Ed Schmidt, 91, of Elgin, has been training homing pigeons since childhood and worked with them in the Army Signal Corps during World War II. He still works as an auctioneer and appraiser of the birds.
Every day, regulars flock to Paul's Restaurant in Elgin to tell stories and catch up on one another's lives.
Among the restaurant's customers are retired schoolteachers and firefighters -- the "average" folk who form the fabric of this community.
Each tale comes with fascinating tidbits accumulated from several decades of life experience. Amid clanking dishes and the gentle hum of conversation, one table stands out. It is a table full of mostly retired men who gather faithfully each morning to share stories and jokes.
When asked who has one of the best stories, they all agree: Ed Schmidt.
Schmidt, 91, has spent all his adult life in Elgin -- except for the five years he was in the Philippines training homing pigeons to carry classified messages about enemy movements to different U.S. camps during World War II. The tactic was especially useful in the Pacific Islands, where the mountains kept radio signals from carrying very far. He still has several of the tiny 1-inch-long aluminum carriers the trainers would use to attach to the pigeons' legs.
And Schmidt is still in the bird business. He's served as a pigeon auctioneer since 1946 and kept an average of 120 birds at a time up until a few years ago when he moved to a different home. A recent Chicago auction he led raised more than $900,000 for local nonprofits.
These pigeons, it turns out, have been spreading their wings for the good of humanity for a very long time.
According to the American Racing Pigeon Union Inc., the tradition began when the ancient Greeks used homing pigeons to carry messages more than 5,000 years ago. And no wonder. These birds can fly as far as 80 to 600 miles at speeds of 40 to 60 miles per hour.
The most famous homing pigeon, "G.I. Joe," is known for saving the lives of 1,000 British troops during World War II. According to the racing pigeon union, the British 56th Brigade was scheduled to attack the city of Colvi Vecchia, Italy, at 10 a.m. on Oct. 18, 1943. The U.S. Air Support Command was scheduled to bomb the city to soften the entrance for the British brigade. The Germans retreated, enabling the British troops to occupy it ahead of schedule. The British made all attempts possible to cancel the bombing, but radio messages and all other forms of communication failed. G.I. Joe was released to carry the message to cancel the bombing, flying 20 miles back to the U.S. Air Support Command base in 20 minutes and arriving just as the planes were warming up to take off.
The pigeons were prized for their reliability in carrying messages between U.S. camps. According to Schmidt, they were 99 percent accurate. They were enough of a threat that enemy gunners would target them whenever they could.
Schmidt went from a little boy who raised pigeons on his parents' farm in Woodstock to a pigeon trainer for the Fighting 279th Pigeoneers in World War II -- the first overseas unit. He was one of 34 pigeon trainers in the unit who took care of thousands of pigeons.
Just like people, these birds have quirky personalities at times. One of Schmidt's favorite birds, Lady, would come flying down and land on Schmidt's shoulder whenever he would call. He credits an innate love of animals for his lifelong hobby.
Despite his various duties and years of service, Schmidt speaks modestly of his own time served in the war.
"As far as I am concerned, all the heroes of World War II died over there," he said.
There are less than 30 men from his division left throughout the United States.
When he returned from the war, Schmidt worked for the Milk Specialties Co. in East Dundee and as a sales manager for Pacific Molasses Co. But the former president of the American Racing Pigeon Union continues to be involved in the industry. And though he no longer has pigeons in his home, Schmidt still enjoys meeting other enthusiasts at the Elgin Homing Pigeon Club on the second Friday of each month, as well as traveling around the United States for auctions.
Schmidt will be the featured subject in the upcoming documentary, "The Pigeoneers," which currently is being filmed on location in Chicago. It is being produced by Alessandro Croseri Productions of New York City. Schmidt's feature is expected to be the third in the trilogy and will be released sometime in 2010.
Source: "Bird In Hand" by Charity Bonner, Courier News, Elgin, Il.
The Pigeoneers Press
THE WAR BIRDS OF FORT MONMOUTH
Written by Shannon Mullen, Staff Writer.
November 11, 2011
Also published as "NJ base played vital role in Army's pigeon program"
The Associated Press, USA Today
Col. Clifford A. Poutre tossing the last bird in 1957 at the close-out of the U.S. Army Signal Corps Pigeon Service, Fort Monmouth. /Photo courtesy of Alessandro Croseri Productions.
The eagle may be the symbol of American freedom and military might, but no eagle ever received France's Croix de Guerre for valor, or saved the lives of 1,000 troops trapped behind enemy lines, or walked five miles to deliver vital information after being shot out of the sky.
Pigeons, of the homing variety, accomplished all of this and countless other amazing feats, during their long and storied service in the U.S. Army.
Today, few people know about the heroism of these unassuming birds, or the integral role that Fort Monmouth played as the home of the Army's pigeon breeding and training center from 1917 to 1957.
"Back in the day, these pigeons were rock stars," said independent filmmaker Alessandro Croseri, who is completing a series of three documentaries about the Army's "pigeoneers," including the late Col. Clifford A. Poutre, a legendary figure who led the Pigeon Service for many years. "And then, everyone forgot about them."
In peacetime, thousands of people used to flock to the fort every year to see the pigeons. The star attractions included G.I. Joe, who saved a British brigade that was being bombarded by friendly fire in Italy in 1943, and Kaiser, a one-time German POW who later delivered messages for the Americans in World War I and went on to live to the ripe, old age of 32, twice the life span of an average pigeon.
