5. Decorated War Pigeons

The man in this National Library of Scotland image, is a French pigeon trainer.

Franco-British carrier pigeon which makes long distance flights

Here is a photo that appears to be the same man, from a real photo postcard from Université de Caen Normandie.

1A1182101_283348III029

During WWI there were 20,000 birds and 380 expert pigeon trainers in the British Army. The pigeons were transported via wicker basket, sometimes in backpacks.

How the birds are sent up the line

There are 32 decorated war pigeons.

Horse-drawn mobile lofts

The French and British weren’t the only troops using pigeons. The Japanese also used pigeons to shuttle messages during wartime as shown in this Library of Congress photograph.

Jap[anese] carrier pigeon troops (LOC)

The Nationaal Archief shows exactly how these pigeons were deployed.

THE BRITISH WESTERN  FRONT IN FRANCE