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LETTER FROM HIS HOLINESS, POPE BENEDICT XVI, FROM THE VATICAN
"The Holy Father wishes me to express his gratitude for your kind letter and gift. He appreciates your thoughtful gesture. His Holiness has remembered the late Colonel Clifford A. Poutre in his prayers."
CLICK HERE FOR THE HOLY FATHER, POPE BENEDICT XVI'S LETTER
The Pigeoneers ™
A feature documentary film written, directed and produced by Al Croseri
Starring Colonel Clifford A. Poutre, Chief Pigeoneer, U. S. Army Signal Corps Pigeon Service
Filmed on location in Greensboro, North Carolina
122 minutes duration
“The Pigeoneers” is an homage to the bravery of homing pigeons who saved thousands of lives in combat in the Great World Wars. Their achievements embodied the attributes of service, endurance, loyalty and supreme courage. Here, their memory is evoked by Colonel Clifford A. Poutre, Chief Pigeoneer, U. S. Army Signal Corps Pigeon Service, 1936-1943.
Poutre enlisted as a Private in 1929, soon after, became a Pigeoneer stationed at the 11th Signal Company, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii until 1936. Poutre was then assigned to the lofts at Fort Monmouth, N.J. in the fall of 1936, working under the keen tutelage of Civilian Pigeoneer, Thomas Ross, a Scotsman who was one of the foremost pigeon experts in the world, and after his death, took over as head of the Pigeon Breeding and Training Center.
Acknowledged the world's outstanding military pigeon expert, Poutre is credited with having streamlined the U. S. Army homing pigeon training and services to keep pace with the latest developments in army aviation. Poutre has taught his homers numerous tricks unprecedented in pigeon history-to be ready for day or night messenger duty, to return to a mobile pigeon loft which moves ten miles away after the pigeon departs and to carry a canary piggy-back from New Jersey to a loft on the rooftops in New York City.
Poutre also acted as a public relations person where pigeons were involved. This led to meeting Nikola Tesla, (1856-1943), the great scientist and inventor who had developed alternating current (AC) and who designed and developed many of the devices for the production and distribution of same. Tesla's Coil (1891) and AC Motor is used in most electric devices today. Tesla was also the innovator of wireless transmission, with a radio patent filed in 1897 and at 72 years old, received a patent for a flying machine that combined elements of the airplane and helicopter. Poutre recalls fondly his friendship and visits to Mr. Tesla at the Hotel New Yorker in the 1930's. Poutre dispells the longstanding myth that Nikola Tesla was not a "nut" and didn't keep "filthy city pigeons." Sure, Tesla may have fed or rescued an injured or lost pigeon but Poutre reminds us that that was a mere act of kindness not madness. Mr. Tesla was an avid homing pigeon fancier and the two enjoyed engaging in "pigeon talk."
Poutre discarded the old "starvation" method of training pigeons in favor of a system of "kindness." Poutre's experiments have proved that homers will now come home because they want to, and not, as in World War 1, because they were hungry.
Poutre handled and cared for numerous World War I Hero Pigeons such as "Long John Silver" and "The Kaiser," the famous captured German war pigeon. Poutre also reminds us of the tremendous efforts of the British Pigeoneers, Lt. Col. A.H. Osman and Mr. J.W. Logan, Esq., and the British War Hero Pigeons during the Great World Wars.
Poutre kept army birds in training by racing them against civilian pigeons. One of the great Army racers was "Always Faithful," 1935 winner of a 720 mile race from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to his loft at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, in the time of 15 hours 39 minutes and 9 seconds. An average speed of 1343.8 yards a minute. This tremendous win earned "Always Faithful" the Hall of Fame Cup and Medal from the American Racing Pigeon Union in 1935.
Poutre tossed the last bird in 1957 before the close-out of the Army Pigeon Service at Fort Monmouth, N.J. Colonel Poutre retired in 1960 as Commander, Signal Corps Supply Agency, Tobyhanna, P.A., after 31 years of loyal military service.
Join Colonel Clifford A. Poutre in “The Pigeoneers,” slow down, think, and remember.
"You can hardly call yourself a flyer unless The Pigeoneers-In Memory of Homing Pigeons in Combat by Al Croseri is in your film library. A "BOMBARDIER'S LOUNGE WWII Big Band Jazz" Five Star!" Capt. Mike (formerly Capt. Michael Hemp, U.S.A.F.)
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"THE PIGEONEERS" RECOMMENDED BY CORNELL'S PROJECT PIGEON WATCH
The Pigeoneers Film Reviews
"The Pigeoneers" reviewed by Dr. Charles Walcott, Professor, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Dr. Walcott is a renowned homing pigeon navigation expert.
"Homing pigeons can return from distant, unfamiliar release points. Experienced pigeons can do so even if they are transported anesthetized and deprived of outward journey information. Airplane tracking has shown that they make relatively straight tracks on their homeward journey; therefore, pigeons must have some way of determining the home direction at the release site." PIGEON HOMING: OBSERVATIONS, EXPERIMENTS AND CONFUSIONS
This is quite an extraordinary film. It not only tells the story of Col. Clifford Poutre but it contains voluminous old film clips of homing pigeons in war. For these reasons alone, this is an important film.
The late Col. Poutre was obviously a charming man with a deep love of pigeons. He makes the case that this kind of affection is essential for really outstanding performance from your birds. As he tells his life story interwoven with pictures of the Army pigeon corps it makes a compelling documentary. In addition, he tells of a variety of interesting experiments that he performed. I think particularly of the idea of a mobile pigeon loft that could be moved from place to place, the training of pigeons to fly at night in both Hawaii and New York City and the problems that New York City lights caused. He describes training pigeons to fly over water for 100 to 200 miles and how his pigeons avoided flying over mountains. He describes the behavior of pigeons released from high buildings homing to a mobile loft at Rockefeller Center and how they simply folded their wings and dove for the loft.
The film also contains tributes to the many famous homing pigeons that served their country in war and saved soldiers lives. In this day of electronic communication we fail to appreciate how difficult communication was in the days before miniaturized electronics.
I especially enjoyed the old films that are now preserved in the DVD version that show the training of both pigeons and soldiers who would care for pigeons in the field. These old films would surely disappear unless they were preserved in digital format as they are here. The account of Poutre's visit to Tesla and the pigeons kept in a bedroom of the Hotel New Yorker is priceless. One can only imagine the cleaning maids reaction!
Overall, this is a wonderful film. It gives us an unusual view of the Army pigeon corps, a warm and delightful visit with Col. Poutre and a strong tribute to the Homing Pigeon.
Charles Walcott, Cornell University
"The Pigeoneers" reviewed by Dr. Edward A. Wasserman, Stuit Professor of Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Delta Center, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Dr. Wasserman's Pigeon Research * Amodal completion of moving objects by pigeons * UI Research Shows Pigeons And People See Eye To Eye * Pigeons and people use the same visual cues * Pigeons categorize photographs of cats, flowers, cars, and chairs * Pigeons recognize human faces
"The Pigeoneers" is a love story between man and bird. After viewing Alessandro Croseri's sentimental documentary, there can be no doubt that Col. Clifford A. Poutre loved the many pigeons that he bred and trained for carrier service in WWII. By both word and deed, Col. Poutre treated his pigeons as though they were human family members, children, buddies. He believed in control through kindness. He saw pigeons as intelligent beings which would fly better if they trusted him. He accorded his birds real respect and even reverence. He reveled in their racing and military achievements and he mourned their loss in warfare and culling.