"He was a tough bird," marveled Croseri, 38, of New York City, who has bred and raced pigeons all his life.
In an age where many people can scarcely recall how they ever managed before instant messaging and smart phones, it beggars belief that life and death, victory and defeat, and even the future of the free world once hinged on the success or failure of these delicate, winged messengers.
But it's true. Since ancient times, humans have prized homing pigeons for their incredible ability to find their way back to their nests, even from hundreds of miles away. The Egyptian pharaohs, Julius Caesar and the Crusaders and Saracens all used homing pigeons to deliver messages in battle.
Even today, scientists have yet to figure out exactly how "homers," which look virtually the same as the pigeons that sit on park benches and roost under bridges, manage to navigate over such long distances, though it's believed that magnetic fields and the position of the sun are involved somehow. The results, however, speak for themselves.
"They were about 99 percent perfect," boasted Edwin C. Schmidt, 94, of Elgin, Ill., a World War II pigeoneer who trained at Fort Monmouth. "Sometimes they would get through when you thought it wasn't possible at all."
Even AT&T's iPhone 4, which drops more than 4 percent of its calls, can't match that record of reliability.
MILITARY ASSET
The U.S. Army first tried using pigeons in the 1870s during the Indian wars in the Dakotas. The experiment was a failure, on account of the large numbers of hawks that kept killing the birds, but by World War I, pigeons had become an invaluable military asset. Some birds even carried cameras that snapped photographs of enemy positions.
Even in World War II, when radios and walkie-talkies were available, pigeons were used as an emergency means of communication. Paratroopers in the invasion of Normandy carried pigeons with them when they jumped deep behind German lines, in order to maintain radio silence.
"They actually even used them in Korea," noted Lester Lane, a historian at the Army Signal Corps Regimental Museum at Fort Gordon, Ga.
The basic method worked this way: A message was written on a small piece of paper that was rolled up and placed into a capsule attached to one of the pigeon's legs. Upon its release, the pigeon would head straight for its coop, which was located at the unit's headquarters or somewhere else behind the lines.
The pigeon's nest functioned almost like an email in-box. When the bird returned, a buzzer would sound, indicating that a new message had arrived.
There were some obvious drawbacks to using pigeons. For one thing, communication was strictly a one-way affair, meaning the pigeon couldn't fly back to the sender with a reply, though Croseri says in later years pigeoneers did experiment with a complicated two-way messaging system.
Then there was the matter of the pigeon's survival. Opposing armies knew full well how crucial these messages were and did whatever they could to stop each other's pigeons from ever reaching their intended destination.
Croseri says that in World War II, the Nazis used specially trained peregrine falcons to intercept Allied pigeons. Lane, the Signal Corps historian, says he's never been able to confirm the falcon story, though it's true that both sides used marksmen to shoot down the birds.
"We shot their pigeons, and they shot ours," confirmed Schmidt.
End of the line
When the Army disbanded the Pigeon Service in 1957, the last 1,000 birds at Fort Monmouth were offered for sale to the general public. The more famous birds were parceled out to zoos.
Hundreds of veterans and pigeon-racing enthusiasts descended on the fort in hopes of getting at least a few of the pigeons. A newspaper account says there was an overflow crowd of about 200 people who couldn't get in.
"I was about 15th or 18th in line," remembered Robert S. DeAdder, 96, who was an Signal Corps instructor at Fort Monmouth at the time and raced pigeons as a hobby. DeAdder, a former Shrewsbury resident who now lives in Severn, Md., wound up buying 10 pairs of birds, though, he said, "none of them did much for me."
Today, the site of the pigeon training center is an empty lot off Oceanport Avenue on the fringes of the fort, which was shuttered in September. Gone, too, is the fort's museum, where several stuffed pigeons, including G.I. Joe, were kept on exhibit for many years.
Lane, the historian, says he doesn't know what became of those pigeons. His museum houses the stuffed remains of a pigeon named Liles Boy, who flew 46 missions in Italy, the most of any pigeon in World War II.
"There's no telling where those birds went," he said.
Meanwhile, Croseri, a lifelong pigeon-racer, is hoping that his documentaries can raise greater awareness about this often-overlooked chapter of Army history. One day he'd like to see the story made into a feature film.
"I love the birds, I love the pigeoneers, and I love the whole history," he said. "I thought it would be a shame for these stories to be buried with the pigeoneers."
Former Fort Monmouth pigeoneer Ed Schmidt, 94, on the set last year of the documentary, "The Pigeoneers III"./Courtesy pigeonsincombat.com
STAR BIRDS
The Army Pigeon Service reached its zenith during World War II, when it encompassed more than 3,000 troops and 54,000 pigeons. Its most famous birds included:
Cher Ami: Flew 25 miles through enemy fire in 1918 to save a trapped American battalion despite losing an eye, being shot in the breast and having half its leg blown off. Awarded France's Croix de Guerre for valor.
Kaiser: Captured from the German army by American troops in World War I; went on to fly numerous missions for the Allies and became a popular attraction at Fort Monmouth. After its death at age 32, it was stuffed and put on exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution.
G.I. Joe: Flew 20 miles to deliver a message calling off the mistaken bombardment of a British regiment in Colvi Vecchia, Italy, in 1943.
