AIR FORCE PIGEONS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIII, Issue 75, 29 March 1919, Page 1

AIR FORCE PIGEONS.

WOU& WiTTi SftAFLAJNJiii. Upon the inauguration oi the Royal Air Force it was decided that all aircraij- reconnoitring over tne sea should carry pigeons, and lotts sprang up .'ike mushrooms in ail theatres of wartl -Patriotic pigeon iancier 6 presented their best birds to ’.he Air Ministry in *uch numbers that it was never necessary to spend any public money on purchasing stock. ibe training ol pigeons tor this work presented much more difficulty tbar- W generally realised, even by pigeon experts. This is due to the fact that ali the work of ths pigons wa fi earn'd out from liberations at sea. The training of the Birds, therefore, had to be very carefully managed, and not only had the trainer to possess a thorough knowledge of the pigeon, its feeding, and management., but he needed also to have a pretty good idea of the possibilities of the weather, a s a sudiden fog springing up round the coast would’ probably cause a good many birds to lose their way, and tail to return home at night. Owing to the limited space available in seaplanes, he carrying of pigeons on board was at first somewhat of a i roblem. but- finally a small box, measur’ng about 12in long by 6in wide by Sin deep, with a cross partition, was, designed in which two pigeons could be taken out for service work. * . In training pigeons for the Royal Air Force the birds were taught to know the near surroundings of their own loft, and then taken in stages along the coast-line up to this limits of the patrol for which they were to be used. They were then given liberations at sea iu various stages. The Royal Air Force pigeon service has proved its value on many occasions by saving the lives of the crews of flying-boats and seaplanes,, and sometimes the machines as well. Since tlf? inauguration of the Royal Air Force -riv fewer tharf7l7 messages of distress have been sent by pigeon from aircraft, deal* on the surface of tne’ water. In carry ing these messages the birds have covered an aggregate of 20,000 miles. The speed of the pigeono, of course, depends upon atmospheric conditions. Cases have been known where pigeons have exceeded 60 miles an Eour. In one instance a pigeon flew 22 miles in 22 minutes with, a message which resulted in the necessary action being taken to save the crew of a seaplane. , The machine had been forced to land on the water, and was rapidly breaking up owing to bad weather, so that .there was little tim to lose. In another case a pigeon, released 200 miles from its base was able to bring important information, taking five hours to complete the journey—an average of 40 miles an hour. .... This war has been called a-war-of modern science, yet many devices of ancient times have been resuscitated and used once more —the grenade, the steel helmet, the catapult. But the Royal. Air Force can claim to employ the newest and oldest of all devices. If the aeroplane is the newest of all new things, the pigeon service can find a pre-. cedent in Noah arid the Ark.