# WWII Homing Pigeon Found **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 3, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765 "2012-11-03T15:35:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/41 "2012-11-06T10:11:30Z")
“I hate my job. I just wanna… pull my leg off just so that I can have something to throw at it.” And kudos, **Koxinga**. Choked on that. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/42 "2012-11-06T13:24:02Z")
The British have a very strong Official Secrets Act that kept a lot of basic info about WWII secret for a long time. It prevented publication in the UK about Bletchley Park and Engima until the 1980s, I think. This message might still fall under the Act and we might not know its contents any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/43 "2012-11-06T14:00:28Z")
I noticed there isn’t any sharp complete images of the message. Theres plenty of amateur cryptologists that would enjoy the challenge. I recall vaguely last year they found a coded tablet or maybe pottery? Cracking the code became a big internet project for awhile. But, even 70 years later I guess even WWII still has its secrets. Those spooks are so paranoid you know. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/44 "2012-11-06T15:03:24Z")
> [@dimmy\_derko](#): > > I can’t concentrate on what the code possibly meant as I’m still trying to get my head around a bomber crew taking an Emergency Homing Pigeon with them. Did they have little cages for them or were they tucked in the rucksack as standard kit? Just because the message was addressed to bomber command, is there any reason to think it was released _from_ a bomber? (My workplace is blocking the linked article so I can’t read it.) Isn’t it more likely it was released from a coastal or offshore spotter? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/45 "2012-11-06T15:09:16Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Just because the message was addressed to bomber command, is there any reason to think it was released _from_ a bomber? (My workplace is blocking the linked article so I can’t read it.) Isn’t it more likely it was released from a coastal or offshore spotter? A spotter on the coast or even an island would likely have a landline to HQ. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/46 "2012-11-06T16:28:51Z")
It’s clear to me that this pigeon was the forerunner for a general coo. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/47 "2012-11-06T17:14:01Z")
He flipped us the bird! ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/48 "2012-11-06T18:44:00Z")
“Just picked up a shortwave transmission from Amelia Earhardt. Her plane has gone down over the Pacific but she and the navigator are fine. Reports that they have enough food and survival supplies for eight months. She requests pickup at the following coordinates when convenient.” ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/49 "2012-11-07T16:42:01Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > “Me name is Speckled Jim” Dammit, I came here to post “I was on my way home from Flanders when I was cruelly MURDERED by Capt. E. B.” ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/50 "2012-11-07T18:15:10Z")
You shot my Speckled Jim?!! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/51 "2012-11-09T20:48:15Z")
She’s in the attic! ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/52 "2012-11-09T22:28:03Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > She’s in the attic! Too soon. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/53 "2012-11-11T00:32:15Z")
Am I the only one who’s not surprised at all that carrier pigeons were used during WWII? They’d provide a way for someone in the theatre of war to communicate with home base, over long distances, with no infrastructure in between, and without drawing attention to the location where the message was sent from. I can’t think of any other communication medium which would meet all of those requirements, especially not at a WWII tech level. Sure, you wouldn’t want to rely on it as your primary mode of communication, but it could be quite sensible as a backup system. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/54 "2012-11-11T02:07:03Z")
And unlike a human courier, a homing pigeon isn’t going sing under the threat of torture. (Chirp, maybe, but not sing.) ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/55 "2012-11-11T02:15:07Z")
Unless it’s a stool pigeon. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/56 "2012-11-11T02:32:04Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Unless it’s a stool pigeon. It would have been found in the toilet. . ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/57 "2012-11-11T11:52:13Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Damn that’s some bad phrasing- ‘the preserved pigeon bones of a bird’, are they sure it wasn’t the pigeon bones of a kipper? _snork_ ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/58 "2012-11-11T14:08:49Z")
**"Wenn ist das Nunstück git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!"** ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/59 "2012-11-11T20:17:11Z")
_ **BMalion** laughs himself to death_. Oh, wait. I’m not German, never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/60 "2012-11-13T00:58:50Z")
Zwei erdnüsse wurden auf der straße und einer war ein gesalzen…erdnüss. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765.md?page=4)