All Alone (pigeon)
All Alone (NURP.39.SDS.39) was a war pigeon who was decorated for bravery in service during the Second World War for delivering an important secret message in one day over a distance of 400 miles (640 km), while serving with the National Pigeon Service in August, 1943.[1]
| Other name(s) | NURP.39.SDS.39 |
|---|---|
| Species | Pigeon |
| Sex | Hen |
| Hatched | Staines |
| Nation from | British |
| Occupation | War Pigeon |
| Employer | National Pigeon Service |
| Notable role | French Resistance |
| Years active | 1943 and circa |
| Known for | Fast delivery of important message from agent in occupied France |
| Owner | J. W. Paulger, proprietor of the Blue Anchor Inn |
| Appearance | Blue |
| Awards | Dickin Medal 1946 "...for gallantry and devotion" |
Mission
In the summer of 1943, All Alone, a blue hen, parachuted with a spy into Vienne, France. The agent learned important information about the Milice, a secret paramilitary group that was to conduct assassinations, round up Jews for deportation, and to attack the French resistance. All Alone carried this information more than four hundred miles, across the English Channel, back to her home in Staines, England, in less than twenty-four hours. The speed of her flight and the urgency of its success earned All Alone a Dickin Medal, an award known as the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross, "...for Gallantry and Devotion to Duty" in 1946.[2]
References
- "Dickin medal pigeons". PDSA. Archived from the original on February 13, 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
- Long, David (2013). Animal Heroes: Inspiring True Stories of Courageous Animals. Random House. p. 128. ISBN 1448165164.