One of Northern Ireland's smallest World War II heroes was honored today. Paddy, a messenger pigeon who served with the RAF during the Normandy operations in June 1944, was remembered in his home town of Larne. PDSA, Britain's biggest veterinary charity, awarded Paddy the Dickin Medal, dubbed the animals' "Victoria Cross". He received it for being the 1st pigeon to reach England with a coded message from the battle-front beaches of D-Day. The brave bird brought back vital information about the Allies' progress, flying 230 miles in 4 hours 50 minutes, the fastest time of any of the messenger pigeons involved in the mission with an average speed of 56mph. A PDSA spokesman said: "Paddy's contribution to the D-Day operations was a credit to the thousands of messenger pigeons donated by the racing pigeon fraternity for service during World War II. "He was one of 32 brave, feathered heroes that received the PDSA Dickin Medal for their life-saving flights during the war, and the only recipient from Northern Ireland." Paddy, pictured, was born and raised in Carnlough and joined thousands of other racing birds who were trained and drafted to RAF Hurn in Hampshire for military service. Impressing military brass with his flying in the Air-Sea rescue units he was seconded to the United States First Army for undercover missions during the Normandy Landings. In the face of poor weather conditions and the threat of German falcons, deployed to intercept Paddy and his comrades, he delivered his message to his home loft at RAF Hurn. After the war Paddy returned to Carnlough and lived out his days with his owner Captain Andrew Hughes, until his death in 1954.
A memorial to the winged hero was erected in Carnlough harbour.
No comments:
Post a Comment