Yank: Delivered news of the fall of Gafsa in Tunisia in 1943; once carried an urgent note for Gen. George Patton 90 miles in 100 minutes.
File photo of Pigeon "Chere Amie" at the former site of the U.S. Army Signal Corps Museum on Fort Monmouth, Eatontown NJ. Chere Amie was awarded France's highest honor the Croix de Guerre after being shot down, losing a leg and still delivering the message.
Source: The Asbury Press - "The War Birds of Fort Monmouth", written by Shannon Mullen, Staff Writer, The Asbury Press, November 11,2011.
Please visit: "The Asbury Press - The War Birds of Fort Monmouth"
This article was also published in the press below under the following titles:
"NJ base played vital role in Army's pigeon program"
"Homing pigeons once vital part of Army Communications"
"NJ's Fort Monmouth played vital role in Army's homing pigeon training, breeding programs"
"Remembering N.J.'s heroic birds of war" (published December 31, 2011)
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FINE, FEATHERED WAR HEROS
Birds transported vital information during World Wars and before
By David Bird
Dr. David M. Bird is professor of Wildlife Biology and Director of the Avian Science and Conservation Centre of McGill University. He is the author or editor of several books including City Critters: How to Live with Urban Wildlife, Bird's Eye View: A Practical Compendium for Bird Lovers and The Bird Almanac: The Ultimate Guide to Essential Facts on the World's Birds. Dr. Bird has received many awards for his conservation efforts and is past-president of the Raptor Research Foundation, a Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union, and Canadian representative on the International Ornithological Committee. He is a regular columnist on birds for Bird Watcher's Digest and the Montreal Gazette.
The Gazette, Montreal, Canada
November 18, 2009
I often think of my dad repairing the skins of the Spitfires and Hurricanes that were shot to pieces by Messerschmits, Focke Wulfs and ground fire over the Dutch coast during the Second World War. He didn't talk about war much, except to say that most of the time he was scared out of his wits. But David Archibald Bird was not the only "bird" over there fighting the Nazis.
While many of us refer to them as "winged rats" or "flying bags of disease," the lowly rock pigeon has played a very significant role during a number of wars, notably in both World Wars and as recently as the Korean War.
Known as homing or carrier pigeons, these birds have a remarkable talent for finding their way back to their loft over distances of thousands of kilometres and from unfamiliar places in all kinds of weather. They have been valued as faithful carriers of messages during times of both war and peace.
War pigeons were parachuted behind enemy lines in containers for use by the resistance to carry information critical to the Allies. Other birds were released from mobile lofts, tanks and aircraft to take vital messages back to headquarters. Naturally, these actions made them targets for enemy soldiers using not only guns but trained falcons. Tens of thousands died and a number became feathered folk heroes.
One such decorated bird was G.I. Joe, a genuine hero during the Second World War. Bred by the U.S. army Signals Corps in 1943, G.I. Joe lived for 18 years. In its first year of life, the bird served in Colvi Vecchia, Italy. It flew 30 kilometres in just 20 minutes and saved the lives of 1,000 soldiers by carrying a message to cancel a bombardment of Colvi Vecchia, which the British had entered ahead of schedule. For the feat, the bird was awarded the Dicken Medal, the only U.S. war pigeon to do so.
Another famous war pigeon was Paddy, an Irish war hero. He was apparently the last pigeon to be released by the Americans in Normandy, but the first bird to arrive in England with news of the success of the D-Day invasion. According to his trainer, John McMullan, Paddy was the best of the best.
The tenacity of these birds to get back to their lofts is best illustrated by the story of Cher Ami, a black check cock. This bird was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with Palm for heroic service. On its final mission, in October 1918, the bird, having been shot through its breast or wing, delivered a message in a capsule hanging from a ligament of its shattered leg. The contents saved the lives of 200 U.S. soldiers.
The pigeons did not perform these duties without help - they had handlers. One of the most famous was Col. Clifford A. Poutre, chief pigeoneer with the U. S. army signal corps pigeon service from 1936 to 1943. Widely acknowledged as the world's foremost expert on military uses for pigeons, Poutre streamlined the U. S. army homing-pigeon training and taught the birds tricks for day or night messenger duty. He also discarded the old method of starving pigeons in favour of kindness. He essentially showed that homers will return home because they want to, and not, as during the First World War, because they were hungry.
A great army racer was Always Faithful, 1935 winner of a 1,160-kilometre race from Tennessee to his New Jersey loft in 15 hours, 39 minutes, 9 seconds, an average speed of 1.233 kilometres a minute! Colonel Poutre retired from the army in 1960 after 31 years of military service.
Alessandro (Al) Croseri, who was kind enough to bring the exploits of these special birds to my attention, has captured their story in his 8-minute DVD film The Flight, a beautiful and moving homage to the sacrifices that these homing pigeons made for us in the wars. Croseri also wrote and produced a longer film The Pigeoneers, featuring Poutre.
Next time you scowl at a pigeon in the streets, think about how these birds helped saved thousands of soldier's lives during war.
For info on these films, visit store.pigeonsincombat.com.
-David Bird is a professor of wildlife biology and director of the Avian Science and Conservation Centre on the Macdonald campus of McGill University.
Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
Source: "Fine, feathered war heros. Birds transported vital information during World Wars and before " by David Bird, The Gazette, Montreal, Canada.
ANIMALS IN WARTIME
Exhibit examines roles of the furry, the feathered.
