(Updated) WWII Pigeon Found in Chimney.
A Message from the Front Line.
The Skeleton of a World War Two carrier Pigeon has been found in a Chimney in Surrey England. He had flown for hundreds of miles from somewhere on the European Front. He would have been exhausted from his journey and probably landed on the chimney to rest. It is thought that he was overcome by fumes from the fire below, he fell down the chimney and met his demise. He has been in the chimney for approximately 70 years. There he might have stayed had the current owner of the house not decided to restore his fireplace. When clearing rubbish from the chimney, the house owner saw a small red capsule, having picked it up he realised it was attached to the tiny skeletal leg of a bird.
A Wartime coded message.
The owner thought the capsule was from a racing or homing Pigeon. He very carefully unscrewed the capsule top and therein was a message. It was handwritten on a ' cigarette paper thin ' piece of paper. The message was in code, it was a series of columns and groups of letters and numbers. The message has now been sent to Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, This was the intelligence centre, where the work was carried out to crack the Enigma Code. It is accepted that cracking this code in which the centre was successful, shortened the war by years. Nothing has been revealed other than the letters, XO2. We know that XO2 was the code for Bomber Command. One theory is that the capsule contained a message to request a raid somewhere. Another theory is that the Pigeon was heading for Marshall Montgomery's HQ in Reigate Surrey, which was involved with the planning of the D Day Landings.
More On The Message.
Experts tell us that the red capsule is the type used by the Special Operations Executive SOE. The SOE undertook sabotage missions in enemy held territory, they usually operated alone and lived under cover. Many did not return from duty. Many were shot or worse, all unsung heros and heroins, their names and deeds known to none. The message was sent by Serjeant W Stott. Where he was and what his thoughts were as he released his messenger, we will never know. Bletchley Park is now a museum, they have a permanent ' Pigeons at War ' exhibition. Mr Colin Hill the curator of the exhibition says that all the messages in the museum are in long hand, not code. This message must have been top secret as it was coded. Mr Hill also says that an aluminium ring found on the birds leg, tells us that it was born in 1940.
Pigeon Deployment.
Pigeons have been used in Battle situations throughout history. During World War II approximately 250,000 Pigeons were used, they can fly at a mile a minute and after training are able to find their way home. A little known fact is that Royal Air Force bomber crews carried Pigeons on their missions. Should they be shot down and presuming they had time, their position could be written down and sent via the Pigeon. World Wars: Pigeons in Battle Animal VC Winners.
What Follows is an Update on the Above.
News and press releases today 23/11/12, tell us that the coded message above has been submitted to GCHQ. (Government Communications Headquarters). They have been unable to crack the code with people or the latest technology. Codebreaking was undertaken at Bletchley Park during the war. An appeal has gone out to find any surviving members of the original staff, who might be able to shed some light on the sequence.
It is now thought that the Pigeon was dispatched from Nazi-occupied France on June 6, 1944, during the D-Day invasions. The message was sent to X02 ( Bomber Command ) at 16:45 hours. The bird was released by Serjeant W.Stott. It is recognised that Serjeant Stott was in the Royal Air Force, as the letter j is used in the word Serjeant. The Army used the letter g in Sergeant this identified the services in such a case as this. So at present we are awaiting the course of events. Meanwhile can you crack the code?
The Code is Below Can You Crack It?
AOAKN HVPKD FNFJW YIDDC
RQXSR DJHFP GOVFN MIAPX
PABUZ WYYNP CMPNW HJRZH
NLXKG MEMKK ONOIB AKEEQ
WAOTA RBQRH DJOFM TPZEH
LKXGH RGGHT JRZCQ FNKTQ
KLDTS FQIRW AOAKN 27 1525/6
So there we are fellow hubbers and readers can anyone crack the code. Good Luck if you try.
War Time Pigeons.
Wartime Messengers
© 2012 Graham Lee
Comments
This is most remarkable information. There is so much to be said on the Passenger Pigeon before its demise in this country. Goes to show that squab mattered more than the bird. It was looked at to replicate the DNA through another species and try to recreate it. Nw that you have brought things to light, I must look further into the matter.
What an amazing circumstance that this pigeon was found with the relation to history during WWII. It is also amazing that the code to date has not yet been broken. Very interesting hub Graham! Happy to share this.
Yes I actually did a Google search. I found a lot of interesting info on the use of Carrier Pigeons in WW2. I even found a video showing the pigeons cages in the planes.
This is an absolutely amazing and fascinating story Graham. I really enjoyed reading it. And I learned a lot from it too. I didn't know that the Royal Air Force bombers used Pigeons to send their position when shot down.
I also find it interesting that no one is alive today who knows how to break the code. It surely will be something interesting to look forward to if someone succeeds had it.
What an interesting story! I suppose cell phones are a dynamic advancement in comparison to pigeons. Nevertheless, they were reliable enough and deserve some respect. RIP, little soldier.