However anthropomorphically Col. Poutre may have spoken of his pigeons, for him to have been so successful as a pigeoneer, he had to know a great deal about the natural behavior patterns of his birds as well as how best to sculpt those behavior patterns for successful carrier missions. Col. Poutre also had to impart his love for pigeons and his success in training them to the recruits whom he supervised over many years of service to the military.
Do the notions of courage and loyalty aptly apply to pigeons? I can't say. True, Col. Poutre's birds flew hundreds of miles in dreadful weather conditions and they were the targets of intense enemy fire. But, they may have done so because of the extensive training that he gave them.
Nor can we say that Col. Poutre's pigeons truly loved him. Nevertheless, I watched Col. Poutre's tearful eyes, I listened to his tender words, and I watched him as he gently caressed and stroked his birds. If I were a pigeon, then I would surely have loved this man.
Edward A. Wasserman, Stuit Professor of Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Delta Center, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
"The Pigeoneers" reviewed by Dr. Alan Silberberg, Professor of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC
I am an experimental psychologist in animal learning. While I work with many species, pigeons are my creatures of first choice.
Remarkable animals they are. They can sense magnetic north, use the sun as a compass, and even smell their lofts at a distance. But these facts are known to all pigeon fanciers. Perhaps less known but no less true are these facts: pigeons can discriminate man-made from non-man-made objects, classify items as water whether that item be the ocean, a raindrop or an ice cube, and distinguish between the works of Mozart and Bach, or Picasso and Cezanne.
My introduction to pigeoneers was in Wendell Mitchell Levi's text, The Pigeon (1957). This book began with the history of pigeon heroes from WW I which were retired in their lofts at Fort Dix, NJ. Their accomplishments and their medals are on display in these pictures from the text.
Last night I watched The Pigeoneers with my wife, an historian. She referred to the footage as "a primary historical document" because it codifies a rare and forgotten history-- that of the use of pigeons during warfare. Remarkablely, the tale is told by a 103-year-old colonel dressed to the nines in military regalia. He's the real deal because he was the "go to" guy in developing pigeons as instruments of war. The story is warm, interesting and, of course, historical. This movie is surely of interest to pigeon fanciers, military historians, or just to those who find listening to a fascinating tale a good way to pass the afternoon.
Alan Silberberg, Professor of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC
"The Pigeoneers" reviewed by Dr. Rick Wright, Managing Director of "Wings," Former Editor of "Winging It," an American Birding Association publication.
Towards the end of his reminiscences, the 103-year-old narrator of Al Croseri's new documentary grows wistful as he reflects on the need to cull the homing pigeon flocks that were for decades at the center of his life. You can't keep the losers, he says, or the winners will suffer.
Croseri's film, a lengthy and detailed monologue by the last surviving "pigeoneer," faces a similar problem-but one that can't be solved. For, simply put, there are no losers among the anecdotes and images compiled by the director of the splendid The Flight. As a result, Pigeoneers, for all the fascinating material it assembles, will strike many viewers as a little on the long side, better perhaps for dipping into than for consuming at a single sitting.
The film begins with a dramatic, and dramatically scored, montage of vintage photos and film clips depicting the activities of the Army Pigeon Corps. "Culling" some of these elements might have made the entry of Colonel Clifford A. Poutre more effective, but they do provide a visual context for the stories that fill the rest of Poutre's monologue.
Not all of those stories are specifically about his work with pigeons. We learn, for example, that the late colonel slept on the floor as a toddler because he knew even then that he wanted to be a soldier, and that his career as an army bugler was cut short when he found himself moved one evening to offer an unwanted encore. For the most part tightly narrated, sometimes charming, some of these anecdotes can also wander, and much or all, for instance, of the rather pointless story of the weedy ballfield could easily have been cut.
Poutre's entry into military pigeoneering turns out to have been a whimsical, even an arbitrary choice. The affection with which he relates his subsequent experiences, from New Jersey to Hawaii, is constantly obvious, though, and birders and other viewers without, perhaps, a consuming interest in domestic pigeons as such will nonetheless learn something here and there. Pigeons released at sea, for example, will fly up to 100 miles back to their Pacific island homes, even at night, but reveal a notable reluctance to cross mountains. Pigeons returning to their lofts through the dark skies of the Hawaiian islands could attain speeds of up to 60 miles an hour, while the bright lights of metropolitan New York slowed their progress considerably-an observation of manifest relevance to the behavior of wild migratory birds.
Among the carefully chosen images are some very disturbing ones showing the relationship between pigeons, their handlers, and native raptors. I leave it to the reader to guess which of those parties is represented in the vintage photos by proudly displayed corpses.
His long career as an Army pigeoneer brought Colonel Poutre into contact with a number of well-known figures in the 1940s and 1950s. For example, he knew Ding Darling-but unfortunately, the account of that acquaintance trails off into the anecdote of a bizarre publicity stunt, with no further mention of the great conservationist.
Most fascinating of all is Poutre's friendship with Nikola Tesla, an impassioned pigeon handler in the last years of his life. For reasons inscrutable, though, rather than simply allowing Poutre to tell the story of this strange relationship, the director introduces this segment of his film with nearly fifteen minutes (!) of Fiorello Laguardia's radio tribute to the great inventor; by the time the colonel's own reminiscences commence, the viewer may wonder whether she has somehow stepped into a different film. A careful cull here would have worked wonders for the film's coherence.
In general, one gets the impression, perhaps unfairly, that Croseri found himself, understandably enough, incapable of reducing the mass of fine material he had assembled for his film. But the viewer who sticks with the documentary will all the same be richly rewarded-and will inevitably come to share the director's obvious affection for his centenarian narrator, whose death not long after the completion of filming marked the end of a fascinating phase in the relationship between birds and those who love them.
Rick Wright
"The Pigeoneers" reviewed by Elwin F. Anderson, WWII U. S. Army Pigeoneer
I have just finished viewing "The Pigeoneers" by Alessandro Croseri Productions for the third time.
Col. Clifford A. Poutre, at 103 years of age, makes an interesting presentation going back to his youth when first assigned, as a private, to the Army Signal Corps Pigeon Service in 1929. They interviewed Poutre just in time as he passed away a short time thereafter. Alessandro Croseri Productions had spoken with me on several occasions, even considering coming out and interviewing me. Poutre was the far better selection. He had much more to show and discussion information than I could have offered. The better choice by 100%.
As I watched I visualized Poutre in the 1930s, the years between the wars, spending 8 to 12 hours a day with the pigeons, at Army expense. He would have been pondering new ways for the military to use the pigeons, experimenting with the two-way flying and night flying. Also thinking up public relations projects to do with the pigeons. My memory flashes back to the spring of 1942. A group of us newly drafted soldiers arrived at Ft. Monmouth, NJ, selected because of our hobby to be in the Pigeon Service.
Master Sergeant Poutre was top man by then. He had done a good job of establishing the pigeon school which we were to attend for three months. The instructors were a handful of pigeoneers who were drafted during the previous year. One of them from West New York, NJ spoke of the "Boid on the poich". Even he chuckled with the rest of us. One of them, Charlie Fullerton, later as a civilian, moved to Seattle and became a life long friend in the pigeon sport. Charlie later joined me as a member of the AU Hall of Fame.
Others will not get the same reaction as I have to this program. You will find it interesting and a worthwhile addition to your library of pigeon viewing material.
