Mail pigeon service

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Carrier pigeon with container

The carrier pigeon service (also carrier pigeon detachment ) was a unit of the Swiss army that used carrier pigeons to transmit messages . The mail pigeon service was in use from 1917 until the army reform in 1995 .

Racing pigeons in the military

The use of carrier pigeons for military communication already took place in ancient Rome . Gaius Iulius Caesar had news of unrest in conquered Gaul delivered to him by his own messenger pigeons in order to be able to deploy his troops quickly. Pliny the Elder reported in his scientific work Naturalis historia on the military use of carrier pigeons.

During the First World War , up to 100,000 carrier pigeons were used to transmit messages with a success rate of around 95 percent. The French army used specially adapted buses ( Berliet brand ) in order to be able to use the carrier pigeons from mobile locations.

During the Second World War the US Army ( US Army Pigeon Service ) employed 3,000 soldiers and 150 officers with 54,000 carrier pigeons. Up to 250,000 carrier pigeons were used for military purposes in the British Army . During the Second World War, carrier pigeons began to be used increasingly at night in order to avoid greater losses through fire. The German Wehrmacht had against the war, 850,000 pigeons and trained falcons and other birds of prey , intercepted the enemy successfully homing pigeons.

Carrier pigeons in the Swiss Army

Organization of the pigeon service

From the 1880s, carrier pigeons were bred in Switzerland that were resistant enough for our topographical and climatic conditions. In 1896 the pigeon breeders' association was founded. The federal military pigeon stations recognized by the federal military department merged in 1902 to form the Central Association of Swiss pigeon stations in order to be able to provide the military authorities with trained pigeons at any time. The pigeon sport was promoted by the federal government with races and exhibitions.

The Swiss Army's letter pigeon service was introduced in 1917 as a countermeasure because a listening device invented in Germany in 1915 was used in the German, French and British armies that could eavesdrop on telephone calls (single-wire lines) over a distance of up to ten kilometers. So far the carrier pigeons were only used in fortresses. Now they were used in large numbers at the front in mobile carrier pigeon lofts. Each telegraph company was assigned a procession of carrier pigeons.

The mail pigeon service was subordinate to the General Staff Department. In the event of mobilization, the detachments of the pigeon service were assigned to the divisions, fortresses, pigeon stations, depots and moving pigeon wagons. The army staff's pigeon detachment organized all operations and formed a reserve of personnel and material. Institutions subject to the Division command detachments of divisions had to occupy pigeon stations, car racing pigeons, pigeon dispensaries at the front and to train the troops to provide the equipment and will report to the army headquarters daily.

  • Patrol basket cyclists and mountain troops

  • Registration and carrier pigeon are prepared

  • Metal sleeve on the leg for dispatch

  • Racing pigeons are released

  • Messages received are reported

Racing pigeons in action

When all other means of connection failed in heavy fighting, the carrier pigeons enabled the connection between the front lines and the command posts in wars of movement or position. The mail pigeon wagons were set up near the divisional headquarters.

During an operation, a patrol with bicycles from a nearby loft took carrier pigeons with them in transport baskets, which they provided with a message if necessary and let them fly. After the return flight, usually a distance of 15 to 30 kilometers to their loft, the message was taken from the carrier pigeon and a courier brought the message to the responsible command post.

A well trained carrier pigeon could cover a distance of 100 kilometers in 100 minutes (average speed 60 km / h). The carrier pigeons trained in stationary home lofts could only be used if the loft was close to the position. In order to be able to use the carrier pigeon everywhere, carrier pigeon wagons were used for distances of 10 to 20 kilometers as the crow flies. The carrier pigeons were sent out during the day and only in emergencies during the night. The carrier pigeons are disturbed in their orientation in dense fog and violent thunderstorms and are endangered by birds of prey. To be on the safe side, two to three carrier pigeons were sent out with the same message up to a distance of 50 kilometers for 200 kilometers. During the First World War, the carrier pigeons were only used for important reports and only when wire and signal connections were not possible.

When staying in the same place for a longer period, the carrier pigeons had to be separated according to sex and interned separately from domestic pigeons in large rooms so that the home drive could be kept active and the reporting service ensured.

