“Name 10 famous Belgians.”
That’s always a tricky trivia question and many people’s list starts and ends with Hercule Poirot. Well, I’m here to help you out by introducing you to a famous Belgian pigeon:
This famous patriotic pigeon, together with its fellow pigeon soldiers and their supporting pigeon fanciers, served Belgium during World War I. This statue by Victor Voets, with its female figure representing the gratitude of the nation, was unveiled in March 1931 in honour of the pigeons, as well as the pigeon fanciers, who gave their lives between 1914 and 1918. Belgium has a very strong tradition of racing pigeons which may explain why they have commemorated this aspect of animal war service in such a grand manner.
Soldier Pigeon Statue, Square des Blindés, Brussels. Metro Sainte-Catherine
Belgium may well be the only country to have a statue to the soldier pigeon, but they were certainly not the only country to use pigeons actively in military service; there are records of them being used widely in Europe and also in Africa, India and the Far East. It is reckoned that over 100,000 pigeons were used in World War I with an astonishing success rate of 95% getting through to their destination with their message.
In Britain, in World War II, many pigeon fanciers gave up their pigeons to the National Pigeon Service, and around the British coast birds of prey were culled to allow the now-military pigeons to get home safely. All RAF bombers carried two pigeons on board as a forerunner to GPS tracking; in the event of the plane being brought down the pigeon would return home with the plane’s coordinates so that rescue could be attempted.
In 1943, Maria Dickin, founder of the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals, instituted the Dickin Medal, commonly known as the Animal Victoria Cross. It was awarded to 53 animals, of which 32 were homing pigeons.
To watch a fascinating film on these amazing birds and the war role, click below (49 minutes but well worth watching)
Linked to Thursday Special Challenge and Animal Tales.
Travel with Intent 
This is such an interesting story. I knew about the use of pigeons in the 2 World Wars but did not know so many details, nor did I know how important they were in Belgium. The statue is beautiful and a fitting tribute to these brave feathered soldiers.
Thank you so much for joining in with #AnimalTales.
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I knew we used pigeons particularly in the first world war, but I didn’t know about the statue or about the Belgians being so keen on pigeons.
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What a lovely statue! I’ve never heard f the famous pigeon either 😉 Must keep this in mind when we visit Belgium 🙂 #animaltales.
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I had no idea! What a great post.
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Well done, Hercule and your fellow soldier pigeons! Pick enjoyed this post very much.
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that was a fascinating post, I enjoyed reading about this historical timeframe and use of these amazing pigeons, thanks for joining us today on Travel Photo Mondays
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Amazing! I knew that the pigeons were used as messengers during the war but I didn’t realized their high success rate. I also didn’t know that they were also used as a sort of GPS tracking device. Really interesting post.
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Dear Debbie, I have had no idea about the patriotic duty of pigeons, and I have never seen a statue of a pigeon before. Thank you so much for this lesson and beautiful shots. I will have to stop by later to watch the movie you enclosed. Have a great day, and thank you for this post. 🙂
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