Pigeons For The RAF
A short film from British Pathe shows how the RAF were attempting to deal with the challenges of relaying messages from planes in flight back to base over longer distances than radio allowed in 1939. The answer was the homing pigeon; ‘Real wings to the aid of mechanical ones’! The plane shown is a Short Singapore, these were flown by 240 squadron which was reformed in 1937.
A Film from British Pathe: Calshot – Aka Training Pigeons For The Raf (1939)
FILM ID:1003.3
Description: Pigeons being tested by the RAF in Calshot, Hampshire.
L/S’s of a basket with pigeons being loaded onto and RAF (Royal Airforce) Short Singapore flying boat. Good L/S’s of the large aeroplane taking to the sky from Southampton Water. M/S’s of a man releasing a homing pigeon from the cockpit of the aircraft. L/S’s and M/S’s of an RAF man collecting the pigeon after it has returned home, he holds it upside down and then and takes the message attached to it’s ring off.