PIGEON TOMMY VC DICKIN MEDAL SALE

A military medal awarded to a Second World War racing pigeon from Dalton is set to be auctioned in Carlisle.

The Dickin Medal, considered the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross, will be part of a two-day auction at Laidlaw Auctioneers and Valuers, where a variety of rare items will be up for sale.

The medal was awarded to a Cumbrian pigeon named Tommy VC, who undertook a perilous journey during the war.

A historic news article featuring the story about the Dalton pigeon Tommy's story started in the German-occupied Netherlands, where all homing pigeons were ordered to be killed, and their identity rings handed over to authorities.

However, two pigeons belonging to Dutchman Dick Drijver, who was working with the underground resistance movement, managed to survive.

He removed the ring numbers from his pigeons and attached them to the legs of two deceased birds, thus delivering the right number of rings to the authorities.

Despite being in hiding, the two pigeons were trained to carry messages for the resistance but were eventually killed by a cat in 1945.

During this period, a child found an exhausted British racing pigeon, which turned out to be Tommy, of Dalton.

He was given a coded message detailing a build-up of arms at a factory near Amsterdam to carry home to England.

Tommy, with the message secured in a tiny aluminium canister attached to his leg, set off on his journey, braving enemy fire from a German lookout.

He successfully delivered the message to the British authorities, leading to an RAF bombing raid that destroyed the factory.

Tommy was decorated for his service with the Dickin Medal in 1946.

The Dickin Medal, instituted in 1943, has been awarded to a total of 75 animals, including 38 dogs, 32 pigeons, four horses, and one cat.

To read the complete article, see:
Medal awarded to WW2 racing pigeon set for auction in Carlisle (https://uk.news.yahoo.com/medal-awarded-ww2-racing-pigeon-091225046.html)

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