One more, as I see it. Sincerely,
Elwin F. Anderson Everett, WA, USA
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Peter Zakutansky, WWII Night Flyer, Dies at 88
IN LOVING MEMORY OF SGT. PETER ZAKUTANSKY
1921-2010
NIGHT FLYER
WWII US ARMY PIGEONEER
In loving memory of the late Sgt. Peter Zakutansky, WWII US Army Pigeoneer, Night Flying Record holder. Pete died on Monday, March 1, 2010, at the age of 88.
Pete was born on March 18, 1921, in Old Road, Elizabeth, New Jersey. His love affair with the homing pigeons began at an early age. At 10 years of age, he started his own loft. At 12 years of age, he began training pigeons to fly at night. Soon thereafter, he learned and proved that his pigeons would fly both during the night and the day. He raced his pigeons with the Greater Elizabeth Racing Pigeon Club, winning many long and short distance races.
Pete enlisted in the US Army in 1942 and served as an armed guard in the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., for the Office of Secret Mail. He was trained to fire 155 howitzers and a 30 calibre 4-man machine gunner. After describing his "night and day" flying training methods with Major Mc Clure at the Pentagon, Pete was promoted to the rank of sergeant with the 285th Signal Corps along with a special assignment to train pigeons for night flying at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. After basic training at Fort Bragg, he was given his own jeep, a helper and his own location for the night loft. The night loft was located on top of a hill, a quarter of a mile away from the main pigeon section. Pete increased pigeon night flight ranges from the previous maximum of 55 miles to 163 miles. His Army Pigeons, broke the night flying record by an incredible distance of 108 miles. To this day, 68 years later, Sgt. Zakutansky still holds the Night Flying Record.
In 1943, Pete was sent to England with a six-man detachment and oversaw "pigeon communications" between three airbases in Exeter, England. Their detachment was attached to the 9th Air Force Paratroop Carriers. C-47s were used for the missions. 17 paratroopers would eject from the plane, and Pete would wrap the ripcords around his hand, lean out the door and release the pigeon. He personally flew on 15 missions, with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions on C-47s during maneuvers to release his pigeons. He was then transferred to a pigeon training area in Andover, England, where they raised young pigeons and trained them to a mobile loft, P.G. 68, a 30 bird loft on a trailer.
Pete was a very dear friend and will be greatly missed. He was kind, generous and a man of integrity. He loved to talk about his theory on pigeons, the war years, his family, and especially his beloved Mom.
Pete always used to say, "I'll see ya."
VADOS CON DIOS PETE, "I'll see ya."
Al Croseri
Here are a couple of letters that Pete wrote to his Mom.
July 31, 1943
Dear Mom,
Well here it is payday again. The only day out of the month that all the boys wait for Mom. I am sending $45 dollars. I wish I could send more but before the month is up I will be broke. Mom have you been getting your teeth pulled? I hope you have. You should have at least 4 of the real bad ones out by this time and when I get home, I would like to see all the bad ones out and then you can get some false ones made. Even if you had to get them all out at once. Mom you would have to wait for your gums to heal. So why not get some of the ones in the back out.
Mom I received a letter from John and he said he was OK but the mail system is very poor. I wrote three letters to John, the first one is the only one he has received so far and that one was written on June 8 and I wrote two on July 8 and one came back to me. I don't know why because his address hasn't changed. I am going to answer this letter I just got from him. I hope it gets there.
I am still training night pigeons Mom and I have them coming from 32 miles at night. Mom remember the fellows who said I couldn't do it, well I have proven them wrong.
Your son,
Pete
Christmas 1945.
Dear Mom,
Hope everything is OK at home. I miss you especially on Christmas, when we all get together on Christmas Eve. I've been in England, 2 1/2 years. Andy and I met in London. As we talked, a big bomb went over and we went inside a cellar Pub. The glasses tingled when the Buz Bomb went off about a mile away. Andy, is in the 69th Division and is somewhere in Germany. Our Johnny, is on the Island of Mawee. Mom, your son Johnny is a trouble shooter on aeroplanes and Andy, an electrician, both are Sergeants. Mom, the war is about over. I'm looking forward to having Christmas and seeing you Mom and the rest of the family.
Your son,
Pete
The Pigeoneers II ™
I am honored to announce that the late Sgt. Peter Zakutansky is co-starring in The Pigeoneers II with Lt. Col. Robert S. De Adder. The film was shot on location at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey and will be released in 2010.
The Pigeoneers II Publications
I am honored to announce that Sgt. Peter Zakutansky's Memorial Tribute has been published in The Behavioral Neuroscientist and Comparative Psychologist, Division 6 of the American Psychological Association, Volume 25, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2010.
Pete's tribute is featured on page 10 of the newsletter. To read the newsletter, please click here.
The Behavioral Neuroscientist and Comparative Psychologist is the official newsletter of American Psychological Association (APA) Division 6 and is published 3 times a year.
About American Psychological Association
Based in Washington, DC, the American Psychological Association (APA) is a scientific and professional organization that represents psychology in the United States. With 150,000 members, APA is the largest association of psychologists worldwide.
PIGEONS FLY THE COOP IN SUPPORT OF SOLDIERS
by Renita Foster
Public Affairs Office, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey
One late afternoon in February of 1942, a Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber was returning from its latest mission when its engine failed. The aircraft was ditched at 200 feet above water and broke-up partially on impact. The crew quickly opened their pigeon container and dried the bird off, releasing it at approximately 4:30 p.m. with an S.O.S. message that pinpointed their position.
A radio signal was also received from the crash, but it was so weak the information could not be calculated. An air search was ordered to cover an area 70 miles square, but was unsuccessful until the pigeon arrived at 8:20 p.m. and was identified as belonging to the missing aircraft.
After studying the pigeon's condition, the time of the ditching, the faint radio signal, the weather conditions and the daylight available, it was concluded the search was in the wrong place. Aircraft were redirected, and four survivors were shortly rescued.
Sgt. Peter Zakutansky had always been interested in homing pigeons.
As a youngster, he was a regular at the Greater Elizabeth Racing Pigeon Club where members raced their pigeons from 100 and 600 miles away. Zakutansky was fascinated how the birds flew through storms, fog, predators and electric wires to reach their home loft.
At the age of ten, he started his own loft of pigeons.
"That was 1939," says Zakutansky, like it was yesterday. "I read many books at the library; one in particular about Fort Monmouth pigeons' night flying training. It explained how the night flyers only flew after dark and how they trained their pigeons to return from 55 miles. That was about the greatest distance a pigeon would fly at night."
Excited about his new hobby, Zakutansky began training his pigeons to fly at night with one to three-year-old birds. Although his loft was in an area with electric wires and other obstacles, he always had 100 percent return.
But Zakutansky did something Fort Monmouth didn't. He decided to fly the pigeons during the night and day. As he grew older and more experienced, it was his opinion that the Army's method of pigeon night flying training could be improved.
"Flying pigeons during the day keeps them in good shape," explained Zakutansky. "My theory proved that flying pigeons day and night propels them into peak condition."
Zakutansky enlisted in the Army three months after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
He first trained in Field Artillery and was later sent to the Pentagon as an armed guard at the Secret Mail Office.
There, he learned the Army was looking for Soldiers with homing pigeon experience.
"I requested an interview with the Pigeon Signal Corps," said Zakutansky. "I explained how I trained my pigeons to fly both day and night which seemed to impress them."
