Photo of the Week: After World War One, one particular participant of the conflict received special considerations on her journey home. Under the personal orders of General Pershing, she received unlimited rations and stayed in the captains’ quarters of the ship. We cannot know if she appreciated, or even noticed, this preferential treatment. She remained silent on the subject, understandably so. She was, after all, a pigeon. The soldiers called her Cher Ami, which means “dear friend.” She gained her fame after delivering a message for the Lost Battalion in October of 1918. After becoming isolated at Argonne, the battalion had faced a five-day bombardment from both Americans and Germans. With over half of the men in the battalion killed from this bombardment, the situation was dire. The Lost Battalion depended on Cher Ami, their last pigeon, to deliver a message that would stop the American friendly-fire directed at them. Cher Ami completed the mission, despite serious injuries. With her foot dangling by a tendon, her eye blinded, and her breast bloody from a gun wound, she arrived at division headquarters barely alive. She is credited with saving the lives of 194 men. Cher Ami was only one of many pigeons used for communication purposes during the First World War. In the course of the war, the Allied and the Central Powers combined employed over a half million pigeons. With their homing instinct and fast flight, pigeons could deliver messages where other forms of communication failed. The unnamed American pigeon featured in the second photo had just delivered a message to Fort Lucy in France. The message warned of a gas attack at Toul: you can see where the message attached to the bird’s foot. Like Cher Ami, this pigeon was part of the Pigeon Division created by the U.S. Signal Corps. It trained and distributed 600 pigeons during the war. Soldiers transported pigeons in baskets, like the one featured here, and kept pigeons on ships and aircrafts to send out emergency messages. Has a working or service animal ever affected your life? Share your comments and stories below. Photo Credit: National Archives
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 19:43:01 +0000
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