Winkie the pigeon saves four airmen.
On 23 February 1942, a badly damaged RAF bomber ditched into the North Sea. The crew were returning from a mission over Norway, but their Beaufort Bomber had been hit by enemy fire and crashed into the sea more than 100 miles from home.
Struggling in freezing waters - unable to radio an accurate position back to base - the four men faced a cold and lonely death. Nevertheless, they had managed to salvage their secret weapon - a carrier pigeon. The bird, called Winkie, was set free in the hope it could fly home to its loft in Broughty Ferry, near Dundee, to alert air base colleagues about their predicament.
During World War II, carrier pigeons were routinely carried by RAF bombers for this very eventuality, though in an era before GPS and satellite locator beacons, rescue was far from certain.
Winkie did make it home, after flying 120 miles, and was discovered, exhausted and covered in oil by owner George Ross who immediately informed RAF Leuchars in Fife.
The pigeon was not carrying a message, but the RAF were able to calculate the position of the aircraft using the time difference between the plane's ditching and the arrival of the bird - taking into account the wind direction and the impact of the oil on Winkie's feathers to her flight speed.
A rescue mission was launched. The men were found within 15 minutes.
Winkie became the toast of the air base, with a dinner held in her honour. She became the first animal to receive the Dickin Medal - named after PDSA's founder Maria Dickin - for delivering a message under exceptional difficulties.
More than 60 animals received the award, including 18 dogs, three horses and one cat. But pigeons still rule the medal roost, with 32 being given medals, all between 1943 and 1949.
One pigeon, GI Joe, an American bird, saved more than 1,000 lives by delivering a message that a village about to be bombed had actually been recaptured by British forces. Another pigeon, Mary of Exeter, was used to send top secret messages and received 22 stitches after being injured in the course of her duties.
Pigeons are war heroes, but this fact is being hidden from public knowledge today, and pigeons are relentlessly abused. Why?
Pigeons urgently need protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act,1981, whereby it is an offence to harm any wild bird - pigeons included.
Please ask your MP to help get the Wildlife and Countryside Act enforced, so that pigeons are effectively protected under the law. There is no justification for abusing them. The U.K. is known as a Nation of Animal Lovers. It must honour that reputation, in the eyes of the world.
Our petition has 13,766 signatures. See link below:-
Hear the song, “Please be Nice to Pigeons”:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWbqyExGnGk
“In Defence of Pigeons”, by Dr Steve Portugal of Royal Holloway College, describes the plight of pigeons today - a direct result of the spiteful media campaign against them, which began in 2001.
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/in-defence-of-pigeons?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB
Please contact anyone with the power and influence to stop this cruelty, and share this petition widely.
One day, we will get the abuse of pigeons stopped. It is incredibly cruel and quite unnecessary.
Many thanks for your support.