WW2 pigeon found with encrypted message

User avatar
Pigeon
Posts: 18055
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:00 pm

WW2 pigeon found with encrypted message

Post by Pigeon » Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:18 pm


It was a bird that flew behind enemy lines, and could have been dispatched from Nazi-occupied France during the D-Day invasions. Now the carrier pigeon has been found in a chimney in Bletchingley in Surrey with the coded message it was carrying still attached to its foot.

It's thought that the bird was making its way to Bletchley Park. During the war there was a squadron of 250,000 birds known as the National Pigeon Service that helped pass information behind enemy lines. The military pigeons were dropped into Nazi occupied territory from bombers, then picked up by resistance fighters who would then release them back to Britain with top secret messages, but this message is particularly special:

"We have more than 30 messages from WW2 carrier pigeons in our exhibition, but not one is in code. The message Mr Martin found must be highly top secret." – Colin Hill, curator of Bletchley Park's 'Pigeons at War'

David Martin found the bird as he ripped out a fireplace while renovating his home in Bletchingley, Surrey. The Royal Pigeon Racing Association think the bird either got lost, disorientated in bad weather or was simply exhausted after its trip across the channel.

Pigeon enthusiasts are now calling for the bird to be posthumously decorated with the Dickin Meddal - the highest possible decoration for valour given to animals. So far more than 60 animals have recievd the accoldage - with 32 of those being pigeons.

The birds have a long history of being used in warfare. They can reach 80mph, cover distances of 700 miles and are brilliant navigators.

When Mr Martin showed his neighbour - and former Secret Agent - the coded letter his reaction was startling:

When I showed him the bird and code the blood drained from his face and he advised us to back off... He said nothing would ever be published."

Now codebreakers at GCHQ in Cheltenham are frantically trying to decipher the code to find out what the message that cost the pigeon it's life had to say.

The message contains 27 codes, each made up of combinations of five numbers and letters, and was sent to X02 at 16.25.

The destination X02 is believed to be the secret code for Bomber Command, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and it is believed the message was sent by an airman because Sergeant was spelt with a J.

Sergeant was spelled with a ‘J’ in the RAF, but with a ‘G’ in the army.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z2B1HkTbFn
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Link


User avatar
Pigeon
Posts: 18055
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:00 pm

Re: WW2 pigeon found with encrypted message

Post by Pigeon » Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:22 pm

It's band id seems to NURP 37 OK 76.

That would probably be a bird banded in 1937 so s/he was a few years old at message carry time.

User avatar
Royal
Posts: 10562
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:55 pm

Re: WW2 pigeon found with encrypted message

Post by Royal » Thu Nov 01, 2012 9:44 pm

Have you ever gave a pigeon a pedicure?

User avatar
Pigeon
Posts: 18055
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:00 pm

Re: WW2 pigeon found with encrypted message

Post by Pigeon » Thu Nov 01, 2012 9:56 pm

Royal wrote:Have you ever gave a pigeon a pedicure?
LOL funny.

Actually have shortened the nails on a couple of birds before.

User avatar
Pigeon
Posts: 18055
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:00 pm

Re: WW2 pigeon found with encrypted message

Post by Pigeon » Fri Nov 02, 2012 1:20 am

Looks like two bands are listed on the message. And there is a field showing 'number of copies sent' is 2.

So two birds and 2 copies of the message, I would suspect. The bird found seems to be 37 DK 76 because the '6' looks to be visible on the band.

NURP 37 DK 76

NURP 40 TW 194

Hopefully they got the other message copy in a timely manner during war time.

Image

Image

User avatar
Royal
Posts: 10562
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:55 pm

Re: WW2 pigeon found with encrypted message

Post by Royal » Fri Nov 02, 2012 6:22 pm

Very interesting stuff... How loud are pigeons when they are in their pen?

User avatar
Pigeon
Posts: 18055
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:00 pm

Re: WW2 pigeon found with encrypted message

Post by Pigeon » Fri Nov 02, 2012 7:38 pm

There are not overly loud but they do make some sounds.

User avatar
Royal
Posts: 10562
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:55 pm

Re: WW2 pigeon found with encrypted message

Post by Royal » Fri Nov 02, 2012 10:48 pm

I'm really thinking about this. Maybe starting out with two. Do you have any good links on maintenance of the birds and materials needed?

User avatar
Pigeon
Posts: 18055
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:00 pm

Re: WW2 pigeon found with encrypted message

Post by Pigeon » Fri Nov 02, 2012 10:55 pm

I would have search some up. A lot a knowledge is learned from other flyers but I suspect the internet now has much.

I could relate some of mine to you.

User avatar
Pigeon
Posts: 18055
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:00 pm

Re: WW2 pigeon found with encrypted message

Post by Pigeon » Sun Dec 16, 2012 6:50 pm

An encrypted World War II message found in a fire place strapped to the remains of a dead carrier pigeon may have been cracked by a Canadian enthusiast.

Gord Young, from Peterborough, in Ontario, says it took him 17 minutes to decypher the message after realising a code book he inherited was the key.

Mr Young says the 1944 note uses a simple World War I code to detail German troop positions in Normandy.

GCHQ says it would be interested to see his findings.
...
"We stand by our statement of 22 November 2012 that without access to the relevant codebooks and details of any additional encryption used, the message will remain impossible to decrypt," he said.

"Similarly it is also impossible to verify any proposed solutions, but those put forward without reference to the original cryptographic material are unlikely to be correct."

However, Mr Young, the editor of a local history group, Lakefield Heritage Research, believes "folks are trying to over-think this matter".

"It's not complex," he says.

Using his great-uncle's Royal Flying Corp [92 Sqd-Canadian] aerial observers' book, he said he was able to work out the note in minutes.

He believes it was written by 27-year-old Sgt William Stott, a Lancashire Fusilier, who had been dropped into Normandy - with pigeons - to report on the German's position. Sgt Stott was killed a few weeks later and is buried in a Normandy war cemetery.

IS THIS WHAT IT MEANS?

AOAKN - Artillery Observer At "K" Sector, Normandy
HVPKD - Have Panzers Know Directions
FNFJW - Final Note [confirming] Found Jerry's Whereabouts
DJHFP - Determined Jerry's Headquarters Front Posts
CMPNW - Counter Measures [against] Panzers Not Working
PABLIZ - Panzer Attack - Blitz
KLDTS - Know [where] Local Dispatch Station
27 / 1526 / 6 - June 27th, 1526 hours

Link


Post Reply