Pigeon Spies
What do you think of when you hear the words ‘spy’ and ‘secret service? I bet the picture below doesn’t spring to mind.
But some of the UK’s most important spies in World War 2 were pigeons – the Confidential Pigeon Service! Homing pigeons would be air dropped into German-occupied France so that locals could send information on troop movements back to Britain.
I first learned about Operation Columba through my sister, who is a big pigeon fan. Then, when I went to Bletchley Park codebreaking centre, took that photo of a pigeon in its airdrop container and parachute and read the stories of some of the pigeons involved, I knew I wanted to learn more about how this amazing project worked.
The pigeons were perfect for transporting information and over 30 of the pigeons received the Dickin Medal for bravery. Among them was my personal favourite – Mary of Exeter. Mary was injured on three occasions, including one where she returned home with the tip of one wing shot off.
Several of the pigeons have become quite famous (with their own pages on Wikipedia). The Duke of Normandy was the first pigeon to bring news from D-Day back to Britain.
So when it came to writing Alice’s fourth and final adventure, A Dash of Daring, I knew that I wanted to include a pigeon character to honour the brave pigeons of the Confidential Pigeon Service. Enter Columba – she is a homing pigeon whose owner, Hugo, is training her to carry messages in a little cannister round her neck. I called her Columba, because the Pigeon Service was often called Operation Columba. And like the pigeons of the Confidential Pigeon Service, Columba is brave, resourceful, and well equipped to save the day!
If you would like to read more about the Confidential Pigeon Service, I recommend Operation Columba : The Secret Pigeon Service by Gordon Corera.
Sarah Todd Taylor 