By Peter Durantine
Peter Durantine is editor of TheBurg. He's been a journalist for more than 25 years, writing for the Associated Press, Philadelphia Daily News and the York Daily Record, among others. He covered the Capitol for 15 years.
TheBurg, Greater Harrisburg's Community Newspaper, published monthly in Pennsylvania.
April 2011 Issue
Practically every type of domesticated animal, from dogs to pigeons, has been used during wartime-even dolphins have been considered. But these beasts of burden often became pets to the soldiers struggling in the desperateness of battle.
"Regimental mascots gave soldiers a chance to express affection to another living being in the midst of so much death and destruction, creating a positive effect on morale," said Brett Kelley, curator of collections at the National Civil War Museum.
Animals in war is the museum's latest exhibit, which opened in March and runs until September. It examines the ways in which various types of animals were adopted by regiments and became mascots for Civil War troops, and focuses on the relationships between these animals and their owners.
"There are many references to animals in letters home, including Col. Joshua Chamberlain's personal letters in the museum archives," said Kelley, referring to the officer who led the 20th Maine Regiment in gallant victory at Gettysburg.
According to Kelley, by the 19th century, people began to change the way they viewed animals. No longer were they thought of as existing only to fulfill a specific purpose, such as horses for labor or dogs for hunting. They were considered companions.
Nonetheless, animals are still used for the cruelest of purposes. In their battle against the Nazis in World War II, the Soviets used dogs as anti-tank weapons, training the canines to carry a bomb to a tank that also killed the animal, according to Russian and British histories. More recently, in 2005, Iraqi insurgents were unsuccessful in their attempts to strap explosives to dogs.
Gen. George Custer and one of his dogs, in camp.
Horses, though, have been the most widely used animals in warfare, most recently used by U.S. forces during 2001 fighting in Afghanistan, considered the first American cavalry charge of the 21st century.
Soldiers and officers alike grow strong emotional attachments to the animals that serve with them. Consider homing pigeons, which can home from short and long distances, up to 800 miles and some even further, and were used extensively in World War I and II.
Col. Clifford Poutre, chief pigeoneer of the U.S. Army Signal Corps Pigeon
Service from 1936 to '43, "treated his pigeons like they were family members, children, buddies," said Alessandro Croseri, a documentary filmmaker who has studied the use of pigeons in war. "They were a soldier's best friend as they saved thousands of lives in combat."
"Among Soldiers: Animals in the Ranks of the Civil War" runs through Sept. 7. For more information, call 717-260-1861, or visit www.nationalcivilwarmuseum.org. For more on homing pigeons, visit www.pigeonsincombat.com.
Source: TheBurg, April 2011 issue, page 23.
Please visit TheBurg's website: www.theburgnews.com
www.army.mil
I received the following email from Richard Baker, MA (Msgt, USAF ret.), Chief, Research Center Branch, Army Heritage and Education Center.
"Good Morning Mr. Croseri,
Your message was forwarded to me by our Director, Dr. Crane. I will place a copy of the details about " Gimpy" in our reference file on "Pigeons." I've also noted and saved your excellent website for future reference and referral to those who may be seeking information on the "Soldiers Fine Feathered Friends."
The link here is to our most recent article on the Army.mil website and the weekly feature series "This Week in Army History" that focused upon the subject of "combat" pigeons. I hope you enjoy it.
http://www.army.mil/-news/2009/11/22/30666-fine-feathered-friends/
Thank you for your efforts to maintain and present the history and story of military pigeons to the world."
FINE, FEATHERED FRIENDS!
November 22, 2009
By Stewart Beattie, Special Guest Contributor, Student and Intern from Shippensburg University, PA
Photo Credits: USAMHI (WWI Signal Corps Photograph Collection)
A Fine, Feathered Friend: This image provides a close up for one of the stars of the show. It is captioned "These homing pigeons are doing much to save the lives of our boys in France. They act as efficient messengers and dispatch bearers not only from division and from the trenches to the rear but are also used by our aviators to report back the results of their observation."
In November, 1944, G.I. Joe, a member of the United States Army, saved the lives of at least 100 Allied soldiers. In just twenty minutes G.I. Joe traveled over 20 miles to deliver a message of grave importance. With only minutes to spare he stopped an air raid from bombing a newly occupied village filled with Allied soldiers. G.I. Joe was not a super soldier; he was a Blue Check splashed pigeon. One rarely thinks of their flying over the battle-worn trenches of World War I or through the bombarded night skies of World War II. Yet during both wars, thousands of pigeons were used.
Off They Go!: This image shows "Carrier pigeons being released from regimental P.C., Andernach, Germany, May 30, 1919."
Some 600 of which were used by the U.S. Army Signal Corps in World War I. They were used to transmit orders to advance troops, send reconnaissance reports, and carry other crucial military messages. Pigeons played a major role during the World Wars, because they were a dependable source of communication. In World War I, they were especially useful for their speed, long distances flights, consistency, and an impressive homing ability when compared to the existing unreliable and crude communication systems. Over 90% of messages sent by pigeons were received. Reliable forms of communication were necessary because of the constant changes on the front. Trenches often change hands between opposing sides multiple times during a one-week period.
Underway and Under Fire! : This image is captioned "Motorcycle dispatch Rider starting under heavy shell fire to deliver pigeons to our most advanced position. France."
