10 Odd Jobs of World War II-- Part 2: Coopers, Model Makers, and Pigeoneers

6.  COOPER--  Built and repaired wooden buckets, barrels, casks, kegs used to pack, store and ship supplies and equipment.  Wood was used for much of WW II, but improvements in cardboard and metal packaging  marked the beginning of the end for wooden transport items.

7.  MODEL MAKER--  Created scale models of military equipment, terrain and other things used as training aids and operational planning.

One of their proudest moments came in Operation Fortitude which was aimed at fooling the Germans as to where Allied troops would be landing on D-Day.  Dummy buildings, aircraft and landing craft were constructed by modelers and positioned near Dover causing the Germans to withhold reinforcements to the Normandy beaches.

This was the famed "Ghost Army."

8.  PIGEONEER--  Responsible for all aspects of the birds' lives.  They would breed, raise, train and care for their birds which were used to deliver messages.  Birds would be trained to fly at night and that food and water would be located at different locations.

According to the military, some 90% of their messages were delivered successfully.

--GreGen

World War II Re-enactors Preserving History-- Part 3: Of Pigeons and Cigarettes

Rich Russo says reenactors and collectors love to share their memorabilia, restored vehicles and research with the public at re-enactments and living history presentations.

In the past 21 years he has learned about everything from the role of carrier pigeons in WW II to German battle whistle commands to the different ways American and German soldiers held their cigarettes.  "It is amazing how many individuals are willing to spend their own time and money acquiring, restoring and transporting these things to events," said Russo.

This is especially tricky when it comes to 30-ton tanks which must be brought in on tractor trailers and cost thousands to transport.

So why bother to repeat history?  Reenactors say they are preserving it-- both physically in artifacts and culturally through stories and research.

--GreGen

World War II Pigeon Message Decoded

From the Dec. 22, 2012, New Zealand.

This was a big story back in the fall of 2012 when pigeon remains with a WWII message was found in a chimney in a home under renovation.  When the message was examined, it was found to be in code and the British military said that the code was no longer used and its was uncrackable.

However, Gordon Young said it took him 17 minutes ti decipher it using his great uncle's code book from World War I.

The message identified German troop units and Panzer tank positions

It was sent back to Britain during the Battle of Caen after the D-Day landing.

Some 250,000 pigeons, working in pairs, were used during the war.

--GreGen

Coded D-Day Message Found on Pigeon Remains

From the Discovery News by Rossella Lorenzi,

A small red cylinder contained a cigarette paper-sized encrypted message.  The message "is deemed so sensitive that code breakers at GCHQ are frantically trying to decipher it."

The bird's name was 40TW194) (first two numerals are for year of birth).  Everyone is almost certain that the pigeon was dispatched from Normandy on June 6, 1944, D-Day.

Winston Churchill had ordered a radio blackout so homing pigeons were used to relay messages back from the front.  Some of the pigeons were brought along by soldiers and others were dropped behind enemy lines for use by resistance fighters.

It is known that the message was sent to XO2 at 16:45 and contained 27 codes, each made of 5 letters or numbers.

XO2 is believed to be Bomber Command.

The signature at the bottom of the message is Serjeant W. Stot.

--GreGen

That Hard to Crack Message

From the Nov. 24, 2012, International Business Times "World War II Message Found On Dead Carrier Pigeon Puzzles Code Breakers" by Sreeja V N.

Britain's top code breakers from GCHQ service have failed to crack the code found on the dead carrier pigeon that I blogged about earlier this month and are seeking help from retired spies and the public (perhaps some from World War II are still around who migfht know how to translate it.

A man was remodeling his 17th century house and found the bones of the pigeon in his chimney with a capsule attached to its leg reading "Pigeon Service."  Then, there were 27 coded words, each with five alphabets.

Three crucial bits if information are still not known which might help to crack it:  date of the message (although at first it was believed to be from June 6, 1944, D-Day), its destination and its sender.  They do believe the pigeon was flying to Bletchley Park from France on that date.

Here's Hoping the Case Will be Solved.  --GreGen

World War II Carrier Pigeon Delivers Message

From the Nov. 2, 2012, ABC News by Lama Hasan.

Daniel Martin in Bletchingly, Surrey, was renovating his fireplace when he started finding pigeon bones, then there was a leg with a red capsule attached to it.  It turned out to be an encoded message. 

Theories immediately began that perhaps the pigeon was making its way from behind enemy lines in German-occupied Europe, perhaps even D-Day and heading to Bletchley Park where Britain's main decryption establishment was located during World War II.

Others say it got lost, disorientated in bad weather or simply exhausted and landed in Martin;s chimney where it died.

More than 250,000 carrier pigeons were used during World War II in what was called the National Pigeon Service.  They were heavily relied on to carry secret messages.

During the war, the Dickin Medal, the highest decoration for valor for animals, was awarded to 32 pigeons, including the U.S. Army pigeon G.I. Joe and the Irish pigeon Paddy.

Government code breakers are currently working on reading the message which will give great light if they succeed.  So far, they have determined that the message was from a Sgt. W. Scott and written 70 years ago.

It Will be Interesting to Find Out What the Message Was.  --GreGen