The Army was indeed interested and promoted Zakutansky to Sergeant. He was also given everything he needed for his pigeon night training program at Fort Bragg, N.C., including a small loft on a hill a quarter mile from the main pigeon section, a jeep, and 50 young birds not yet able to fly.
Zakutansky began training by placing his birds in a "settling" cage on the loft where they could see navigation aids such as the stars and moon and also hear night noises.
Then they were gently pushed through the barbs (wires that allow the pigeons in but not out). Zakutanksy would whistle and shake the feed can, feeding each pigeon as it entered the loft.
That reinforced the homing instinct and was practiced both night and day.
"Since they were young and not quite ready, they were kept in total darkness in the settling cages so they wouldn't fly at night," said Zakutansky. "As they grew stronger flying during the days and learned how to get into the loft, the settling cage was removed. When I was positive they knew how the top of the loft looked at night as well as during the day, each pigeon was released from the loft with me whistling and rewarding them with feed when they returned."
Zakutansky also placed the pigeons in areas covered with thick trees where the only opening the birds could see was 100 feet above. Flying up to the opening taught them to fly high when released.
Zakutansky soon had the pigeons entering the loft from a few feet. Next, they were flying away from five to 10 feet. The distance gradually increased from 25 to 50 feet. After many releases and feed rewards, Zakutansky felt they were ready to fly nights.
When the pigeons began returning from the tree line from a few hundred feet in daylight, Zakutansky then released some pigeons from a mile away in darkness.
When they made their way home, Zakutansky knew his procedures were not only sound, but successful. And that they were valuable to the Army for use during combat. As time passed the pigeons could fly 60 miles at night and 100 miles in daylight. Eventually, Zakutansky released his night flyers from as far away as 100 miles.
"My pigeons were trained for day and night flying," said Zakutansky proudly. "All I had to do was take them farther and farther away. By the time I was finished, my pigeons made it from 163 miles out."
Zakutansky was next given the responsibility for 150 pigeons, and with five assistants was sent to England.
On arrival, he established a pigeon courier service between troop carrier bases.
Pigeons had already become heroes in the underground movements during World War I in Europe.
In World War II, the British dropped more than 17,000 pigeons to the French resistance and many returned home with vital information that enabled the allies to locate and destroy enemy positions.
One message brought back to England by pigeons was a note from a Resistance group chief who wrote, "I have destroyed an electrical cable, but have no more material. Send some by parachute."
Another return message from the Nord department of France on July 24 read, "Your bombardment a fortnight ago was very successful. The railway lines were cut and wagons were destroyed."
Over 20,000 pigeons were used in Italy during 1944. They carried nearly 15,000 messages in the first eight months of the campaign and not one pigeon was ever lost.
Over 95 percent of all messages carried by U. S. Army trained pigeons were successfully delivered under combat conditions.
Enemy soldiers constantly tried to shoot them down and even offered rewards for their capture.
A year earlier, a pigeon appropriately named "G I Joe," was credited with saving the lives of at least 1,000 British troops when he flew 25 miles in 20 minutes carrying a crucial message to cancel an attack and bombing at Colvi Vecchia, Italy by the British 56th Brigade and U.S. Air Support Command. British Soldiers had entered the city with little resistance, occupying it ahead of the scheduled attack.
All attempts to cancel the bombings of the city made by radio and other means of communication had failed. G.I. Joe arrived just in time with the message to cancel the attack. A year after the war, G.I. Joe was honored in London where he was cited and awarded the Dickin Medal for gallantry by the Lord Mayor of London.
Another pigeon hero was "Caesar," who was the most traveled pigeon with 44 combat missions in North Africa, and even delivered a message 304 miles from Italy across the Mediterranean Sea to Tunisia.
"Jungle Joe" was dropped by parachute in Burma to an outfit that had lost its radio operator. For seven days the outfit collected information far behind the Japanese lines and when Jungle Joe was released with the data, he flew 224 miles over some of Burma's highest mountains.
The message enabled the Americans to plan and execute an attack that opened an additional front.
As Operation Overlord drew closer, pigeons were distributed in England in specially designed water and gas proof coops to the Allied units in the marshalling areas and to the units embarking on Landing Ship, Tanks (LST) and Landing Craft, Infantry vessels.
When one LST was hit by enemy action, communication with the shore was unauthorized to avoid placing the other vessels in danger. A pigeon was quickly dispatched, the message received and the lives of countless Soldiers were saved.
After arriving in England, Zakutansky established "pigeon communications" between three airbases. And on 15 different occasions, he flew with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions on C-47s during maneuvers to release his pigeons.
Many United States Army Signal Corps pigeons became winged heroes during D-Day as they carried vital messages from France to the English coast arriving with wings and legs torn apart by enemy fire. Other birds were lost in the rain, fog and darkness, but most arrived unhurt.
Four months later during Operation Market Garden, a pigeon named "William of Orange," brought a message from the airborne troops at Arnhem to London in a record 460 miles in only four hours, 25 minutes.
According the Zakutansky, the Army's Pigeon Corps reached a peak of 54,000 during World War II and flew thousands of miles, saving hundreds of lives. And it only cost the Army six cents a week to feed each bird. "A penny a day for a hero," he said.
Even though over 60 years have passed since World War II, and considerable progress has been made in the art of warfare, Zakutansky insists pigeons can still be valuable assets in war time.
"Pigeons can still help rescue planes at sea and carry valuable information back and forth between units," claimed Zakutansky. "Pigeons were often the only means of battle communication when radios and telephones failed. In certain tropic regions, the birds have proven superior to electrical and mechanical transmittal, and when conditions demand radio silence, pigeons are invaluable in sending messages with certainty and speed. Pigeons can still be a formidable force in modern war."
Source: "Pigeons fly the coop in support of soldiers,"
The Pigeoneers Press
FINE, FEATHERED WAR HEROS
Birds transported vital information during World Wars and before
By DAVID BIRD
Dr. David M. Bird is professor of Wildlife Biology and Director of the Avian Science and Conservation Centre of McGill University. He is the author or editor of several books including City Critters: How to Live with Urban Wildlife, Bird's Eye View: A Practical Compendium for Bird Lovers and The Bird Almanac: The Ultimate Guide to Essential Facts on the World's Birds. Dr. Bird has received many awards for his conservation efforts and is past-president of the Raptor Research Foundation, a Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union, and Canadian representative on the International Ornithological Committee. He is a regular columnist on birds for Bird Watcher's Digest and the Montreal Gazette.
The Gazette, Montreal, Canada
November 18, 2009
I often think of my dad repairing the skins of the Spitfires and Hurricanes that were shot to pieces by Messerschmits, Focke Wulfs and ground fire over the Dutch coast during the Second World War. He didn't talk about war much, except to say that most of the time he was scared out of his wits. But David Archibald Bird was not the only "bird" over there fighting the Nazis.
While many of us refer to them as "winged rats" or "flying bags of disease," the lowly rock pigeon has played a very significant role during a number of wars, notably in both World Wars and as recently as the Korean War.
Known as homing or carrier pigeons, these birds have a remarkable talent for finding their way back to their loft over distances of thousands of kilometres and from unfamiliar places in all kinds of weather. They have been valued as faithful carriers of messages during times of both war and peace.
War pigeons were parachuted behind enemy lines in containers for use by the resistance to carry information critical to the Allies. Other birds were released from mobile lofts, tanks and aircraft to take vital messages back to headquarters. Naturally, these actions made them targets for enemy soldiers using not only guns but trained falcons. Tens of thousands died and a number became feathered folk heroes.
