Tuesday, March 5, 2013

ABC - Letter H

H IS FOR HOMING PIGEON
 


So much has been in the news over the past year about drones being able to fly unmanned into other parts of the world.  I saw something on the history channel about homing pigeons and that sent me on an exploration of how they were used in wartime.

From Wickepedia:
Homing pigeons have been used for over 3,000 years.  When used to send messages,  notes were written on paper and rolled into a small tube and attached to the birds leg.

100,000 were used during WWI with 95% success and the US Army had 54,000 in the Army Pigeon Service . The British and French armies also used the pigeon for communication.

  The most famous homing pigeon was Cher Ami who delivered 12 messages despite being injured.  She helped save the lost Battalion of the 77th Division in the battle of Argonne, October 1918.  She was awarded the Croix de Guerre Medal for her service.  She is displayed at the Smithsonian Institute.

Some were attached with cameras to capture the battles in progress.



Little did I know that my hubby and his brother raised and trained  homing pigeons when they were youngsters.  I did not  know this until he told me about it last week when I told him about my ABC Wednesday subject. 

I started frantically looking through his old pictures to see If I could find a picture of him and his brother and their pigeon coups.  LOW and BEHOLD I found one!! They built this pigeon coup and you can see the chicken wire in the closest coup. They also had lots of pens inside the larger building for different kinds of birds.  They were around 14 and 11 during this time, my hubbys brother is holding one of their white homing pigeons and my hubby is holding onto their nephew who dosen't seem to impressed!!!



  
 
In this world of every electronic object you can name, isn't it amazing that one of Gods creatures was used to aid our soldiers in distant lands to win WWI and WWII. 
 
for
 


Ann
 
 

13 comments:

Roger Owen Green said...

That's so interesting that you got a piece of your husband's history! And from blogging!

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Gattina said...

That's very interesting ! It's amazing what some pigeons are able to do !
Gattina
ABC Team

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Melanie said...

I was fascinated by homing pigeons in the third grade but I've never known anyone who had any personal experience with them. What a treat that this blog post led you to such a fun discovery about your husband!

I agree with you that these pigeons were a very special gift during the wars. Thank you for writing such a wonderful post. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Deborah Kay at The Paint Splash said...

Wow so glad you found this picture of Gary and his brother. I didn't get my post done before I left so I guess I will have to use something different for H.

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photowannabe said...

Yes it is amazing and fascinating.
How exciting to find out something new about your Hubby. Glad you found a picture too.

Sharp Little Pencil said...

Loved the personal touch of your relative's photo. It's true, the homing pigeon is one of the great unsung heroes of both wars! I admire the little buggers so. Thanks, Ann! Amy
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Lisa said...

Oh! My gosh! very cool. I loved this post it left me smiling. Love the old photos.

I see you live in Kansas. My son is going to a college in Kansas. He is at Benedictine in Atchison. ~ We are from South Carolina. It's so far from home :( I also see you have the book UNplanned by Abbey Johnson - I bought the same book a few weeks ago. I got to hear Abbey speak at a fund raiser for a home for teenage mothers in our area. BOY! She was awesome. With all that I decided I needed to be a new follower. :) I hope you have a wonderful day.

Lisa

Carver said...

Interesting post and photography. Carver, ABC Wed. Team

Unknown said...


Great story, thanks for visiting pret-a-vivre Ann. How many Wizard of Oz book do you have?

Ann said...

I have 4 vintage hardbacks, several paperback and a treasured poster from the movie. I'm always on the lookout

Chubskulit Rose said...

Oh that's a huge thing that you discovered!

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Catching up with letter H entries.
Rose, ABC Wednesday Team

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