One pigeon named, Cher Ami, a Black Check carrier pigeon, aided in rescuing elements of the U.S. 77th Infantry Division, known as the "Lost Battalion." Separated from American forces, the Battalion was surrounded by the Germans. For six days they endured constant fire from both enemy and Allied forces, and their food and water supplies were extremely low. Cher Ami had delivered many critical messages but his last mission was the most important. Battered and broken with a gunshot wound to the chest, Cher Ami valiantly carried a message from the "Lost Battalion," regarding its dangerous situation. The message stated, "Our artillery is dropping a barrage on us. For heaven's sake, stop it!" Once Cher Ami's message was received, the survivors were rescued and brought safely within American lines. The Lost Battalion originally had over 500 men; Cher Ami's gallant service allowed 194 Soldiers to survive.
Cher Ami, and forty other pigeons, received honors for their brave service in World War I. Cher Ami received the French Croix de Guerre with palm for his valiant work. Unfortunately, due to the injuries sustained on his final mission, Cher Ami died months later in 1919. Pigeons, such as G.I. Joe, would be utilized during World War II, but soon afterwards the use of pigeons in war became obsolete due to advancements in communication technology. So next time you happen to see one, or hear the cooing of a pigeon, do not think of them as a nuisance, but as heroes and a Soldier's fine, feathered friend.
"Our Flying Couriers": This image shows "Military Homing Pigeons" on display to the public in the United States during World War I. The image is captioned "Our Flying Couriers...these homing pigeons are extensively used to carry messages from the fighting front back to headquarters and may be classed as faithful soldiers of our fighting forces."
Source: "Fine, feathered friends!" USAMHI
Kaiser, WWI Captured German War Pigeon
"KAISER" 1917-1949
BAND # 17-47-0-350
RED CHECKER COCK
BRED AND TRAINED BY THE GERMAN IMPERIAL CROWN
CAPTURED BY THE YANKS IN 1918 DURING THE MEUSE ARGONNE OFFENSIVE
ASSIGNED TO THE US ARMY SIGNAL CORPS, FORT MONMOUTH, NJ AND CAMP CROWDER, MO.
HANDLED BY COL. CLIFFORD ALGY POUTRE FROM 1936-1943
KAISER LIVED FOR 32 1/2 YEARS
SPECIALTY-OUTSTANDING BREEDER
Famous "Old Kaiser," who now at the "ripe old" age of 23 is as peppy and scrappy as his youngest son born a few weeks ago. He is the oldest bird at Sergeant Poutre's pigeon lofts. This photo of Kaiser was taken in 1938, US Army Signal Corps Lofts, Fort Monmouth, N.J.
PORTRAIT OF A PIGEON
By Wilson P. Dizard
The New York Times
February 24, 1946
Technically, Kaiser could be called a traitor to the Imperial Crown of Germany. A soldier of fortune, he has served under two flags in two international wars. This may seem surprising when one considers that Kaiser is 29 years old and that his kind has always been regarded as a symbol of peace. But Kaiser carries no olive branch in his bill-he's a Regular Army Flier, assigned to the United States Signal Corps, and the oldest pigeon known to history.
Kaiser was hatched in Germany in February, 1917, and was trained as a military homing pigeon for the German Army. The famous bird was captured when the Yanks stormed an enemy front-line trench during the Meuse offensive in 1918. He was brought to this country and assigned to the Signal Corps Pigeon Center, Fort Monmouth, N.J., until August, 1942, at which time he was transferred to Camp Crowder, Mo., the Army's pigeon-breeding center.
In terms of human ages, Kaiser is a cool 140 years old-the normal life span of a pigeon being from 5 to 8 years. Despite his advanced age, Kaiser has continued to father large groups of homing pigeons. He astounded his keepers and pigeon breeders all over the country last year by fathering seven youngsters. The breeders shook their heads and said that because of Kaiser's age his youngsters would be useless as military homing pigeons. They took it all back when one of them, Little Caesar, won a 320-mile race from Dallas to Camp Crowder in competition with some of the best birds in the Army.
There is no logical explanation for the Kaiser's hardiness except for the fact that he lives under ideal conditions at the Crowder lofts. He and the latest of his many mates, Lady Belle, live alone in a white loft away from the other loft buildings. The only difference between their loft and those of the other pigeons is that Kaiser and Lady Belle have an electric heater-a small concession to Kaiser's old age.
Although a "member" of the United States Army, Kaiser still wears a seamless aluminum identification band on his left leg, bearing the seal of the German Imperial Crown. This band was placed there by his German keepers when he was a week old, and it cannot be removed unless cut from the leg.
Gimpy, WWII US Army Pigeon
MONMOUTH INSTRUCTOR
He sometimes rests. But never hitches.
"GIMPY"
HATCHED IN 1938
SON OF "THE KAISER" FAMOUS WWI CAPTURED GERMAN WAR PIGEON
BRED & TRAINED BY COL. CLIFFORD ALGY POUTRE, US ARMY LOFTS, FORT MONMOUTH, N.J.
SPECIALTY-HOMING TO MOBILE LOFTS
NATIONAL DEFENSE: GIMPY
Published on Monday, Feb. 24, 1941
Time Magazine
From the day he got his feathers Gimpy was a superior bird. Master Sgt. Clifford Algy Poutre, the lean, leathery boss pigeon man at the Signal Corps pigeon lofts on the Jersey flats at Fort Monmouth, liked to say that the Army would hear from Gimpy some day. His breed was right. His father, old red Kaiser, captured in a German trench in the Argonne, is still the oldest military pigeon in the business (24 last month), and his Scotland-hatched mother had good blood in her.
