D-Day--number of pigeons dropped to gather intelligence before D-Day, May 1944

(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, UK

Catalog number WO208/3556  #004

This report gives the numbers of pigeons dispatched in the month before D-Day as part of Operation Columba.  The British created Operation Columba to gather intelligence on the Germans in occupied France, Holland, and Belgium.  17,000 pigeons were dropped from British planes in baskets or boxes attached to small parachutes between 1941-45.   

The Imperial War Museum has interviews  with 2 men who flew on the pigeon drops. To hear Frank Griffiths on reel 2, click on this link: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80012005

To hear John Charrot on reel 2, click on this link:

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80027123