Germans." Wardrope oversees the Royal Pigeon Racing Association as general manager.

The British came up with a plethora of strategies to get them to the French Resistance. They dropped them out of the planes over a predetermined position, strapping them in little parachutes to prevent them from taking off. Over 250,000 homing pigeons are thought to have been deployed during the conflict. Later on, problems with pigeons flying into the wings of faster aircraft occurred, and in France, anyone in possession of a racing pigeon was suspected of being a spy. The tiny parachutes that these birds used to descend to the ground, however, are an interesting piece of World War II memorabilia that came from these earlier attempts.

One such item was discovered in the recently deceased English home of Mrs. Ellington, along with other D-Day documents, in an old shoebox. The small parachute is constructed of white fabric and has a vest for the pigeon that is probably made of the same materials as a bra. It also has a line. This tool serves as a reminder of the work these animals did during the war and is currently on display at the House on the Hill Museum in Standsted Mountfitchet, Essex.

Throughout World War II, homing pigeons performed incredibly well and bravely for the Army Air Forces. According to the National Air and Space Museum, they made significant contributions to the Allied war effort by transmitting countless messages across multiple theatres of operation. "These pigeons carrying messages served valiantly in times of war."