Secret Pigeon Service
Gordon Corera uncovers Operation Columba, MI14’s covert network of homing pigeons that gathered intelligence across occupied Europe.
- Author
- Gordon Corera
- Publisher
- William Collins
- Price
- £20
- ISBN
- 9780008220334
- Published
- 2018
Secret Pigeon Service by Gordon Corera
Operation Columba sent more than 16,000 pigeons into enemy territory, gathering intelligence from Denmark to the Gironde. Gordon Corera reveals the Special Continental Pigeon Service run by MI14(d), the Royal Signals pigeon lofts, and the Belgian cell led by Jozef Raskin whose 5,000-word report mapped submarine bases, ammunition dumps and bomber targets.
Columba’s achievements included key intelligence on the V2 programme, though rivalries between agencies sometimes blunted its impact. Corera also recounts the risks faced by Resistance groups and the RAF crews who carried pigeon baskets on operations.
A fascinating insight into an overlooked dimension of Allied intelligence.
William Collins. £20. ISBN 9780008220334.