The Most Famous Pigeons of All Time

People have kept pigeons since ancient times, and the bird has become a universal symbol of peace and love; in Christianity the dove represents the Holy Spirit. Some individual pigeons, and pigeons in art and fiction, have become famous in their own right.

War Hero Pigeons and The Dickin Medal

In times past messenger or carrier pigeons were used for fast, long-distance communication. Inevitably, they were also used when countries went to war.

The Dickin Medal was proposed by Maria Dickin in 1943 to honour the bravery and courage of our animal friends in Britain.

It is now known as the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross, which is awarded to men and women for great valour.

Some of history’s most famous pigeons have received the Dickin Medal.

1. Cher Ami

In 1918, during the First World War, a US Army Signal Corps pigeon called Cher Ami became one of the most celebrated birds of the war.

In October of that year a force of about 550 men from the 77^th Infantry Division, later known as the Lost Battalion, was cut off and surrounded by German troops.

Unable to break out, the commander made repeated attempts to apprise his headquarters of the situation, but every messenger bird he sent was either wounded or killed.

Cher Ami was the last messenger bird he had left. Although shot through the breast, blinded in one eye and badly wounded in the leg that carried the message tube, the bird still delivered the message.

A rescue mission was mounted and the roughly 190 men still on their feet were saved from being either captured or killed.

The authorities recognised Cher Ami’s bravery by awarding the bird the French Croix de Guerre with Palm, which honours heroic service. Cher Ami did not receive the Dickin Medal, which was only created during the Second World War.

Cher Ami, who was later found to be a male, never fully recovered and died the following year.

2. Winkie

Winkie was one of the first three animals to receive the Dickin Medal, for life-saving efforts during the Second World War.

In 1942 a British bomber was shot down over the North Sea. Although the crew were alive, they were stranded in a dinghy and in danger of dying of exposure.

Winkie escaped before a message could be attached, but she still flew about 120 miles home to her loft near Dundee, Scotland. The RAF worked out roughly where the crew were from the time she took to get home, the wind direction and the oil on her feathers.

A rescue boat was sent, and the crew survived.

3. Kenley Lass

Kenley Lass received the medal in 1945 for her wartime efforts.

She was parachuted into Occupied France with an Allied agent in 1940.

She was the first pigeon used successfully to carry secret messages from an agent in occupied France back to Britain.

4. Mary

Mary also received the Dickin Medal of Honour.

She endured five years of wartime service, flying dangerous missions to deliver vital messages.

She was wounded several times, and after one attack needed 22 stitches, but she survived the war.

Mary, known as Mary of Exeter, died in 1950 and is buried in the PDSA animal cemetery in Ilford.

5. GI Joe

In Italy, 1943, during the Second World War, British troops were ordered to take the town of Calvi Vecchia.

The German forces were well dug in and showing strong resistance.

Believing that the British forces couldn’t oust the German troops the U.S. Command decided to flatten the town with an aerial bombardment, but they were wrong.

The British troops had already occupied the town. Due to bad communication, a messenger bird, GI Joe, was sent off.

This bird flew 20 miles in 20 minutes to deliver its message.

It got there just in time, as aircraft were preparing to take off for the air raid. The raid was called off and a fatal mistake was averted.

GI Joe’s flight is credited with saving the lives of at least 100 British soldiers, as well as people still living in the town.

GI Joe also won the Dickin Medal.

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Other Pigeon War Heroes

Cher Ami and GI Joe are probably the most famous of the wartime pigeons, with something about their stories striking a chord with the public, but they weren’t the only ones who were awarded honours for their bravery and service.

If you care to investigate you will find a surprisingly long list of pigeons whose valour has been recognised.

Thirty-two pigeons have received the Dickin Medal. The British Army’s pigeon service was wound up in 1948, but it is rumored that MI5 secretly sponsored some private lofts, just in case.

In Worthing, West Sussex, within the grounds of a Regency listed building called Beach House Park, you will find a memorial to those wartime pigeons that was unveiled on 27^th July 1951.

Pigeons in Art

Jose Ruiz y Blasco, 1838-1913, a Spanish painter and father of Pablo Picasso was noted for his paintings of animals, which included doves and pigeons.

Pablo Picasso painted and drew pigeons and doves many times. Child with a Dove (1901) is one of the best-known examples.

In fact, much of his artwork includes pigeons, his 1949 lithograph The Dove was chosen as the emblem of the 1949 Paris Peace Congress, and although the pigeons themselves aren’t famous, his artwork certainly is.

His most famous and controversial painting, Guernica, produced in response to the fascist bombing of the Basque town also includes a dove.

The dove or pigeon became the universal peace sign, which Picasso helped to popularize.

Indeed, Picasso was so taken with these birds that he kept pigeons and he named his daughter Paloma, which is the Spanish word for pigeon/dove.

The Two Pigeons is an etching by another famous artist, Marc Chagall, made for La Fontaine’s Fables. Chagall etched the series in the late 1920s and it was published in 1952.

There is also a famous photograph taken by the celebrated photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson of the famous artist Henri Matisse, where he is surrounded by pigeons.

Throughout history, doves and pigeons have appeared on official seals, coins and bank notes.

Pigeons In Popular Culture

Pigeons appear in most media in popular culture – some named, many more anonymously.

For example, there’s rarely a movie that includes London that doesn’t have a shot of the pigeons in Trafalgar Square. And it isn’t just Trafalgar Square, Pigeons feature heavily in the song “Feed the Birds” milling around the old woman on the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral in the Walt Disney movie, “Mary Poppins”.

Another pigeon film is the animated feature Valiant, released in 2005 and distributed in the US by Disney.

Valiant is a pigeon who enrolls in the Royal Homing Pigeon Service during the Second World War.

Another famous pigeon was the character of Yankee Doodle Pigeon in Hanna-Barbera’s cartoon film of Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines, whose theme song is “Stop the Pigeon”, about a patriotic messenger pigeon.

The characters were a spinoff from another cartoon called Wacky Races.

The cartoon ran from September 1969-January 1970 and became very popular with young children.

Sticking with cartoon pigeons, a mention must go to “The Goodfeathers”, a recurring segment in Animaniacs.

The characters are parodies of the roles played by Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Ray Liotta in the gangster movie, “Goodfellas”.

It also features the Godpigeon, a parody of Marlon Brando’s Godfather.

One special pigeon may be remembered by the followers of the 1980s comedy TV show called Blackadder Goes Forth.

In one episode Blackadder is arrested for shooting and eating a carrier pigeon called Speckled Jim.

Unfortunately for Blackadder, the pigeon is really the beloved pet of General Melchett and Blackadder is court-martialed (don’t worry, he gets off!).

Pigeons have also appeared in comic books/strips.

One of the most notable examples is the collection of pigeons owned by Andy Capp, a strip cartoon that has been appearing in the British newspaper “The Daily Mirror” since 1957.