  • Carrier pigeon patrol Simplon Pass

  • Carrier pigeon soldiers while climbing

  • Carrier pigeon patrol in the snow

  • Carrier pigeon soldiers with bicycles

  • Carrier pigeon patrol in the mountains

Carrier pigeon transport

The carrier pigeons were transported on backs, by bicycle, on horseback and by carrier pigeon carts and airplanes. In contrast to the other army wagons, the mail pigeon wagons (two-horse Fourgons ) were painted in bright colors to make them recognizable to pigeons and to camouflage them from the view of the aviator. Inside the car there were slats and nesting cells as well as windows for 25 pairs of pigeons. Entry and exit took place through special openings on the side walls. Baskets with drinking vessels for 25 to 30 pigeons were used for transport. There was a cavalry basket with three pigeons for horses and a back basket for five to six pigeons for cyclists.

  • Single basket to hang around

  • Carrier pigeon dog

  • Post pigeon car occupied with pigeons

  • Inside in the pigeon wagon

  • every pigeon has its place

Post pigeon service during the Cold War

The modern Army 61 could not do without the advantages of the carrier pigeon. It was inexpensive to use, reliable and could not be electronically disturbed. Racing pigeons can be used after all electromagnetic communication has failed. In addition to paper, it was also able to transport microchips with large amounts of data. Members of the Military Women's Service (MFD) were also involved in the pigeon service with rearing, care, training and deployment .

As a mobile pigeon trailer, the model 57 was used by the troops from 1959 to 1995. The trailer had 32 cells with space for 32 breeding pairs or 64 single spaces.

In the event of an emergency, the Swiss Army (as of 1988) had around 40,000 carrier pigeons. The pigeon fanciers association founded in 1896 was the contractual partner of the Federal Office for Transmission (BAUEM). On behalf of the pigeon service, the association maintained an office that recorded the approximately 500 lofts and controlled the performance of the 200 lofts. The mail pigeon service was dissolved in 1996 for reasons of cost .

  • Carrier pigeon container

  • Carrier pigeon backpack

  • Letter box and "makeshift for the carrier pigeon soldier"

  • Military women service in carrier pigeon training

  • Racing pigeons departure

literature

  • Heinrich Huber: The carrier pigeon in the service of our army . The Fourier: official organ of the Swiss Fourier Association and the Association of Swiss Fourier Assistants, Volume 1, Issue 4 1928 [1]
  • Heinrich Huber: The carrier pigeon in the service of our army . The Fourier: official organ of the Swiss Fourier Association and the Association of Swiss Fourier Assistants, Volume 1, Issue 5 1928 [2]
  • Heinrich Huber: The carrier pigeon in the service of our army . The Fourier: official organ of the Swiss Fourier Association and the Association of Swiss Fourier Assistants, Volume 1, Issue 6 1928 [3]
  • Heinrich Huber: The carrier pigeon in the service of our army . The Fourier: official organ of the Swiss Fourier Association and the Association of Swiss Fourier Assistants, Volume 1, Issue 7 1928 [4]
  • Nüscheler: The development of the transmission system in the Swiss army. Pioneer: Journal for the Transmission Troops, Volume 25, 1952 [5]
  • Leonhard Cadetg: The mail pigeon service . Journal: Pioneer: Journal for the Transmission Troops, Volume 61, Issue 1 1988 [6]
  • Charles Scherrer: 40 years of the Federal Office for Transmission Forces (BAUEM) . Schweizer Soldat + MFD, independent monthly magazine for armed forces and cadres with MFD newspaper, volume 66, issue 4 1991 [7]
  • Instructions for the pigeon service . Federal Office for Transmission Forces (BAUEM) [8]
  • Hans-Peter Lipp: Fuzzy Systems and Chaos in the Swiss Army: A Case for Carrier Pigeons . Lecture Information Technology and Army 1990/1991 ETH Zurich [9]
  • Hans-Peter Lipp: Carrier pigeons in the army - an anachronism? War in the ether. Lectures at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich in the winter semester 1979/1980 [10]
  • Carl Hildebrandt: Feathered Couriers - Army pigeon service 1917-1994 . Self-published. [11]

Web links

Commons : Mail pigeon service  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Interest group transmission (IG Uem): Letter pigeon service of the Swiss Army
  2. ↑ Marc Tribelhorn: Gummed out - why the Swiss Army decommissioned their carrier pigeons In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of 23 September 2019
  3. ↑ Military use of carrier pigeons during the two world wars (English)
  4. ^ Nüscheler: The development of the transmission system in the Swiss army. Pioneer: Journal for the Transmission Forces, Volume 25, 1952
  5. ↑ Hanspeter Lipp: Fuzzy Systems and Chaos in the Swiss Army: a case for carrier pigeons. Lecture information technology and army 1990/1991 ETH Zurich
  6. ↑ Hamfu: pigeon trailer model 57