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How to Sabotage Military Pigeons: A Primer
Since the Siege of Paris (1870-71), armies have tried to neutralize military pigeons. The reasons for this are easy to understand—pigeons allow the enemy to request aid and to receive confidential information from spies. To put a stop to these birds, militaries have recruited sharpshooters and hawks to dispatch them, or released intercepted pigeons with…
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“You’re in the Army Now!”: When Pigeons Get Drafted
In discussions about military pigeons, little attention has been paid to how the birds even entered the armed forces. Typically, there were two routes. Some pigeons were like professional servicemembers—born and raised in government lofts, all they knew was a life of military camps and discipline. Others were like draftees—prize-winning racing birds in civilian life,…
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Pigeon POWs of the Great War
To the victor go the spoils. That pithy phrase has justified the wholesale seizure of property during wartime for millennia. Throughout the Great War, both the Allies and the Central Powers confiscated military equipment from one another when the opportunity presented itself. Trucks, ships, airplanes—each captured piece of equipment had the potential to bolster militaries…
Pigeons of War 