Operation Columba--The Secret Pigeon Service: The Untold Story of World War II Resistance in Europe
Operation Columba--The Secret Pigeon Service: The Untold Story of World War II Resistance in Europe book cover

Operation Columba--The Secret Pigeon Service: The Untold Story of World War II Resistance in Europe

Hardcover – Box set, October 16, 2018

by
Price
$19.94
Format
Hardcover
Pages
352
Publisher
William Morrow
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0062667076
Dimensions
6 x 1.13 x 9 inches
Weight
1.19 pounds

Description

“[An] amazing story of the secret pigeon service and how it helped to win the war.xa0Well-researched and well-told, as much about humans as pigeons, it is replete with eccentric Englishmen, ruthless Nazis, and brave resisters in occupied Europe who risk their lives for the Allied cause.” — Nicholas Reynolds, author of Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy: Ernest Hemingway’s Secret Adventures 1935-1961 “Witty and meticulously researched… Corera succeeds in bringing a virtually unknown chapter of the war to life and pays tribute to the ordinary people who risked their lives to resist the Nazis.” — Publishers Weekly “The eccentric idea of enlisting pigeons as spies, combined with the bravery of those in occupied Europe who picked them up, vividly animates Corera’s excellent addition to the annals of WWII espionage.” — Booklist “There’s undeniable drama in these pages, not just for the birds, the targets for German snipers’ rifles and hungry hawks alike, but also for the groups of Resistance fighters who took part in Columba and, through the diligence of Belgian collaborators and Nazi officials… sometimes paid with their lives.” — Kirkus Reviews “[An] extraordinary, colourful and moving story.… [A] thrilling tale.” — Sunday Times (London) “Once you’ve read this book you’ll never look at a pigeon disdainfully again … No Frederick Forsyth thriller could be as gripping as this real-life story… Corera’s gripping book is an intoxicating mixture of comedy and high seriousness.” — Daily Mail (UK) “Corera is to be congratulated for bringing to light, with humour and verve, a virtually unknown chapter of the war.” — Daily Telegraph (London) THE FASCINATING, UNTOLD STORY OF INVENTIVE ESPIONAGE AND BRAVE RESILIENCE IN WORLD WAR II—REVEALING HOW ALLIED INTELLIGENCE SECRETLY USED HOMING PIGEONS TO COORDINATE WITH THE RESISTANCE TO DEFEAT THE NAZIS IN OCCUPIED EUROPE During the bloodiest years of World War II, British intelligence was determined to defeat the Axis powers by any means necessary. As part of a spy operation code-named Columba, the Allied forces amassed sixteen thousand highly trained homing pigeons and dropped them in an arc across Nazi-occupied Europe. Returning to the secret government branch in charge of the “Special Pigeon Service,” the birds carried messages written on tiny pieces of rice paper tucked into canisters and tied to the patient birds’ legs. These messages were sometimes comic, often tragic and occasionally invaluable—reporting details of German troop movements and fortifications, new Nazi weapons, radar systems and even the deployment of the feared V-1 and V-2 rockets used to terrorize London. Corera also reveals the part played by America’s specialist military pigeon units, such as their role in Operation Columba and their work in North Africa and Europe, including on D-Day. The people who sent these messages were not trained spies. They were ordinary men and women, fearful and half-starved, willing to risk their lives in the name of freedom. Some even formed amateur espionage organizations, including the Leopold Vindictive network—a small group of Belgian villagers