One such decorated bird was G.I. Joe, a genuine hero during the Second World War. Bred by the U.S. army Signals Corps in 1943, G.I. Joe lived for 18 years. In its first year of life, the bird served in Colvi Vecchia, Italy. It flew 30 kilometres in just 20 minutes and saved the lives of 1,000 soldiers by carrying a message to cancel a bombardment of Colvi Vecchia, which the British had entered ahead of schedule. For the feat, the bird was awarded the Dicken Medal, the only U.S. war pigeon to do so.
Another famous war pigeon was Paddy, an Irish war hero. He was apparently the last pigeon to be released by the Americans in Normandy, but the first bird to arrive in England with news of the success of the D-Day invasion. According to his trainer, John McMullan, Paddy was the best of the best.
The tenacity of these birds to get back to their lofts is best illustrated by the story of Cher Ami, a black check cock. This bird was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with Palm for heroic service. On its final mission, in October 1918, the bird, having been shot through its breast or wing, delivered a message in a capsule hanging from a ligament of its shattered leg. The contents saved the lives of 200 U.S. soldiers.
The pigeons did not perform these duties without help - they had handlers. One of the most famous was Col. Clifford A. Poutre, chief pigeoneer with the U. S. army signal corps pigeon service from 1936 to 1943. Widely acknowledged as the world's foremost expert on military uses for pigeons, Poutre streamlined the U. S. army homing-pigeon training and taught the birds tricks for day or night messenger duty. He also discarded the old method of starving pigeons in favour of kindness. He essentially showed that homers will return home because they want to, and not, as during the First World War, because they were hungry.
A great army racer was Always Faithful, 1935 winner of a 1,160-kilometre race from Tennessee to his New Jersey loft in 15 hours, 39 minutes, 9 seconds, an average speed of 1.233 kilometres a minute! Colonel Poutre retired from the army in 1960 after 31 years of military service.
Alessandro (Al) Croseri, who was kind enough to bring the exploits of these special birds to my attention, has captured their story in his 8-minute DVD film The Flight, a beautiful and moving homage to the sacrifices that these homing pigeons made for us in the wars. Croseri also wrote and produced a longer film The Pigeoneers, featuring Poutre.
Next time you scowl at a pigeon in the streets, think about how these birds helped saved thousands of soldier's lives during war.
For info on these films, visit store.pigeonsincombat.com.
- David Bird is a professor of wildlife biology and director of the Avian Science and Conservation Centre on the Macdonald campus of McGill University.
david.bird@mcgill.ca.
Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
Source: "Fine, feathered war heros. Birds transported vital information during World Wars and before " by David Bird, The Gazette, Montreal, Canada.
Long John Silver, WWI American War Pigeon Hero
"LONG JOHN SILVER," 1918-1935
BRED BY U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS
HATCHED JANUARY 1918 IN A FRONT LINE DUGOUT, FRANCE
SERVED IN THE MEUSE ARGONNE OFFENSIVE
WOUNDED SEVERELY IN BATTLE ON OCTOBER 21, 1918
FLEW 25 MILES IN 25 MINUTES WITH A SHOT OFF LEG
AWARDED DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL
RETIRED FROM ACTIVE SERVICE IN 1921
REASSIGNED TO 11TH SIGNAL COMPANY, SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HAWAII
HANDLED BY COL. CLIFFORD A. POUTRE FROM 1929-1935
SPECIALTY - DELIVERING MESSAGES UNDER INTENSE ENEMY ARTILLERY FIRE
"STUMPY" JOHN SILVER: HEROIC WINGED MESSENGER
Story and photographs courtesy of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
Homing pigeons were used in World War I to deliver messages when other means such as telephones, telegraph, radio or dispatch riders were unavailable. They proved their value carrying messages from front line outposts to pigeon lofts at command centers, which they returned to by instinct and training.
This homing pigeon was hatched in January 1918 in a dugout just behind the lines in France. During the Meuse-Argonne offensive, he was one of the most active pigeons in the Army, and his barrage-dodging skill was apparent in many exciting flights from the front line trenches to divisional pigeon lofts.
On Oct. 21, 1918, at 2:35 p.m., this pigeon was released at Grandpre from a front line dugout in the Meuse-Argonne drive with an important message for headquarters at Rampont, 25 miles away. The enemy had laid down a furious bombardment prior to an attack. Through this fire, the pigeon circled, gained his bearings and flew toward Rampont. Men in the trenches saw a shell explode near the pigeon. The concussion tossed him upward and then plunged him downward. Struggling, he regained his altitude and continued on his course. Arriving at Rampont 25 minutes later, the bird was a terrible sight. A bullet had ripped his breast, bits of shrapnel ripped his tiny body, and his right leg was missing. The message tube, intact, was hanging by the ligaments of the torn leg. Weeks of nursing restored his health but could not give back the leg he lost on the battlefield. The pigeon became a war hero and earned the name "John Silver," after the one-legged pirate in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. He was retired from active service and in 1921 was assigned as a mascot to the 11th Signal Company, U.S. Army Signal Corps, Schofield Barracks, Honolulu, Hawaii. John Silver died Dec. 6, 1935, at the age of 17 years and 11 months.
Thereafter, on each Organization Day of the 11th Signal Company, the name John Silver was added to the roll-call. When his name was called, the senior non-commissioned officer present responded, "Died of wounds received in battle in the service of his country." The Army Signal Corps presented John Silver to the museum on Dec. 19, 1935.
Since at least the mid-1930s, many people have called this one-legged pigeon "Stumpy" John Silver. The nickname, however, has been a matter of contention. The Signal Company commander of the Hawaiian Division at Schofield Barracks (John Silver's commanding officer at the time the bird died) felt it was disrespectful and is reported to have said in 1961 that anyone who called the bird "Stumpy" would have been summarily thrown out of the area. Nonetheless, a 1937 Signal Corps Headquarters document states that "'Stumpy' John Silver was on display at the Army Aeronautical Museum, Wright Field, Ohio, which later became the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
Source: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
Kaiser, WWI Captured German War Pigeon
"KAISER" 1917-1949
BAND # 17-47-0-350
RED CHECKER COCK
BRED AND TRAINED BY THE GERMAN IMPERIAL CROWN
CAPTURED BY THE YANKS IN 1918 DURING THE MEUSE ARGONNE OFFENSIVE
ASSIGNED TO THE US ARMY SIGNAL CORPS, FORT MONMOUTH, N.J AND CAMP CROWDER, MO.
HANDLED BY COL. CLIFFORD ALGY POUTRE FROM 1936-1943
KAISER LIVED FOR 32½ YEARS
SPECIALTY-OUTSTANDING BREEDER
PORTRAIT OF A PIGEON
By Wilson P. Dizard
Published in The New York Times, February 24, 1946
Technically, Kaiser could be called a traitor to the Imperial Crown of Germany. A soldier of fortune, he has served under two flags in two international wars. This may seem surprising when one considers that Kaiser is 29 years old and that his kind has always been regarded as a symbol of peace. But Kaiser carries no olive branch in his bill-he's a Regular Army Flier, assigned to the United States Signal Corps, and the oldest pigeon known to history.
Kaiser was hatched in Germany in February, 1917, and was trained as a military homing pigeon for the German Army. The famous bird was captured when the Yanks stormed an enemy front-line trench during the Meuse offensive in 1918. He was brought to this country and assigned to the Signal Corps Pigeon Center, Fort Monmouth, N.J., until August, 1942, at which time he was transferred to Camp Crowder, Mo., the Army's pigeon-breeding center.
