All Alone (pigeon)
| All Alone |
|---|
| Other appellation(s) |
NURP.39.SDS.39 |
|---|
| Species |
Pigeon |
|---|
| Sex |
Hen |
|---|
| Born |
Staines |
|---|
| Nation from |
British |
|---|
| Occupation |
War Pigeon |
|---|
| Years active |
1943 and circa |
|---|
| Employer |
National Pigeon Service |
|---|
| Notable role |
French Resistance |
|---|
| Known for |
For fast delivery of important message from agent in occupied France |
|---|
| Owner |
J. W. Paulger, proprietor of the Blue Anchor Inn |
|---|
| Appearance |
Blue |
|---|
|
Dickin Medal 1946 "...for gallantry and devotion" |
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, while serving with the National Pigeon Service in August, 1943.[1]
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 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
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