led by an extraordinary priest named Joseph Raskin. Raskin became such a valuable asset that his intelligence eventually reached Churchill himself, and MI6 parachuted agents behind enemy lines to assist him. Gordon Corera uses declassified documents and extensive original research to tell the moving story of Operation Columba and the Secret Pigeon Service for the first time. A powerful tale of wartime espionage, bitter rivalries, extraordinary courage, astonishing betrayal, harrowing tragedy and a quirky, quarrelsome band of spy masters and their special mission, Operation Columba opens a fascinating new chapter in the annals of World War II. It is ultimately the story of how, in one of the darkest and most dangerous times in history, under threat of death, people bravely chose to resist. Gordon Corera has been the BBC’s security correspondent since 2004. He has reported from London, Moscow, and Washington, and is the only journalist to have interviewed serving heads of both the CIA and MI6. He has covered firsthand many of the central episodes in the spy wars between the three countries and has unparalleled insight into the working of all sides. He is the author of several books, including The Art of Betrayal: The Secret History of MI6 , and has contributed to a number of important BBC documentary series about MI6, the CIA, and Russia. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • The fascinating, untold story of how British intelligence secretly used homing pigeons as part of a clandestine espionage operation to gather information, communicate, and coordinate with members of the Resistance to defeat the Nazis in occupied Europe during World War II.
  • Between 1941 and 1944, British intelligence dropped sixteen thousand homing pigeons in an arc across Nazi-occupied Europe, from Bordeaux, France to Copenhagen, Denmark, as part of a spy operation code-named Columba. Returning to MI14, the secret government branch in charge of the "Special Pigeon Service," the birds carried messages that offered a glimpse of life under the Germans in rural France, Holland, and Belgium. Written on tiny pieces of rice paper tucked into canisters and tied to the birds’ legs, these messages were sometimes comic, often tragic, and occasionally invaluable—reporting details of German troop movements and fortifications, new Nazi weapons, radar systems, and even the deployment of the feared V-1 and V-2 rockets used to terrorize London.
  • The people who sent these messages were not trained spies. They were ordinary men and women willing to risk their lives in the name of freedom, including the "Leopold Vindictive" network—a small group of Belgian villagers led by an extraordinary priest named Joseph Raskin. The intelligence Raskin sent back by pigeon proved so valuable that it reached Churchill and MI6 parachuted agents behind enemy lines to assist him.
  • Gordon Corera uses declassified documents and extensive original research to tell the story of the Operation Columba and the Secret Pigeon Service for the first time. A powerful tale of wartime espionage, bitter rivalries, extraordinary courage, astonishing betrayal, harrowing tragedy, and a quirky, quarrelsome band of spy masters and their special mission,
  • Operation Columba
  • opens a fascinating new chapter in the annals of World War II. It is ultimately, the story of how, in one of the darkest and most dangerous times in history, under threat of death, people bravely chose to resist.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(70)
★★★★
25%
(58)
★★★
15%
(35)
★★
7%
(16)
★
23%
(54)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Thrilling, espionage at its best, and all the facts

