Carrier pigeons were great allies during the war. At the beginning of the last century there were of course no cell phones. Fast communication was crucial. And radio communication was still being perfected. Did you want to send a short message? You used a carrier pigeon. But sometimes these messages were lost. One of them was found recently … more than a century later. It is the message that a pigeon lost in 1914.
It was in eastern France. A couple discovered a small capsule contain a message. It was allegedly sent by a Prussian soldier with a carrier pigeon during World War I.
The unknown soldier
The message was written by an infantryman based in Ingersheim (north-east France). Before it was part of Germany. The news is dated July 16, although the year is unclear. P.It was written in 1914.
The news was found by accident by a couple out walking. You are Jade Halaoui and her partner Juliette. Inside the capsule was a handwritten note in very good condition. It’s in a close Gothic script and difficult to understand. The text is reminiscent of German maneuvers between Bischwihr and Ingersheim. At that time, Alsace was German.
A total of four copies of the message should be sent by four pigeons. One of them it got lost very quickly after starting. The message reads: ‘Potthof Zug will be shot at when they reach the western edge of the parade ground. The Potthof train takes fire and retires after a while. Half a train in Fechtwald was made unusable. The Potthof train retires with heavy losses«.
Message delivered
The couple found the object while walking. He brought the capsule to the Orbey Museum, which was dedicated to one of the bloodiest battles of World War I. The message that a pigeon lost in 1914 will be part of their permanent exhibition there. A message that in the end exceeded the limits of the front and time.
