I've just finished a book about the code workers at Bletchley Park and am now reading Ben MacIntyre's Double Cross:The true story of the D-Day spies. I had just been reading about the deployment of pigeons and their use in espionage (apparently they had their own section in MI5: The Pigeon Service Special Section BC3). Then yesterday, I read this in the news . It will be interesting to see if they decode the messages.
WWII carrier pigeon remains found in UK chimney by reuters
All this pigeon stuff got me remembering. My father was a great one for keeping pets and livestock. Among the many animals we had, pigeons had a high profile. We lived in an ideal place . The rectory had vast outhouses and one of the lofts housed the pigeons. I remember the tumblers and tipplers doing their acrobatics, the fantails strutting their stuff. We also had homing pigeons and often two or three of these would be bundled into a box and taken with us on a Sunday as we headed to church in one of my father's parishes. The pigeons did not have to attend the service; they were let loose as we went into the church and then on our arrival home, we would find them back safely in the loft.
OMG! I had quite a chuckle with this, thinking of my dad's churches over the years. Only one church, after I left home, was far enough away (4-5 miles) that would have given pigeons a nice run of it. How fun to imagine what it would be like coming home after church to go check on the pigeons, to make sure they had all arrived back safely! :) My dad would get a laugh out of this story!
ReplyDeleteThank you for dropping by Ginnie. The pigeons certainly created a diversion from the church going :)
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