PIGEONS ON SERVICE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20526, 9 April 1941, Page 10

PIGEONS ON SERVICE

SPECIAL TRAINING VALUE IN WARTIME MESSAGE CORPS IN AFRICA Pigeons are on service with the Soutn African Forces, and large miniLcrs are trained for special messenger (.tunes m the Union. The Carrier-t-ngeon Service performed many meritorious deeds in the Great War. and it is confidently expected that their gallant, exploits will be repeated m tills conflict.

A visitor to one oi the largest lotts in the country saw HU homing pigeons being prepared for service with the Suuin African Air Force. It is hoped .n tiie near future to increase the number to 2UU. The birds are the progeny of the best racing pigeons in the province, and were all carefully selected. The owners gave them free oi charge to the South African Department oi Defence.

The birds are all youngsters, and avc trained for release from aeroplanes flying over land and sea. The nigh speeds at which aeroplanes travel to-day made this task extremely difficult, tor a bird would have small chance of survival if it were released in the normal way at any great speed. The difficulty is overcome, however, by stalling the aeroplane while the pigeons are released, ft circumstances no not permit the stalling of a machine the birds are thrown clean in slotted paper bags, which act as a wind resister. It is a simple matter for the birds to get tree of the paper 'bags. Successful Use in Last War

The use of pigeons provides an extra margin of safety for the men ot the armed forces on land, at sea, ancl in the air, especially if the radio is out cu action. They were used very successfully in. the last war, and at the conclusion of hostilities there were 22,000 pigeons and 150 mobile lofts on active service with the British Forces. During the four years of the war, a total of 110.000 pigeons were actually on service with the Allied Forces.

Four birds are carried at a time in South African bombers, and they arc placed on board the machines in .pccially const fueled baskets. They me liberated by hand as required, ••borne of my birds have travelled as iar as 000 miles in a day.” the officer ii. charge of the loft said. "They aver-

age about 15 miles an hour, but they can easily do 00 miles an hour, depending on the velocity of the wind and the climatic conditions. Airmen forced clown in the sea or in the desert will be able to liberate their pigeons if the radio tails, and the birds will do the rest for them. Pigeons are used with the British Forces in this war. and reports that I have received show that they are again doing splenu,d work. in my opinion, there are at least 500,000 birds engaged on active service with the British Forces on all fronts.” . ~ New Training Methods

Methods ot training pigeons have changed greatly in the last few years, and long hours and plenty of patience arc requisites tor the trainer. Where previously the birds were controlled by use of their instinctive return to trie mate, and sometimes by starvation —-forcing them to return to the loft tor food —now' they are trained through kindness. Fanciers through-: out the world have long realised that tl’e, homing pigeon is- intelligent enough to do anything required of it, and a training method has been inaugurated to make the bird feel perfectly contented in the loft and to ■ impress on it what is expected ot it outside the loft.

Surprising results wore achieved in the last war by this method, arid it

was found that birds could bo taken to new positions in mobile lofts, many nines away from their old home, and bioken into the new location within a few days. It is easy to recognise Heir value to an army in the field.

. When four months olcl they are taken from their parent, and placed in lolls by themselves. Their first trainini' consists of being placed on the loft landing board for a look at the country. As, they grow bigger and stronger they are taken a short distance from the loft and forced to fly back. Sometimes they are even trained to return to the loft when called by means of a sound which the birds associate wiih a “mess call.” When the birds are ready for long flights, they are equipped with leg or back containers. The container on the leg is very light and the messages are written on thin paper so that there is little weight. The back container, designed: for carrying maps and photographs, is held in .place by. a harness. The harness is .very carefully fitted to each bird and the capsule perfectly balanced on ’ its back.. Loads of as much as three ounces have been carried successfully by this method. Birds for active service in the field are transported in mobile lofts, which become their permanent home. They are allowed, to mate and breed in this loft. During preliminary training the loft is moved every day so that the birds become accustomed to looking for it. ,

Pigeons Earned Fame Many pigeons earned fame during the Great War. The French awarded • diplomas iii the case of birds deserving the Croix de Guerre or Croix ftfiiitaifip.. When .Commandant' Raynal was surrounded at Vaux, pigeons.were at times Bis only, means of communication with Verdun. His.second last bird ilew through q terrific barrage of enemy fire arid was awarded the Croix de Guerre. His final pigeon, bady wounded, dropped dead as it delivered its message. This bird was awarded the Legion d’Honneur. The mangled remains of a British pigeon are to be seen preserved in the United Services Museum in Britain. This bird was with the British Forces at Menin Road in October, 19.17. and was sent with a message from the front line to divisional headquarters, nine miles away, early in the afternoon. Tin: bird was shot down by the enemy soon after it was liberated, lay out in the rain dll nigjit, but the next morning recovered . sufficiently to struggle back w.ith the message. The bird died on the floor of the loft before the officer could remove the message-holder from its leg. Cher Ami was the favourite of the American Army in France,, and officers and men of the American Carrier Pigeon Service never tire of relating her brave exploits. Cher Apii delivered no fewer than 12 messages of vital importance on different occasions