In the ancient and modern armies not only soldiers, but also animals, common are dogs, horses and pigeons, of which the advantages of military pigeons are beyond the reach of other animals, military pigeons have made great contributions to the victory of the army. In World War I, an American army lost its way in the Logorin Forest of France, lost contact with the main force, and ran out of ammunition under German siege. They released the military pigeon "Chelav" to send a letter asking for help, and "Chelav" sent the letter to its destination through a hail of bullets. The U.S. military immediately dispatched planes to drop food and ammunition, so that the desperate troops broke through the siege and returned to the camp. "Chelav" was awarded the Cross of Merit for his outstanding combat achievements. After the death of this military pigeon, its body was made into a specimen and displayed at the National Museum in Washington, D.C., and the scars on its body are still visible.
During World War I, the French army trained pigeons
The American army used military pigeons in World War I
During World War I, the U.S. Army Communications Corps used about 600 pigeons
Cher Ami is a French military pigeon who was awarded the Cross of Valor for delivering 12 important messages during the Battle of Verdun.
In August 1917, Canadian Air Force Lieutenant General Robert Leckie flew a seaplane to rescue four crew members of a downed plane in the North Sea. After the rescued four people boarded the plane, due to the rough sea, the seaplane not only could not take off, but faced the threat of sinking. In a pinch, they released the last military pigeon. The pigeon flew for several days in a row against a violent storm, exhausted all its strength, and finally landed in the British military port of Cromer. Because it brought important information in time, the military sent planes to the scene of the accident, and Leckie and the rest of the personnel were able to survive.
In World War II, on 18 January 1943, the British 56th Royal Infantry Brigade requested Allied air fire support in order to quickly break through German defenses. When the Allied planes were about to take off, the British military pigeon "Gejiu" sent a hundred thousand urgent letters,—— the German defense line had been broken by the 56th Royal Infantry Brigade, requesting that the bombing be withdrawn. Later, it was learned that "Gejiu" flew more than 30 kilometers in 19 minutes. Because "Gejiu" saved more than 1,000 lives, the Mayor of London awarded it the Gold Medal, the highest honor awarded to carrier pigeons in the history of war.
During World War II, military pigeons were often used by the U.S. military to convey messages
According to research, pigeons are the oldest animal spies in the world, and military pigeons are more known as "military signal soldiers", they are different from ordinary pigeons, and even different from ordinary carrier pigeons. As early as the Chu-Han War in ancient China and Zhang Qian's envoy to the Western Regions, people began to use pigeons to transmit information. There is also a monograph on pigeons in ancient Chinese texts - the Book of Pigeons. In World War I and World War II, military pigeons were widely used. After the continent's first hydrogen bomb completed its explosion experiment in Lop Nur, 50 military pigeons passed through a mushroom cloud of strong radiation and returned to the station, completing a valuable test experiment. To this day, satellites are flying all over the sky, and military pigeons still play an irreplaceable role on the battlefield where communication technology is everywhere.
Pigeons are so indispensable because they have characteristics that modern communication technology does not have: pigeons have their own unique navigation functions, fly without interference from terrain, climate, radio waves and radar, and have good confidentiality; It has amazing flight endurance and homing ability – pigeons can return thousands of miles away using only their geomagnetic induction and biological clock navigation. The pigeon flies at speeds of up to 170 kilometers per hour, can carry a weight of 35 grams and is effortless to carry a communication chip.
In the early days of our army, there were specialized units of military pigeons
Research books on military pigeons
Today, the role of military pigeons has long gone beyond simple battlefield messengers, and they have shown their power in search and rescue, missile guidance and battlefield reconnaissance. With only 40,000 troops, Switzerland has more than 40,000 pigeons in service. The mainland has a team specializing in training military pigeons in Kunming, Yunnan, and there is also a battalion-level military pigeon unit in the former Chengdu Military Region, and interested literary friends can find relevant information to understand. In war, control of battlefield information is crucial. When the means of communication are not developed, military pigeons are the key information transmission channel. Even with the development of digital communication today, the battlefield communication of the First World War was destroyed, and the military pigeon still played a huge role in its low cost, good confidentiality and simple operation.
Take pictures of military pigeons
Signal military pigeons
During World War II, military pigeons were still heavily used by the U.S. military