(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, UK
Catalog number WO204/3930 #40
Here is a link you can copy and paste to see the video from 1946 about GI Joe:
The file has a typo stating that GI Joe saved the lives of 100 troops. He saved 1000, and the inhabitants of the town. Peter Huntington’s and David Long’s books on the Dickin Medal winners, published in 2012, verify that 1000 troops were saved.
"The file has a typo stating that GI Joe saved the lives of 100 troops. He saved 1000, and the inhabitants of the town."
ReplyDeleteI'd hesitate to call 100 a typo - while some books cite American General Clark as estimating at least 1,000 troops were saved[1], 100 is the official number in the medal citation accompanying GI Joe's 1946 British Dickin Medal[2] presented to GI Joe by British Major-General Sir Charles Keightley, a former divisional commander in Italy, and American Major-Generals Clay and Bissell[3,4].
I've been unable to find any 1940's document citing the "1,000" figure ... have you come across one?
[1] "The Animal Victoria Cross: The Dickin Medal
"General Mark Clark, Commander the US Fifth Army, estimated that the pigeon saved at least 1,000 men of the 56th Division"
https://books.google.com/books?id=kfZADwAAQBAJ&pg=PT88&lpg=PT88&dq=100
[2] On the website of the organization responsible for the Dickin Medal:
https://www.pdsa.org.uk/what-we-do/animal-awards-programme/pdsa-dickin-medal
“This bird is credited with making the most outstanding flight by a USA Army Pigeon in World War II. Making the 20 mile flight from British 10th Army HQ, in the same number of minutes, it brought a message which arrived just in time to save the lives of at least 100 Allied soldiers from being bombed by their own planes.”
[3] "WESTERN AUSTRALIA" Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954) 21 November 1946: 15. Web. 14 Dec 2019 .
A GALLANT BIRD: G.I. Joe, a U.S. Army pigeon, was presented with the Dickin Medal (equivalent of the Victoria Cross) by Major-General Sir Charles Keightley at the Tower of London on
November 4. G.I. Joe won the medal for saving the lives of at least 100 allied soldiers by flying 20 miles in 20 minutes with an urgent message. The message, stated that the village of
Colvi Vecchia, Italy, had been captured by the British 169th Infantry Brigade, thus preventing the village from being bombed by Allied aircraft which were about to take off when the pigeon
arrived.
[4] "DECORATION FOR PIGEON" The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954) 6 November 1946: 1. Web. 14 Dec 2019 .
DECORATION FOR PIGEON
Recognition of War Service
"The Age" Special Correspondent in London.
The American homing pigeon, "G.I. Joe," was decorated at the Tower of London on Monday with the Dickin Medal for gallantry by birds and animals with the 56th London Division in Italy.
The pigeon's citation records that the bird flew 20 miles through an air and artillery bombardment with a request for artillery support to break up a German counter-attack at Colvi Vecchia.
The bird flew at a speed of a mile a minute, its swift delivery of the message probably saving 100 British lives.
The medal was presented by Major-General Sir Charles Keightley, a former divisional commander in Italy, who was accompanied by the Americans, Major-Generals Clay and Bissell.
The pigeon was "paraded" on the Tower green, and was escorted by the famous Tower ravens and a flock of sparrows and starlings.