In terms of human ages, Kaiser is a cool 140 years old-the normal life span of a pigeon being from 5 to 8 years. Despite his advanced age, Kaiser has continued to father large groups of homing pigeons. He astounded his keepers and pigeon breeders all over the country last year by fathering seven youngsters. The breeders shook their heads and said that because of Kaiser's age his youngsters would be useless as military homing pigeons. They took it all back when one of them, Little Caesar, won a 320-mile race from Dallas to Camp Crowder in competition with some of the best birds in the Army.
There is no logical explanation for the Kaiser's hardiness except for the fact that he lives under ideal conditions at the Crowder lofts. He and the latest of his many mates, Lady Belle, live alone in a white loft away from the other loft buildings. The only difference between their loft and those of the other pigeons is that Kaiser and Lady Belle have an electric heater-a small concession to Kaiser's old age.
Although a "member" of the United States Army, Kaiser still wears a seamless aluminum identification band on his left leg, bearing the seal of the German Imperial Crown. This band was placed there by his German keepers when he was a week old, and it cannot be removed unless cut from the leg.
Gimpy, WWII US Army Pigeon
He sometimes rests. But never hitches.
"GIMPY"
HATCHED IN 1938
SON OF "THE KAISER", FAMOUS WW1 CAPTURED GERMAN WAR PIGEON
BRED & TRAINED BY COL. CLIFFORD ALGY POUTRE, US ARMY LOFTS, FORT MONMOUTH, NJ
SPECIALTY-HOMING TO MOBILE LOFTS
NATIONAL DEFENSE: GIMPY
Published on Monday, Feb. 24, 1941
Time Magazine
From the day he got his feathers Gimpy was a superior bird. Master Sgt. Clifford Algy Poutre, the lean, leathery boss pigeon man at the Signal Corps pigeon lofts on the Jersey flats at Fort Monmouth, liked to say that the Army would hear from Gimpy some day. His breed was right. His father, old red Kaiser, captured in a German trench in the Argonne, is still the oldest military pigeon in the business (24 last month), and his Scotland-hatched mother had good blood in her.
Since Sgt. Poutre gave Gimpy the job of instructing younger pigeons last fall, he has turned out 150 graduates, trained to fly back to the trailer lofts as straight as a crow. Taken farther and farther away each day from Monmouth, he led them back unerringly to the loft, showed them that a pigeon can fly with a message capsule on leg or back. Last week, on his twisted right leg, three-year-old Gimpy stumped among a new class of 52 youngsters, fixed them with a hard eye.
Gimpy got the game leg that named him before he was two years old. One wintry day he was released in Trenton, got lost in a snowstorm, went over Brooklyn just over the housetops, finally ran out of ceiling. He cracked up in a backyard and broke his leg. Set by a man named Somervell (who had pigeons of his own), Gimpy's leg turned out badly, but within two months he was back on the job with a name instead of a number. Last spring Gimpy worked in the maneuvers in Louisiana, lost three of his 17 ounces in the fierce heat, but always came in with the tissue-paper message that front-line men had put in his capsule. And in the fall, when the Signal Corps started breeding and training 3,600 new birds, Gimpy was promoted to an instructor's job.
Among the 1,000 Army pigeons in the Fort Monmouth lofts, Gimpy is as monogamous as the next old soldier. His mate is a three-year-old hen named Matilda. He ran her out of his nest four times before they settled down. Today, like any suburban pigeon, he sits on the eggs six hours a day while Matilda gets a rest.
Gimpy's only fault is that he likes to land on the way home, sometimes leads his recruits into a grassy plot for a rest and stroll, while he stumps around, gabbling officiously. But no one in Fort Monmouth's pigeon company will admit that these fine feathered soldiers ever hitch rides on Army trucks.*
-As Major Leonard Nason charged last fortnight in a denunciatory book, Approach to Battle. "Dependence on pigeons as a means of signal communication," said he "is leaning on a broken reed." Week the book was published, Major Nason was ordered to active service.
Source: "National Defense: Gimpy," Time Magazine.
Colonel Clifford A. Poutre tossing the last bird in 1957 before the close-out of the Army Pigeon Service at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.
I received the following email from Richard Baker, MA (Msgt, USAF ret.), Chief, Research Center Branch, Army Heritage and Education Center.
Good Morning Mr. Croseri,
Your message was forwarded to me by our Director, Dr. Crane. I will place a copy of the details about " Gimpy" in our reference file on "Pigeons." I've also noted and saved your excellent website for future reference and referral to those who may be seeking information on the "Soldiers Fine Feathered Friends."
The link here is to our most recent article on the Army.mil website and the weekly feature series "This Week in Army History" that focused upon the subject of "combat" pigeons. I hope you enjoy it.
http://www.army.mil/-news/2009/11/22/30666-fine-feathered-friends/
Thank you for your efforts to maintain and present the history and story of military pigeons to the world. You are invited to visit the Institute to see and study more about the history of the U.S. Army. Thank you.
Richard L. Baker, MA (MSgt, USAF ret.)
Chief, Research Center Branch
Army Heritage and Education Center
U.S. Army Military History Institute (PSD)
950 Soldiers Drive
Carlisle, PA 17013
FINE, FEATHERED FRIENDS!
November 22, 2009
By Stewart Beattie, Special Guest Contributor, Student and Intern from Shippensburg University, PA
Photo Credits: USAMHI (WWI Signal Corps Photograph Collection)
In November, 1944, G.I. Joe, a member of the United States Army, saved the lives of at least 100 Allied soldiers. In just twenty minutes G.I. Joe traveled over 20 miles to deliver a message of grave importance. With only minutes to spare he stopped an air raid from bombing a newly occupied village filled with Allied soldiers. G.I. Joe was not a super soldier; he was a Blue Check splashed pigeon. One rarely thinks of their flying over the battle-worn trenches of World War I or through the bombarded night skies of World War II. Yet during both wars, thousands of pigeons were used.
Some 600 of which were used by the U.S. Army Signal Corps in World War I. They were used to transmit orders to advance troops, send reconnaissance reports, and carry other crucial military messages. Pigeons played a major role during the World Wars, because they were a dependable source of communication. In World War I, they were especially useful for their speed, long distances flights, consistency, and an impressive homing ability when compared to the existing unreliable and crude communication systems. Over 90% of messages sent by pigeons were received. Reliable forms of communication were necessary because of the constant changes on the front. Trenches often change hands between opposing sides multiple times during a one-week period.
One pigeon named, Cher Ami, a Black Check carrier pigeon, aided in rescuing elements of the U.S. 77th Infantry Division, known as the "Lost Battalion." Separated from American forces, the Battalion was surrounded by the Germans. For six days they endured constant fire from both enemy and Allied forces, and their food and water supplies were extremely low. Cher Ami had delivered many critical messages but his last mission was the most important. Battered and broken with a gunshot wound to the chest, Cher Ami valiantly carried a message from the "Lost Battalion," regarding its dangerous situation. The message stated, "Our artillery is dropping a barrage on us. For heaven's sake, stop it!" Once Cher Ami's message was received, the survivors were rescued and brought safely within American lines. The Lost Battalion originally had over 500 men; Cher Ami's gallant service allowed 194 Soldiers to survive.