Since Sgt. Poutre gave Gimpy the job of instructing younger pigeons last fall, he has turned out 150 graduates, trained to fly back to the trailer lofts as straight as a crow. Taken farther and farther away each day from Monmouth, he led them back unerringly to the loft, showed them that a pigeon can fly with a message capsule on leg or back. Last week, on his twisted right leg, three-year-old Gimpy stumped among a new class of 52 youngsters, fixed them with a hard eye.
Gimpy got the game leg that named him before he was two years old. One wintry day he was released in Trenton, got lost in a snowstorm, went over Brooklyn just over the housetops, finally ran out of ceiling. He cracked up in a backyard and broke his leg. Set by a man named Somervell (who had pigeons of his own), Gimpy's leg turned out badly, but within two months he was back on the job with a name instead of a number. Last spring Gimpy worked in the maneuvers in Louisiana, lost three of his 17 ounces in the fierce heat, but always came in with the tissue-paper message that front-line men had put in his capsule. And in the fall, when the Signal Corps started breeding and training 3,600 new birds, Gimpy was promoted to an instructor's job.
Among the 1,000 Army pigeons in the Fort Monmouth lofts, Gimpy is as monogamous as the next old soldier. His mate is a three-year-old hen named Matilda. He ran her out of his nest four times before they settled down. Today, like any suburban pigeon, he sits on the eggs six hours a day while Matilda gets a rest.
Gimpy's only fault is that he likes to land on the way home, sometimes leads his recruits into a grassy plot for a rest and stroll, while he stumps around, gabbling officiously. But no one in Fort Monmouth's pigeon company will admit that these fine feathered soldiers ever hitch rides on Army trucks.*
-As Major Leonard Nason charged last fortnight in a denunciatory book, Approach to Battle. "Dependence on pigeons as a means of signal communication," said he "is leaning on a broken reed." Week the book was published, Major Nason was ordered to active service.
Source: "National Defense: Gimpy," Time Magazine.
Colonel Clifford A. Poutre tossing the last bird in 1957 before the close-out of the Army Pigeon Service at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.
Long John Silver, WWI American War Pigeon Hero
"LONG JOHN SILVER" 1918-1935
BRED BY US ARMY SIGNAL CORPS
HATCHED JANUARY 1918 IN A FRONT LINE DUGOUT, FRANCE
SERVED IN THE MEUSE ARGONNE OFFENSIVE
WOUNDED SEVERELY IN BATTLE ON OCTOBER 21, 1918
FLEW 25 MILES IN 25 MINUTES WITH A SHOT OFF LEG
AWARDED DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL
RETIRED FROM ACTIVE SERVICE IN 1921
REASSIGNED TO 11TH SIGNAL COMPANY, SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HAWAII
HANDLED BY COL. CLIFFORD A. POUTRE FROM 1929-1935
SPECIALTY-DELIVERING MESSAGES UNDER INTENSE ENEMY ARTILLERY FIRE
Signal Corps pigeon loft and transport vehicle at Scott Field, IL, 1918. The pigeons entered the loft through the slot between the windows.
"STUMPY" JOHN SILVER:HEROIC WINGED MESSENGER
Story and photographs courtesy of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
Homing pigeons were used in World War I to deliver messages when other means such as telephones, telegraph, radio or dispatch riders were unavailable. They proved their value carrying messages from front line outposts to pigeon lofts at command centers, which they returned to by instinct and training.
This homing pigeon was hatched in January 1918 in a dugout just behind the lines in France. During the Meuse-Argonne offensive, he was one of the most active pigeons in the Army, and his barrage-dodging skill was apparent in many exciting flights from the front line trenches to divisional pigeon lofts.
On Oct. 21, 1918, at 2:35 p.m., this pigeon was released at Grandpre from a front line dugout in the Meuse-Argonne drive with an important message for headquarters at Rampont, 25 miles away. The enemy had laid down a furious bombardment prior to an attack. Through this fire, the pigeon circled, gained his bearings and flew toward Rampont. Men in the trenches saw a shell explode near the pigeon. The concussion tossed him upward and then plunged him downward. Struggling, he regained his altitude and continued on his course. Arriving at Rampont 25 minutes later, the bird was a terrible sight. A bullet had ripped his breast, bits of shrapnel ripped his tiny body, and his right leg was missing. The message tube, intact, was hanging by the ligaments of the torn leg. Weeks of nursing restored his health but could not give back the leg he lost on the battlefield. The pigeon became a war hero and earned the name "John Silver," after the one-legged pirate in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. He was retired from active service and in 1921 was assigned as a mascot to the 11th Signal Company, U.S. Army Signal Corps, Schofield Barracks, Honolulu, Hawaii. John Silver died Dec. 6, 1935, at the age of 17 years and 11 months.
Thereafter, on each Organization Day of the 11th Signal Company, the name John Silver was added to the roll-call. When his name was called, the senior non-commissioned officer present responded, "Died of wounds received in battle in the service of his country." The Army Signal Corps presented John Silver to the museum on Dec. 19, 1935.
