# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/61 "2012-11-13T04:03:14Z")
Mein Hund hat keine Nase . . . ---
**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 13, 2012, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/62 "2012-11-13T06:02:39Z")
Wie riecht er? ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/63 "2012-11-13T06:24:35Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > > [@Koxinga](#): > > > > Mein Hund hat keine Nase . . . > > Wie riecht er? _Grauenhaft!_ ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/64 "2012-11-13T18:30:12Z")
> [@For You](#): > > I always hear an accent leaning toward Yiddish. In the context of WWII Germany, that makes me a bit uneasy, pardon me for being overly sensitive. I’m hearing this whole thread in a Dick Van Dyke chimney sweep accent guv’nah. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/65 "2012-11-13T18:35:32Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > I’m hearing this whole thread in a Dick Van Dyke chimney sweep accent guv’nah. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/66 "2012-11-13T19:37:55Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > **“Wenn ist das Nunstück git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!”** google translate: > [@](#): > > “If that is git and Nunstück Slotermeyer Yes! Beiherhund Or the gersput the Flipperwaldt!” ☹ ---
**Author:** ![rowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@rowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowe)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/67 "2012-11-13T20:30:26Z")
“Watch your head, Ned, when the King is dead in bed.” ---
**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 13, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/68 "2012-11-13T22:53:03Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > google translate: > > ☹ An explanation for the Python-impaired: [The Funniest Joke in the World](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Funniest_Joke_in_the_World) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/69 "2012-11-14T02:44:06Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > “Me name is Speckled Jim” Could have been worse. Could have been Spotted Dick. (Which is NOT a venereal disease.) ---
**Author:** ![Fozzie\_Dabear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a4c791/32.png) [@Fozzie\_Dabear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fozzie_Dabear)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/70 "2012-11-14T04:44:26Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > 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. Uh, I hope we don’t get put in jail for this thread. . . ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/71 "2012-11-23T16:37:38Z")
GCHQ is actually [asking for public help](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20456782) to decipher the message, although it seems to be more in the lines of help in identifying possible senders or receivers than actual code breaking. There’s a picture of the message, too. Evidently, this is likely to be an official communication, not one from a spy. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/72 "2012-11-24T00:15:51Z")
I’d love to know what it says too. Did anyone ever bother to program all the known code-cracking methods into some algorithm or something? I suck at cryptograms, so it won’t be me… Also, why do they have that annoying heading on the whiteboard? “Originator’s No. Date. In reply to no.” Use a blank one, Brits! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/73 "2012-11-24T00:32:10Z")
I was hoping to read something like :'the homing pigeon was fed and watered, and sent on his long-interrupted journey"🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/74 "2012-11-24T02:55:29Z")
I’m sure the last part of it says, “This pigeon will self-destruct in 10 seconds.” ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/75 "2012-11-24T04:37:53Z")
It’s the answer to “14 k of g in a f p d”! DAMMIT! ---
**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 24, 2012, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/76 "2012-11-24T04:45:28Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Maybe the secret message is what “14 k of g in a f p d” means. > [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > It’s the answer to “14 k of g in a f p d”! DAMMIT! Beat you by a couple of weeks. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/77 "2012-11-25T21:09:54Z")
“Return to sender, insufficient postage.” ---
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/78 "2012-11-25T21:39:24Z")
it was a bank note in the capsule…seems the pigeon had flown 35 missions, and was ready to retire, -It was making a deposit on the house ( after making a deposit on the car in the driveway). ---
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/79 "2012-11-25T21:49:42Z")
the Englishman who found the pigeon, took it to Scotland Yards, before it died. the desk sergeant said, “My God, he looks horrendous…where did you get him?” “In Surrey - there are millions of them” replied the pigeon ---
**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:** [December 16, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765/80 "2012-12-16T01:18:16Z")
[Most of the coded message deciphered.](http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/10110584.It_s_a_real_coo_as __unbreakable__ war_code_found_on_pigeon_in_Portland_is_cracked/) [Shorter Article.](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2248818/Hit-Jerrys-panzers--code-dead-wartime-pigeon-cracked.html) Seems incredible that they were still using a WWI code book in WWII. > [@](#): > > What was originally thought to be an unbreakable code has now been partially cracked using a First World War artillery code book. > > Weston resident Mr Walbridge said: “I thought someone would come up with it sooner or later. > > “After the war all the code books at Bletchley Park and the computers had to be destroyed. We accepted that. But I thought there would be a way to do it.” > > Mr Walbridge, a former government worker, said he was pleased to get assistance from across the pond to crack the code. He added: “The Canadian researchers had someone’s father or uncle who had a code book and was able to use it.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-homing-pigeon-found/639765.md?page=5)