Carrier pigeons played vital roles in World War communications

Historical accounts highlight the vital role of carrier pigeons in military communications during the World Wars. In 1982, a resident in Surrey, England, discovered the skeletal remains of a World War II carrier pigeon in a chimney. Attached to the bird's leg was a canister containing a coded message. Investigations suggested the bird, likely hatched in 1940, was one of two pigeons sent to ensure message delivery. GCHQ has stated the message remains undecipherable without the original cryptographic material.

In a separate historical instance from World War I, a German pigeon named ‘Kaiser’ became one of the longest-held prisoners of war in American history. After serving the German army, the bird was captured by American forces in October 1918. Kaiser and 21 other German pigeons were brought to the United States for public relations and morale purposes, eventually settling at the Signal Corps Pigeon Center in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.