Since at least the mid-1930s, many people have called this one-legged pigeon "Stumpy" John Silver. The nickname, however, has been a matter of contention. The Signal Company commander of the Hawaiian Division at Schofield Barracks (John Silver's commanding officer at the time the bird died) felt it was disrespectful and is reported to have said in 1961 that anyone who called the bird "Stumpy" would have been summarily thrown out of the area. Nonetheless, a 1937 Signal Corps Headquarters document states that "'Stumpy' John Silver was on display at the Army Aeronautical Museum, Wright Field, Ohio, which later became the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
Source National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
WWII SPY PIGEONEERS ™
Richard Topus, WWII "Spy" Pigeoneer
I received the following email from Ms. Margalit Fox, requesting information for a New York Times obituary she was writing for WWII "Spy" Pigeoneer, Richard Topus.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Dear Mr. Croseri:
We are preparing a news obituary for Richard Topus for The New York Times. Mr. Topus was a pigeoneer at Camp Ritchie in Maryland during the war. I'm wondering if you had occasion to meet him in the course of making your film, or if you can at least talk to us in general terms about the kind of work that members of the Signal Corp Pigeon Service would have done at Camp Ritchie. Mr. Topus's family was not able to shed much light on what he actually did there, beyond saying that he bred and trained the birds. I'm hoping you can help.
You can reach me at my office until about 7 p.m. tonight, or after 12 noon tomorrow.
Thank you very much in advance for your time.
Cordially,
Margalit Fox
The New York Times
620 Eighth Avenue - Newsroom, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10018
My reply to Ms. Margalit Fox's email is below:
Dear Ms. Fox,
That's very sad to hear about Dick Topus. Please send his family our deepest sympathy and condolences.
Yes, we were in contact when I was making my film, "The Pigeoneers." My Producer and I spoke with him several times over the phone.
Here's a short biography according to our conversations with Mr Topus.
At 18 years old, Dick Topus started his Pigeoneer training at the U.S. Army Signal Corp Pigeon Service, Fort Monmouth, N.J., where Col. Poutre, who stars in my film, "The Pigeoneers," was Chief Pigeoneer at the time. Poutre, as a Master Sergeant in 1936, established the "Pigeon Schools" at both Fort Monmouth, N.J and Camp Crowder, Missouri; training the Pigeoneers and homing pigeons to be ready for combat duty.
After three months at Fort Monmouth, N.J., Topus was sent to the Pigeon School at Camp Crowder, MO, for another 4 weeks of specialized training. Topus was then assigned to Camp Ritchie, Maryland, where he trained the intelligence service/spies on how they could use homing pigeons in combat as a silent means of communication for their secret classified missions.
For example, he trained them on how to throw a homing pigeon out of a plane, either out of a "Black Bird" or "Piper Cub" single engine plane to deliver messages. He also trained them how to drop a basket of homing pigeons with a parachute attached to it, out of the planes, to the men below on the ground. These pigeons were used to carry important messages to the base/headquarters. The pigeons were dropped to be released from both the front lines and from behind enemy lines.
I hope this is helpful for your news obituary for Dick Topus.
Kind regards,
Alessandro Croseri
Alessandro Croseri Productions
www.pigeonsincombat.com
Below is the New York Times Obituary.
RICHARD TOPUS, A PIGEON TRAINER IN WORLD WAR II, DIES AT 84
By MARGALIT FOX - The New York Times
Published: December 13, 2008
In January 1942, barely a month after Pearl Harbor , the United States War Department sounded a call to enlist. It wasn't men they wanted - not this time. The Army was looking for pigeons.
To the thousands of American men and boys who raced homing pigeons, a popular sport in the early 20th century and afterward, the government's message was clear: Uncle Sam Wants Your Birds.
Richard Topus was one of those boys. He had no birds of his own to give, but he had another, unassailable asset: he was from Brooklyn , where pigeon racing had long held the status of a secular religion. His already vast experience with pigeons - long, ardent hours spent tending and racing them after school and on weekends - qualified him, when he was still a teenager, to train American spies and other military personnel in the swift, silent use of the birds in wartime.
World War II saw the last wide-scale use of pigeons as agents of combat intelligence. Mr. Topus, just 18 when he enlisted in the Army, was among the last of the several thousand pigeoneers, as military handlers of the birds were known, who served the United States in the war.
A lifelong pigeon enthusiast who became a successful executive in the food industry, Mr. Topus died on Dec. 5 in Scottsdale , Ariz. , at the age of 84. The cause was kidney failure, his son Andrew said.
Richard Topus was born in Brooklyn on March 15, 1924, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. Growing up in Flatbush, he fell in love with the pigeons his neighbors kept on their rooftops in spacious coops known as lofts. His parents would not let him have a loft of his own - they feared it would interfere with schoolwork, Andrew Topus said - but he befriended several local men who taught him to handle their birds. Two of them had been pigeoneers in World War I, when the United States Army Pigeon Service was formally established.
Pigeons have been used as wartime messengers at least since antiquity. Before the advent of radio communications, the birds were routinely used as airborne couriers, carrying messages in tiny capsules strapped to their legs. A homing pigeon can find its way back to its loft from nearly a thousand miles away. Over short distances, it can fly a mile a minute. It can go where human couriers often cannot, flying over rough terrain and behind enemy lines.
By the early 20th century, advances in communications technology seemed to herald the end of combat pigeoneering. In 1903, a headline in The New York Times confidently declared, "No Further Need of Army Pigeons: They Have Been Superseded by the Adoption of Wireless Telegraph Systems."
