S.O.S. BIRDS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume L, Issue 2648, 17 November 1919, Page 7

S.O.S. BIRDS.

Many lives were saved in the recent v. r ar by the heroism of pigeons. In a recent case a bird attached to the R.A.F. was liberated from one of two British seaplanes in the North/ Sea. Flying through an aerial battle, it was wounded in the eye by a bullet, but arrived at its destination —a certain aerodrome—in an exhausted condition, its feathers stained with blood. The message it carried was the word "Attacked," According to a report subsequently received, the two British machines were opposed by six Germans. The latter, however, made off before there was any chance of a move equal fight. The pigeon, which has recovered from its wound, is now the pet of the station, and has been "pensioned oil."

In another case a carrier-pigeon, at the cost of its own life, saved the lives of six British airmen adrift in the North Sea. The bird, after delivering its message of appeal for assistance, fell dead from exhaustion, whilst the wrecked airmen, when succoured from their perilous position, wcro on the point of meeting a similar fate, having no food and little water.