G.I. Joe: Pigeon who Saved 1,000 Lives

G.I. Joe: Pigeon who Saved 1,000 Lives

American Pigeon G.I. Joe helped save up to 1,000 lives during World War II by halting a planned American bombing on an Italian village held by British troops.

In October 1943, the messenger flew 20 miles across enemy lines from a British HQ to a U.S. air base in just 20 minutes to deliver a warning note after radios failed.

The blue-checked bird arrived ‘just as our planes were warming up to take off’, revealed Otto Meyer, a former commander of the U.S. Army Pigeon Service.

G.I. Joe’s note said the village of Calvi Vecchia, 25 miles north of Naples, had been abandoned by the Germans and the British 169th Infantry Brigade had occupied it.

The U.S. had originally planned to use bombs to ‘soften up’ the village, which they believed was a German stronghold, before another British regiment launched a ground offensive.

So, in the face of a breakdown in radio communication, a humble pigeon spared Allied soldiers and Calvi Vecchia’s residents from what could have been one of the worst incidents of ‘friendly fire’ during the war.

G.I. Joe, who had been born that year in Algiers, was flown to the U.S. at the end of the war.

But, in 1946, he crossed the Atlantic again so he could become one of the few foreign animals to be honoured with a Dickin Medal.

G.I. Joe, Pigeon No USA 43 SC 6390
Date of award: August 1946

Source: Yahoo News