Cher Ami, and forty other pigeons, received honors for their brave service in World War I. Cher Ami received the French Croix de Guerre with palm for his valiant work. Unfortunately, due to the injuries sustained on his final mission, Cher Ami died months later in 1919. Pigeons, such as G.I. Joe, would be utilized during World War II, but soon afterwards the use of pigeons in war became obsolete due to advancements in communication technology. So next time you happen to see one, or hear the cooing of a pigeon, do not think of them as a nuisance, but as heroes and a Soldier's fine, feathered friend.
Source: "Fine, feathered friends!" USAMHI
Fighting 279th Pigeoneers ™
Ed Schmidt, WWII US Army Pigeoneer, Elgin, Illinois
Ed Schmidt from the WWII "Fighting 279th Pigeoneers." Ed will be co-starring in my upcoming feature documentary film, the third of "The Pigeoneers" trilogy, to be released in 2010.
Below is the article "Bird In Hand", written by Charity Bonner, The Courier News, Elgin, Illinois.
BIRD IN HAND
April 19, 2009
By CHARITY BONNER cbonner@scn1.com
Photographs By Shauna Bittle / Staff Photographer
Ed Schmidt, 91, of Elgin, has been training homing pigeons since childhood and worked with them in the Army Signal Corps during World War II. He still works as an auctioneer and appraiser of the birds.
Every day, regulars flock to Paul's Restaurant in Elgin to tell stories and catch up on one another's lives.
Among the restaurant's customers are retired schoolteachers and firefighters -- the "average" folk who form the fabric of this community.
Each tale comes with fascinating tidbits accumulated from several decades of life experience. Amid clanking dishes and the gentle hum of conversation, one table stands out. It is a table full of mostly retired men who gather faithfully each morning to share stories and jokes.
When asked who has one of the best stories, they all agree: Ed Schmidt.
Schmidt, 91, has spent all his adult life in Elgin -- except for the five years he was in the Philippines training homing pigeons to carry classified messages about enemy movements to different U.S. camps during World War II. The tactic was especially useful in the Pacific Islands, where the mountains kept radio signals from carrying very far. He still has several of the tiny 1-inch-long aluminum carriers the trainers would use to attach to the pigeons' legs.
And Schmidt is still in the bird business. He's served as a pigeon auctioneer since 1946 and kept an average of 120 birds at a time up until a few years ago when he moved to a different home. A recent Chicago auction he led raised more than $900,000 for local nonprofits.
These pigeons, it turns out, have been spreading their wings for the good of humanity for a very long time.
Wartime messengers
According to the American Racing Pigeon Union Inc., the tradition began when the ancient Greeks used homing pigeons to carry messages more than 5,000 years ago. And no wonder. These birds can fly as far as 80 to 600 miles at speeds of 40 to 60 miles per hour.
The most famous homing pigeon, "G.I. Joe," is known for saving the lives of 1,000 British troops during World War II. According to the racing pigeon union, the British 56th Brigade was scheduled to attack the city of Colvi Vecchia, Italy, at 10 a.m. on Oct. 18, 1943. The U.S. Air Support Command was scheduled to bomb the city to soften the entrance for the British brigade. The Germans retreated, enabling the British troops to occupy it ahead of schedule. The British made all attempts possible to cancel the bombing, but radio messages and all other forms of communication failed. G.I. Joe was released to carry the message to cancel the bombing, flying 20 miles back to the U.S. Air Support Command base in 20 minutes and arriving just as the planes were warming up to take off.
The pigeons were prized for their reliability in carrying messages between U.S. camps. According to Schmidt, they were 99 percent accurate. They were enough of a threat that enemy gunners would target them whenever they could.
Schmidt went from a little boy who raised pigeons on his parents' farm in Woodstock to a pigeon trainer for the Fighting 279th Pigeoneers in World War II -- the first overseas unit. He was one of 34 pigeon trainers in the unit who took care of thousands of pigeons.
Just like people, these birds have quirky personalities at times. One of Schmidt's favorite birds, Lady, would come flying down and land on Schmidt's shoulder whenever he would call. He credits an innate love of animals for his lifelong hobby.
Despite his various duties and years of service, Schmidt speaks modestly of his own time served in the war.
"As far as I am concerned, all the heroes of World War II died over there," he said.
There are less than 30 men from his division left throughout the United States.
When he returned from the war, Schmidt worked for the Milk Specialties Co. in East Dundee and as a sales manager for Pacific Molasses Co. But the former president of the American Racing Pigeon Union continues to be involved in the industry. And though he no longer has pigeons in his home, Schmidt still enjoys meeting other enthusiasts at the Elgin Homing Pigeon Club on the second Friday of each month, as well as traveling around the United States for auctions.
Schmidt will be the featured subject in the upcoming documentary, "The Pigeoneers," which currently is being filmed on location in Chicago. It is being produced by Alessandro Croseri Productions of New York City. Schmidt's feature is expected to be the third in the trilogy and will be released sometime in 2010.
Source: "Bird In Hand" by Charity Bonner, Courier News, Elgin, Il.
WWII SPY PIGEONEERS ™
Richard Topus, WWII "Spy" Pigeoneer
I received the following email from Ms. Margalit Fox, requesting information for a New York Times obituary she was writing for WWII "Spy" Pigeoneer, Richard Topus.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Dear Mr. Croseri:
We are preparing a news obituary for Richard Topus for The New York Times. Mr. Topus was a pigeoneer at Camp Ritchie in Maryland during the war. I'm wondering if you had occasion to meet him in the course of making your film, or if you can at least talk to us in general terms about the kind of work that members of the Signal Corp Pigeon Service would have done at Camp Ritchie. Mr. Topus's family was not able to shed much light on what he actually did there, beyond saying that he bred and trained the birds. I'm hoping you can help.
You can reach me at my office until about 7 p.m. tonight, or after 12 noon tomorrow.
Thank you very much in advance for your time.
Cordially,
Margalit Fox
The New York Times
620 Eighth Avenue - Newsroom, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10018
My reply to Ms. Margalit Fox's email is below:
Dear Ms. Fox,
That's very sad to hear about Dick Topus. Please send his family our deepest sympathy and condolences.
Yes, we were in contact when I was making my film, "The Pigeoneers." My Producer and I spoke with him several times over the phone.
Here's a short biography according to our conversations with Mr Topus.
At 18 years old, Dick Topus started his Pigeoneer training at the U.S. Army Signal Corp Pigeon Service, Fort Monmouth, N.J., where Col. Poutre, who stars in my film, "The Pigeoneers," was Chief Pigeoneer at the time. Poutre, as a Master Sergeant in 1936, established the "Pigeon Schools" at both Fort Monmouth, N.J and Camp Crowder, Missouri; training the Pigeoneers and homing pigeons to be ready for combat duty.
After three months at Fort Monmouth, N.J., Topus was sent to the Pigeon School at Camp Crowder, MO, for another 4 weeks of specialized training. Topus was then assigned to Camp Ritchie, Maryland, where he trained the intelligence service/spies on how they could use homing pigeons in combat as a silent means of communication for their secret classified missions.
For example, he trained them on how to throw a homing pigeon out of a plane, either out of a "Black Bird" or "Piper Cub" single engine plane to deliver messages. He also trained them how to drop a basket of homing pigeons with a parachute attached to it, out of the planes, to the men below on the ground. These pigeons were used to carry important messages to the base/headquarters. The pigeons were dropped to be released from both the front lines and from behind enemy lines.
I hope this is helpful for your news obituary for Dick Topus.