As a librarian, I’m always on the alert to see which books would be well received by larger segments of readers. In terms of non-fiction, one has to be careful. But this is one of those gems that belongs in an elite group as it will appeal to both fans of World War II spy stories (fiction), and equally to history buffs. It will definitely appeal to pigeon fanciers, with ‘fancier’ being the term for those who like pigeons and devote time and energy to taking care of them, and perhaps for show, perhaps for breeding them. I remember having heard stories that homing pigeons were used in World War II, but didn’t realize the extent until I read this book. While this book is about the pigeons and the military services, the author notes it’s really about the people who loved and respected and managed them, their civilian and military handlers.

But the pigeon narrative is only a part. The core and spirit of this book is a story about a small group of patriots in the resistance in Belgium who risked everything to get messages to British Intelligence. It’s more compelling than many spy novels because it’s real. The authors of what was possibly the most useful piece of intelligence delivered by a pigeon (Number 37), took the time to snap photos, which are included. The author carefully folds this suspenseful story in with events happening simultaneously in other countries. (This is occasionally exasperating; I suspect you’ll be eager to find out the ending.)

The narrative also contains many stories of brave pigeons doing what they do best by carrying out dangerous missions and flying across the Channel from France and Belgium to their ‘lofts’ in England. They were also used in North Africa and other parts of Europe. We find out how the birds were brought overseas and dropped from airplanes in boxes with parachutes (hard to believe, but it was clever). We find out the kind of intelligence the birds brought back, how it was received by government agencies, and the counter tactics of the Germans, who, after being initially extremely irate, began to fight back. Think hawks, interceptions of pigeons, roasted pigeons, and threats to local villagers.

Finally, this is the story of some of the World War II efforts by spy agencies, competition between leaders and their organizations, bungling because of lack of shared information, spies within the ranks, less-than-competent assets, rivalries, and leaders’ evolving recognition of just how valuable the birds were. As current celebrities and politicians have been known to say ‘mistakes were made’. The author uses many records from government archives and includes notes at the end explaining terms and events. It’s quite fascinating reading.
15 people found this helpful
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Very interesting

Did you know that homing pigeons were used in world war II? I didn't. I thought they were only used in the first world war. But they were used, and quite creatively. At the time, using humans to get messages and vital information gathered about the enemy and the placement of weapons, locations of bases..etc. to England was taking about 1/3 of a year from the time it was collected to the time it ended up in British hands. Using pigeons, one could get the message in a matter of days after it was written instead of weeks or months. This way the intelligence was fresh, not outdated.

Operation Columba: The Secret Pigeon Service by Gordon Corera is the story of how these pigeons were used, the organization who controlled their usage, and those in occupied territory who risked their lives in sending Britain information via the pigeons.

An idea was implemented, to drop British homing pigeons into occupied territory by means of baskets (with parachutes attached), included in the basket was a little pigeon food, instructions, a question sheet, a pencil, and very thing paper to fold up into a tube to attach to the pigeons leg. The goal was that some of the townspeople would find them and would answer the questions and send them back, and any other information they could give.

It was a method that was more likely to work for Britain than for Nazi Germany. As the author notes about the Germans: "If they had dropped pigeons into England, it is hard to believe many people would have chosen to fill out questionnaires." But the British could drop them into France, Belgium and other German occupied territories as there would be a high chance that a lot of the people were discontent with the Nazi takeover. Though whether or not the people would be willing to risk their lives to get information to the allies was another question.

One family in particular helped out. They found one of the pigeons and, instead of merely telling what they knew offhand, they decided to be very proactive actively gather information to send. A friend of the family, a priest, helped as well. He had been a mapmaker during the previous war, and an artist too. He used his skills to transcribe all of the information they gathered onto the thin sheets of rice paper sent with the bird. He even drew tiny maps. He wrote the notes so tiny that he suggested those who received them via the bird use a magnifying glass to read them. He initially named their group the "Leopold Vindictive", signing their papers with their initials so that Britain could address them via radio broadcasts, tell them when and where more pigeons would be dropped, and so that Britain would know when information came from their group again. But Getting more pigeons to them was quite the task, made much more difficult by the chaotic conflict within the organizations in Britain as to who should have control over the pigeon operations. Sadly, the account of this family's brave attempts to help doesn't end very well.

All in all, it's an interesting account. It's filled with suspense and drama. It's quite frustrating and sad at times. But still an interesting account of this operation in history.

Thanks to the folks at William Morrow for sending me a free advanced review copy of this book (My quotation [above] from the book may not be exactly the same as the final product). My review did not have to be favorable.
7 people found this helpful
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A Thrilling Book

Operation Columba – The Secret Pigeon Service: The Untold Store of World War II Resistance in Europe by Gordon Corera is a non-fiction account of the British “Pigeon Warfare” effort. Mr. Corera is a journalist and writer, he specializes on security issues for the BBC.

I always thought the use of pigeons is a creative one, but really have no special interest in it because, well… it’s pigeons. Operation Columba – The Secret Pigeon Service: The Untold Store of World War II Resistance in Europe by Gordon Corera, however, is a well written book which brings to life this small part of the war.

On the face of it, using pigeons to fly messages from German held territories to England sounds ridiculous. How could such an operation be successful with so many variables which cannot be accounted for?

