Beach Comber

This article is about the famous wartime carrier pigeon. For the activity of searching the beach, see Beachcombing. For other uses, see Beachcomber (disambiguation).

Beach Comber (designated as "Pigeon – NPS.41.NS.4230") was a Canadian war pigeon who received the Dickin Medal for bravery in service during the Second World War.

On 19 August 1942, Beach Comber arrived in Britain, despite hazardous conditions, from Dieppe, France carrying a message from the Canadian Army alerting commanders of their landing there, marking the start of the Dieppe Raid. As a result, on 6 March 1944, the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals awarded Beach Comber the Dickin Medal.[1][2] Beach Comber remains the only Canadian war pigeon ever to be awarded a Dickin Medal, and one of only three Canadian animals ever to be so honoured.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Animals at War captions" (PDF). Imperial War Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  2. ^ "PDSA Dickin Medal pigeons". The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  3. ^ Lennox, Doug (24 August 2009). Now You Know Canada's Heroes. Dundurn. p. 173. ISBN 9781770704183. Retrieved 6 July 2013.