Kind regards,
Alessandro Croseri
Alessandro Croseri Productions
www.pigeonsincombat.com
Below is the New York Times Obituary.
RICHARD TOPUS, A PIGEON TRAINER IN WORLD WAR II, DIES AT 84
By MARGALIT FOX - The New York Times
Published: December 13, 2008
In January 1942, barely a month after Pearl Harbor , the United States War Department sounded a call to enlist. It wasn't men they wanted - not this time. The Army was looking for pigeons.
To the thousands of American men and boys who raced homing pigeons, a popular sport in the early 20th century and afterward, the government's message was clear: Uncle Sam Wants Your Birds.
Richard Topus was one of those boys. He had no birds of his own to give, but he had another, unassailable asset: he was from Brooklyn , where pigeon racing had long held the status of a secular religion. His already vast experience with pigeons - long, ardent hours spent tending and racing them after school and on weekends - qualified him, when he was still a teenager, to train American spies and other military personnel in the swift, silent use of the birds in wartime.
World War II saw the last wide-scale use of pigeons as agents of combat intelligence. Mr. Topus, just 18 when he enlisted in the Army, was among the last of the several thousand pigeoneers, as military handlers of the birds were known, who served the United States in the war.
A lifelong pigeon enthusiast who became a successful executive in the food industry, Mr. Topus died on Dec. 5 in Scottsdale , Ariz. , at the age of 84. The cause was kidney failure, his son Andrew said.
Richard Topus was born in Brooklyn on March 15, 1924, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. Growing up in Flatbush, he fell in love with the pigeons his neighbors kept on their rooftops in spacious coops known as lofts. His parents would not let him have a loft of his own - they feared it would interfere with schoolwork, Andrew Topus said - but he befriended several local men who taught him to handle their birds. Two of them had been pigeoneers in World War I, when the United States Army Pigeon Service was formally established.
Pigeons have been used as wartime messengers at least since antiquity. Before the advent of radio communications, the birds were routinely used as airborne couriers, carrying messages in tiny capsules strapped to their legs. A homing pigeon can find its way back to its loft from nearly a thousand miles away. Over short distances, it can fly a mile a minute. It can go where human couriers often cannot, flying over rough terrain and behind enemy lines.
By the early 20th century, advances in communications technology seemed to herald the end of combat pigeoneering. In 1903, a headline in The New York Times confidently declared, "No Further Need of Army Pigeons: They Have Been Superseded by the Adoption of Wireless Telegraph Systems."
But technology, the Army discovered, has its drawbacks. Radio transmissions can be intercepted. Triangulated, they can reveal the sender's location. In World War I, pigeons proved their continued usefulness in times of enforced radio silence. After the United States entered World War II, the Army put out the call for birds to racing clubs nationwide. Tens of thousands were donated.
In all, more than 50,000 pigeons served the United States in the war. Many were shot down. Others were set upon by falcons released by the Nazis to intercept them. (The British countered by releasing their own falcons to pursue German messenger pigeons. But since falcons found Allied and Axis birds equally delicious, their deployment as defensive weapons was soon abandoned by both sides.)
But many American pigeons did reach their destinations safely, relaying vital messages from soldiers in the field to Allied commanders. The information they carried - including reports on troop movements and tiny hand-sketched maps - has been widely credited with saving thousands of lives during the war.
Mr. Topus enlisted in early 1942 and was assigned to the Army Signal Corps, which included the Pigeon Service. He was eventually stationed at Camp Ritchie in Maryland , one of several installations around the country at which Army pigeons were raised and trained. There, he joined a small group of pigeoneers, not much bigger than a dozen men.
Camp Ritchie specialized in intelligence training, and Mr. Topus and his colleagues schooled men and birds in the art of war. They taught the men to feed and care for the birds; to fasten on the tiny capsules containing messages written on lightweight paper; to drop pigeons from airplanes; and to jump out of airplanes themselves, with pigeons tucked against their chests. The Army had the Maidenform Brassiere Company make paratroopers' vests with special pigeon pockets.
The birds, for their part, were trained to fly back to lofts whose locations were changed constantly. This skill was crucial: once the pigeons were released by troops in Europe, the Pacific or another theater, they would need to fly back to mobile combat lofts in those places rather than light out for the United States . Mr. Topus and his colleagues also bred pigeons, seeking optimal combinations of speed and endurance.
After the war, Mr. Topus earned bachelor's and master's degrees in business from Hofstra University . While he was a student, he earned money selling eggs - chicken eggs - door to door and afterward started a wholesale egg business. In the late 1950s, Mr. Topus became the first salesman at Friendship Food Products, a dairy company then based in Maspeth, Queens ; he retired as executive vice president for sales and marketing. (The company, today based in Jericho , N.Y. and a subsidiary of Dean Foods, is now known as Friendship Dairies.)
In the 1960s and early '70s, Mr. Topus taught marketing at Hofstra; the C. W. Post campus of Long Island University; and the State University of New York, Farmingdale, where he started a management-training program for supermarket professionals. In later years, after retiring to Scottsdale , he taught at Arizona State University and was also a securities arbitrator, hearing disputes between stockbrokers and their clients.
Besides his son Andrew, of Chicago , Mr. Topus is survived by his wife, the former Jacqueline Buehler, whom he married in 1948; two other children, Nina Davis of Newton , Mass. ; and David, of Atlanta ; and four grandchildren.
Though the Army phased out pigeons in the late 1950s, Mr. Topus raced them avidly till nearly the end of his life. He left a covert, enduring legacy of his hobby at Friendship, for which he oversaw the design of the highly recognizable company logo, a graceful bird in flight, in the early 1960s.
From that day to this, the bird has adorned cartons of the company's cottage cheese, sour cream, buttermilk and other products. To legions of unsuspecting consumers, Andrew Topus said last week, the bird looks like a dove. But to anyone who really knew his father, it is a pigeon, plain as day.
Source: "Richard Topus, a Pigeon Trainer in World War II, Dies at 84" by Margalit Fox, New York Times.
SPY PIGEONS ™
The Pigeoneers Museum Collections
American Air Museum, Imperial War Museum Duxford, United Kingdom
The Pigeoneers Library Collections
Grace Doherty Library, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky
I am very pleased to announce that The Pigeoneers has been acquired for the collection of the Grace Doherty Library, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky. This acquisition is for academic purposes only.
The mission of the Grace Doherty Library is to support the curriculum of Centre College.
AU PUBLICITY AWARD 2009
American Racing Pigeon Union, Inc., Oklahoma City, OK, USA
"On behalf of the AU Board of Directors and fanciers across the United States, congratulations for winning the 2009 AU Publicity Award. Your efforts and productions portray the sport in a favorable and professional manner. We greatly appreciate the positive public awareness and perception generated for the racing pigeon sport. Again, congratulations and thank you!" Karen Clifton, Executive Director, American Racing Pigeon Union, Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The Pigeoneers Publications
The Behavioral Neuroscientist and Comparative Psychologist, Volume 25, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2010
Fine, Feathered War Heros, The Montreal Gazette, Canada, November 18, 2009
Bird in Hand, The Courier News, Elgin, Il., April 9, 2009
The Ornithological Newsletter, Ornithological Societies of North America Publication, August 2009 Issue
The British Homing World, United Kingdom
The Racing Pigeon, United Kingdom
The Racing Pigeon Digest, United States of America
Feathered World, United Kingdom, June 2008 Issue
Aviculture Europe, The Netherlands
Australian Aviculture, Australia, April 2009 Issue
