Salute to Commando, the hero pigeon

Mary, the carrier pigeon from Exeter (Mail), is certainly not the first animal to be honoured with a blue plaque or even the first pigeon to receive such recognition. In March 2015, Sir Nicholas Soames, MP for Mid Sussex, unveiled a blue plaque to Commando (pictured) on the loft where he was bred. His breeder was Sid Moon, a local pigeon fancier who had served with the army Pigeon Service during World War I, and who offered his birds to assist the war effort during World War II. Commando the avian hero flew 92 missions carrying messages to and from British agents in german-occupied France. He was awarded the dickin Medal (the animals’ Victoria Cross) for three missions ‘under exceptionally adverse conditions’ in 1942 carrying vital intelligence. MIKE LEWIS, Haywards Heath, W. Sussex.