Europe's last military pigeons
30 January 2025
"To the carrier pigeon," reads the inscription on a unique war memorial in Lille. It is dedicated to the 20,000 pigeons who died for their country and their keepers.
Known to be war heroes, pigeons are celebrated in France. With their ability to find their way back to their base and their endurance in flying long distances, they were effective message carriers during both world wars. Sometimes they even saved lives, like when war pigeon 'Cher Ami' saved 194 US soldiers from friendly fire during World War I.
As of today, close to 200 pigeons receive daily training in Europe's last military dovecote, in France, where they are taught to fly further and further away from the fancier's loft. While you might think it is the French love of traditions that keeps this habit in place, France isn't the only country keeping military pigeons.
In 2010, China started investing in a "reserved pigeon army", training 10,000 pigeons in case modern technology becomes unreliable during war. As a reaction, a French senator called to strengthen the capabilities of military pigeons. The caution around the birds is still on today: last year, an innocent pigeon was accused by India of being a Chinese spy.
 | Juliette Ovigneur During the first world war, more than 30,000 pigeons were used by the French armies, a habit dating back to antiquity. For thousands of years, humans have used the birds to communicate. Today, the pigeon has not gone out of fashion. Apart from its pigeon army, China has designed surveillance drones that look like birds – the Eurasian tree sparrow, to be precise. |
〉French army is the last one to breed pigeons
〉China's secret weapon, the Messenger Pigeon
〉https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/02/world/asia/india-china-pigeon-spy.html">Pigeon cleared of being a Chinese spy
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