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I might as well go ahead and add this piece. I have had it for a few years...
US Army Signal Corp Pigeon Carrier. It carried two pigeons into battle along with a top containment area for the pigeon supplies like Feed, Message capsules and message book...
The bottle of beer is just to show scale.
I lost an ebay bidding war on a letter home by a soldier that worked for the pigeon corp... It went for over $50.. But I wish I had stayed in the bidding now... The soldier writes home to his wife and says.. "They race the pigeons regular and have wagers on them... and every now and then an officer will come up and bet on a pigeon. Boy" he says: "When an officer tell you that you better win... You better win or you'll be doing extra duty."
I wish that I had won the letter...
anyways.. This is about all the I know about the US Army Pigeon Corp.
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The United States Army Pigeon Service (a.k.a. Signal Pigeon Corps) was a unit of the United States Army during World War I and World War II. Their assignment was the training and usage of homing pigeons for communication and reconnaissance purposes.[1]
During World War II, the force consisted of 3,150 soldiers and 54,000 war pigeons, which were considered an undetectable method of communication. Over 90% of US Army messages sent by pigeons were received.[2]
During the Italian Campaign of World War II, G.I. Joe was a pigeon who saved the lives of the inhabitants of the village of Calvi Vecchia, Italy, and of the British troops of 56th (London) Infantry Division occupying it. Air support had been requested against German positions at Calvi Vecchia on 18 October 1943, but the message that the 169th (London) Infantry Brigade had captured the village, delivered by G.I. Joe, arrived just in time to avoid the bombing. G.I. Joe flew this 20-mile distance in an impressive 20 minutes, just as the planes were preparing to take off for the target. He saved a thousand men.
For his efforts, G.I. Joe was presented the Dickin Medal for "the most outstanding flight made by a United States Army pigeon in World War II."[5]
By the beginning of World War 2, the U.S. Army had approximately 54,000 pigeons working under the Signal Pigeon Corps. As these birds became more frequently used over the course of the war, the U.S. Army Veterinary Service had to dedicate a unit to "the protection of pigeon health, the preservation of their physical efficiency, and the safeguard against introducing or disseminating pigeon-borne diseases affecting other animals and the human being."[8]
These objectives were obtained by furnishing professional services and supervisory assistance in the care, feeding, housing, and transporting of pigeons; conducting laboratory diagnostic and investigative studies on pigeon diseases; establishing controls against the diseases of pigeons by quarantine procedures; inspecting and reporting on factors having a bearing on pigeon health; and giving technical assistance in the training of pigeoneers. Although 36,000 pigeons were deployed overseas, the foregoing veterinary services were not practiced uniformly in all of the theaters and oversea areas because of the newness in the concept of military veterinary medicine for the Army Pigeon Service.
US Army Signal Corp Pigeon Carrier. It carried two pigeons into battle along with a top containment area for the pigeon supplies like Feed, Message capsules and message book...
The bottle of beer is just to show scale.
I lost an ebay bidding war on a letter home by a soldier that worked for the pigeon corp... It went for over $50.. But I wish I had stayed in the bidding now... The soldier writes home to his wife and says.. "They race the pigeons regular and have wagers on them... and every now and then an officer will come up and bet on a pigeon. Boy" he says: "When an officer tell you that you better win... You better win or you'll be doing extra duty."
I wish that I had won the letter...
anyways.. This is about all the I know about the US Army Pigeon Corp.
--------------------------------
The United States Army Pigeon Service (a.k.a. Signal Pigeon Corps) was a unit of the United States Army during World War I and World War II. Their assignment was the training and usage of homing pigeons for communication and reconnaissance purposes.[1]
During World War II, the force consisted of 3,150 soldiers and 54,000 war pigeons, which were considered an undetectable method of communication. Over 90% of US Army messages sent by pigeons were received.[2]
During the Italian Campaign of World War II, G.I. Joe was a pigeon who saved the lives of the inhabitants of the village of Calvi Vecchia, Italy, and of the British troops of 56th (London) Infantry Division occupying it. Air support had been requested against German positions at Calvi Vecchia on 18 October 1943, but the message that the 169th (London) Infantry Brigade had captured the village, delivered by G.I. Joe, arrived just in time to avoid the bombing. G.I. Joe flew this 20-mile distance in an impressive 20 minutes, just as the planes were preparing to take off for the target. He saved a thousand men.
For his efforts, G.I. Joe was presented the Dickin Medal for "the most outstanding flight made by a United States Army pigeon in World War II."[5]
By the beginning of World War 2, the U.S. Army had approximately 54,000 pigeons working under the Signal Pigeon Corps. As these birds became more frequently used over the course of the war, the U.S. Army Veterinary Service had to dedicate a unit to "the protection of pigeon health, the preservation of their physical efficiency, and the safeguard against introducing or disseminating pigeon-borne diseases affecting other animals and the human being."[8]
These objectives were obtained by furnishing professional services and supervisory assistance in the care, feeding, housing, and transporting of pigeons; conducting laboratory diagnostic and investigative studies on pigeon diseases; establishing controls against the diseases of pigeons by quarantine procedures; inspecting and reporting on factors having a bearing on pigeon health; and giving technical assistance in the training of pigeoneers. Although 36,000 pigeons were deployed overseas, the foregoing veterinary services were not practiced uniformly in all of the theaters and oversea areas because of the newness in the concept of military veterinary medicine for the Army Pigeon Service.
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