But technology, the Army discovered, has its drawbacks. Radio transmissions can be intercepted. Triangulated, they can reveal the sender's location. In World War I, pigeons proved their continued usefulness in times of enforced radio silence. After the United States entered World War II, the Army put out the call for birds to racing clubs nationwide. Tens of thousands were donated.
In all, more than 50,000 pigeons served the United States in the war. Many were shot down. Others were set upon by falcons released by the Nazis to intercept them. (The British countered by releasing their own falcons to pursue German messenger pigeons. But since falcons found Allied and Axis birds equally delicious, their deployment as defensive weapons was soon abandoned by both sides.)
But many American pigeons did reach their destinations safely, relaying vital messages from soldiers in the field to Allied commanders. The information they carried - including reports on troop movements and tiny hand-sketched maps - has been widely credited with saving thousands of lives during the war.
Mr. Topus enlisted in early 1942 and was assigned to the Army Signal Corps, which included the Pigeon Service. He was eventually stationed at Camp Ritchie in Maryland , one of several installations around the country at which Army pigeons were raised and trained. There, he joined a small group of pigeoneers, not much bigger than a dozen men.
Camp Ritchie specialized in intelligence training, and Mr. Topus and his colleagues schooled men and birds in the art of war. They taught the men to feed and care for the birds; to fasten on the tiny capsules containing messages written on lightweight paper; to drop pigeons from airplanes; and to jump out of airplanes themselves, with pigeons tucked against their chests. The Army had the Maidenform Brassiere Company make paratroopers' vests with special pigeon pockets.
The birds, for their part, were trained to fly back to lofts whose locations were changed constantly. This skill was crucial: once the pigeons were released by troops in Europe, the Pacific or another theater, they would need to fly back to mobile combat lofts in those places rather than light out for the United States . Mr. Topus and his colleagues also bred pigeons, seeking optimal combinations of speed and endurance.
After the war, Mr. Topus earned bachelor's and master's degrees in business from Hofstra University . While he was a student, he earned money selling eggs - chicken eggs - door to door and afterward started a wholesale egg business. In the late 1950s, Mr. Topus became the first salesman at Friendship Food Products, a dairy company then based in Maspeth, Queens ; he retired as executive vice president for sales and marketing. (The company, today based in Jericho , N.Y. and a subsidiary of Dean Foods, is now known as Friendship Dairies.)
In the 1960s and early '70s, Mr. Topus taught marketing at Hofstra; the C. W. Post campus of Long Island University; and the State University of New York, Farmingdale, where he started a management-training program for supermarket professionals. In later years, after retiring to Scottsdale , he taught at Arizona State University and was also a securities arbitrator, hearing disputes between stockbrokers and their clients.
Besides his son Andrew, of Chicago , Mr. Topus is survived by his wife, the former Jacqueline Buehler, whom he married in 1948; two other children, Nina Davis of Newton , Mass. ; and David, of Atlanta ; and four grandchildren.
Though the Army phased out pigeons in the late 1950s, Mr. Topus raced them avidly till nearly the end of his life. He left a covert, enduring legacy of his hobby at Friendship, for which he oversaw the design of the highly recognizable company logo, a graceful bird in flight, in the early 1960s.
From that day to this, the bird has adorned cartons of the company's cottage cheese, sour cream, buttermilk and other products. To legions of unsuspecting consumers, Andrew Topus said last week, the bird looks like a dove. But to anyone who really knew his father, it is a pigeon, plain as day.
Source: "Richard Topus, a Pigeon Trainer in World War II, Dies at 84" by Margalit Fox, New York Times.
The Pigeoneers Museum Collections
American Air Museum, Imperial War Museum Duxford, United Kingdom
The Pigeoneers Library Collections
Grace Doherty Library, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky
I am very pleased to announce that The Pigeoneers has been acquired for the collection of the Grace Doherty Library, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky. This acquisition is for academic purposes only.
The mission of the Grace Doherty Library is to support the curriculum of Centre College.
AU PUBLICITY AWARD 2009
American Racing Pigeon Union, Inc., Oklahoma City, OK, USA
"On behalf of the AU Board of Directors and fanciers across the United States, congratulations for winning the 2009 AU Publicity Award.
Your efforts and productions portray the sport in a favorable and professional manner. We greatly appreciate the positive public awareness and perception generated for the racing pigeon sport. Again, congratulations and thank you!" Karen Clifton, Executive Director, American Racing Pigeon Union, Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The Pigeoneers Publications
Signal Corps 150th Anniversary Commemorative Site, August 9, 2010
The Behavioral Neuroscientist and Comparative Psychologist, Volume 25, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2010
The War Birds of Fort Monmouth, Asbury Park Press, N.J., November 12, 2011
Fine, Feathered War Heros, The Montreal Gazette, Canada, November 18, 2009
Animals in Wartime, TheBurg, PA, April 2011 Issue
Bird in Hand, The Courier News, Elgin, Il., April 9, 2009
The Ornithological Newsletter, Ornithological Societies of North America Publication, August 2009 Issue
The British Homing World, United Kingdom
The Racing Pigeon, United Kingdom
The Racing Pigeon Digest, United States of America
Feathered World, United Kingdom, June 2008 Issue
Aviculture Europe, The Netherlands
Australian Aviculture, Australia, April 2009 Issue
Australian Racing Pigeon Journal, Australia