The author answers this question, and many more, in the book. The pigeon business, as it turned out, was popular at the time (racing, etc.) so there were many experts that the British intelligence was able to draw upon. The birds were dropped behind enemy lines, parachuted in cages, to hopefully be found by local resistance who will risk their lives writing information in supplied kit and send the bird back.

Did you catch that?
Hopefully!

If the Nazis found the birds they could either kill them, keep them, or send them back with false information. If the caught a citizen with one of these birds, a very unpleasant experience awaited them, if not death.

I never thought I’d enjoy a book about pigeons, but here we are. A thrilling book about an oddball corner of history, including brave citizens resisting to the Nazis occupiers, and creative intelligence officers.
2 people found this helpful
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Intriguing and detailed story

An intriguing and extensively researched story. It’s filled with colorful real life characters, and ordinary people who made extraordinary sacrifices for their country under Nazi occupied Europe. Who knew the humble pigeon played such a fascinating role in the history of WWII? I was captivated by the details of the story from the unfortunate ineptitude of the British Intelligence Agencies, to the bizarre bureaucracy of the Nazis, to the bravery of the ordinary citizens and the pigeons.
1 people found this helpful
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History, War, Spies and Pigeons, Oh My!

What a fascinating but sad story. I had NO IDEA pigeons had played a role in World War II or other war for that matter. In all the books and films I have seen animals have rarely been mentioned and never pigeons.

The risks people in war are willing to take is inspiring. The detail Leopold Vindictive was able to cram into such a small space is amazing and the failure of government departments who are more interested in ego than their country's well being is disgusting.

Using pigeons to transmit intelligence about troop movements and enemy operations is definitely a subject that should receive more coverage.

This is a well written narrative that really draws the reader in. The question at the end about whether the cost of the choices made to both the animals and humans was worth it is easy to answer when looking at the world view but harder to answer at a personal level.
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They Also Serve Who Fly From Coop To Coop

This is a thrilling true tale of espionage in World War II, as riveting as anything by Ben Macintyre, Frederick Forsyth, or Ian Fleming. It has derring-do, bravado, insouciance, and devil-may-care-ism in abundance, enhanced by the fact that many of the most important characters never say a word. They coo. Operation Columba was the secret pigeon service established by British Intelligence during World War II to aid in information gathering from the regions of Western Europe held by the Germans. Gordon Corera, an international correspondent for the BBC, is the able author of Operation Columba, revealing small scale heroism that helped to achieve enormous success.

Pigeons had been used to carry messages for many hundreds of years before the twentieth century, but it was only during World War I that they began to be used in large numbers, chiefly for carrying messages between groups of soldiers isolated along the front. As World War II approached, British intelligence figures realized that the widespread hobby of pigeon breeding could have major benefits during conflict. An elaborate system was set up in which thousands of birds were literally drafted into service. Britain was not the only country to see the value in pigeons, both Germany and the US developing their own programs as well, but the British had the most advanced and specialized program. Beginning in 1941 boxes containing live pigeons, along with feed and instructions for how to send messages back with them, were dropped by parachute over northern France, Belgium, and Holland. Most of the birds who were sent out in this way never returned, being either killed by the descent and landing or eaten by the hungry people who found them. But some were found and used to send important data back to Britain, their handlers thereby becoming important members of the Resistance. The birds themselves had to make their way back through enemy gunfire, hawks, stormy weather, and other hazards. Many never made it, but enough did to have a small but important place in final victory.

Operation Columba is a book that contains many colorful anecdotes of the many men and women who served in the pigeon service in one way or another. Some were highly eccentric, like Viscount Tredegar, but all were heroic, especially the Belgians and French who risked arrest, torture, imprisonment, and death at the hands of their occupiers. Nothing you'll ever read about the exploits of spies will ever seem more incredible than this tale of small birds with a talent for finding their way home and the people who used them to help win a war.

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