I am voting up, sharing, and clicking good buttons.
Fascinating, I thought it was going to be a joke. Guess I have been reading billybuc too long. It is an odd feeling to think about something that old brought to the limelight. I wouldn't even venture a guess. Wish my dad were alive, he would be looking at it day and night trying to figure it out. lol Thanks for the interesting share! ^
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Quite an elderly bird, that pigeon. He/She would have been four years old if she died in 1944 and was born in 1944.
My friend Maude has a penchant for pigeons and you may be interested to read all about them on one of my hubs.
I don't have the time to work out a code, you'll just have to go undercover and find it yourself.
Wonderful story. I wonder if, had the pigeon not died, the course of the War would have been altered. Well, at least it ended with the Allied victory.
But what a brave little bird, flying all those hundreds of miles, and how clever the trainers were.
I do hope Serjeant Stott came home.
Oh now you've done it Graham. I love a challenge of this sort.
I knew that pigeons were used to carry messages in WWII but didn't realise there were so many.
It's a fascinating story and one wonders what might have happened had the pigeon made it. It is upsetting to think that Serjeant W.Stott may have been waiting to be rescued or for new orders in vain. I wonder what difference it made to Serjeant W.Stott and what impact the lost pigeon had on his fate.
My father-in-law used to keep and train pigeons and often they were taken to France to race back to the UK and now and again one would get lost on the way.
I will keep an eye out for updates on this Graham, eagre to know the outcome.
Voting UP and more
Wonderful hub Graham and those wonderful birds! What a fantastic contribution they have made as have so many animals over the centuries during wars. I knew a little about the work these birds did, but I didn't realise so many had been used and for top secret missions as well.
I haven' t even attempted to crack the code - I'm a dumbo with things like this! But this is one aspect of the war I really do find fascinating and I also have a great interest in codes used throughout history - kind of funny I guess knowing that I'm a thicko at working them out!! LOL!
Wonderful and fascinating hub!!
Ps I hope that wee pigeon has been given a good buriel with full honours!!
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I'm so glad I read this, it was fascinating. I've always found pigeons rather endearing this is definitely a hub to be shared. Tara
Fantastic story Graham. My parents both lived in Europe during the war and have interesting stories to tell. I will share this with them and also make an attempt to crack the code!
Hello! A revisit by me to read your update... wow, I wish I could crack the code but I wouldn't know where to start! :-) Keep us posted, this is a great story! All the best, jen
well, I have a soft-spot for pigeons and this made me grin big time. To think that most people see them as pests nowadays! Thank you for sharing this great story.
Very interesting story and it brings up a lot of questions about one of the world's most significant event in modern history. For instance, what if this pigeon had completed his flight to the receiver? Would it had change the course of the war in some way? We would never know until that code is broken. Also there is a similar event that occurred during the American Civil War where a handwritten note from General Robert E. Lee was found by a Union soldier about his plans prior to the Gettysburg battle. That note was a secret massage to one of his commanders.
This is wonderful. I was trying to crack the darn code. and sonwhere down the line I see the time 15:25 hours on the 6. The rest feels like asking for further instructions. Why? Is just a general suposition plus the historical day D-Day!
Graham, such an intriguing story filled with mystery and history. Excellent. Thank you for sharing this with your readers. I'm still wowed. :)
What a long way we have come! I hope they are able to decipher the code, it would be so interesting to find out exactly what it said. Voting up and interesting. :)
Fascinating stuff! A great reminder of the "technology" we used to win the war... and what a thing to find in a chimney! Great hub, voted up and all sorts, all the best, Jen
It is so cool how people still find things like this! I love history and archeology - this was a fascinating read.
What a fascinating story. I wonder what the outcome would have been if the pigeon had got through with the message.
What a weird and wonderful world we live in.
3/ votes and sharing.
It's funny that nowadays in the days of electronic comms this sort of thing will never happen again. I like the idea of a RAF pigeon with his little goggles and hat. I wonder if the same message was tagged to several birds to increase the chances of it reaching its destination?
Hi, yes I did see this in the news, amazing isn't it? I would love to know exactly what it says, because over here we virtually won the war because of this type of code etc, great hub and so interesting, nell
That is the most interesting thing I've ever heard of found in a chimney!
A wonderful share Graham and thank you so very much.
Eddy.
Thank you for this fascinating piece of history.
This is very interesting. The idea of using pigeons to carry messages is intriguing. Thank's..
What a curious story! Very interesting, thanks Graham!
That was fascinating, Graham! I of course knew pigeons were used during the war, but had no idea the numbers involved. Great job as always.
I knew that birds were used to deliver mail. Absolutely interesting hub and I liked reading it. Voted up!
I read something about this just recently. Your article added quite a bit of additional information. Great job!
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