World War 2 In Review

Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg: German Manned Version of V-1 Flying Bomb

Captured Fi 103R on its transport dolly, 1945.

The Fieseler Fi 103R, code-named Reichenberg, was a German manned version of the V-1 flying bomb (more correctly known as the Fieseler Fi 103). It was developed towards the end of the Second World War and was intended to be used as a human-guided bomb in likely-suicidal attacks against the advancing Allies.

The Fi 103R started development in 1944 at a time when Germany was anticipating a major naval landing by the Allies in western Europe. It was believed that a disposable aircraft armed with 900 kilograms (2,000 lb) of explosives would potentially inflict heavy damage on important targets such as enemy shipping. However, these attacks would have very likely involved the death of the pilot, who was expected to exit the aircraft and parachute away mere moments before the aircraft's impact. These pilots were reportedly to be volunteers and aware of the risk to their own lives. The "Leonidas Squadron", V. Gruppe of the Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwader 200, was established in early 1944 to conduct these attacks.

Initially, the development of a manned Fi 103 had been considered but passed over for the rival Messerschmitt Me 328 project. However, this aircraft had fundamental difficulties with its pulsejet propulsion, which led to officials opting to switch focus to the Fi 103R's development. Pilots were trained using gliders, including specially-adapted ones capable of high-speed diving, it was intended for the R-III, a twin-seat powered model of the Fi 103R, to be used for the latter stages of training. In September 1944, the maiden flight of the Fi 103R occurred, which resulted in a crash; a second aircraft flown on the next day also crashed. One month later, development was shelved at the direct order of Hitler, who had been encouraged by Albert Speer and Werner Baumbach to not pursue suicide attacks.

During the latter part of the Second World War, it was becoming increasingly clear that Germany was on the defensive against multiple powerful nations and that increasingly drastic measures would be needed just to maintain the status quo against the Allies. In February 1944, the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was initially dismissive of the need to resort to tactics such as suicide attacks, as was advocated by figures such as Otto Skorzeny, Hanna Reitsch, and Hajo Herrmann, he did authorize the formation of a squadron to prepare for such missions. Accordingly, the Leonidas Squadron, a part of Kampfgeschwader 200, was established to be this suicide squadron. Volunteers for this squadron were required to sign a declaration which said, "I hereby voluntarily apply to be enrolled in the suicide group as part of a human glider-bomb. I fully understand that employment in this capacity will entail my own death."

The concept called for an aircraft that would be armed with a single 900 kilograms (2,000 lb) explosive device that would detonate upon impact with the target, which was typically envisioned to be Allied shipping. Two different aircraft were quickly considered to be the most suitable options available, the Messerschmitt Me 328 and the Fieseler Fi 103 (better known as the V-1 flying bomb), although both required development work. Officials opted to pass over the Fi 103 in favor of the Me 328. Being largely composed of wood and conceived of as potentially suitable for using multiple means of propulsion, the Me 328 had been worked on since 1941.

However, difficulties were encountered in the Me 328 during prototype testing, the vibration caused by its pulsejet engines having been a particular source of issues, leading to work being suspended. The project had also encountered political opposition from figures such as the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, who sought the program's termination. The program was placed under the supervision of the SS, but was not terminated at this point; instead, Skorzeny, who had been investigating the possibility of using crewed torpedoes against Allied shipping, was personally briefed by Hitler to revive the project.

Skorzeny played a key role in the program's reappraisal, which included its reorientation towards the Fi 103. The project was given the codename "Reichenberg" after the capital of the former Czechoslovakian territory "Reichsgau Sudetenland" (present-day Liberec), while the aircraft themselves were referred to as "Reichenberg-Geräte" (Reichenberg apparatus). It has been claimed that one reason for the switch towards the Fi 103R was it ability to offer the pilot a slim chance of surviving the attack.

In the summer of 1944, the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight) at Ainring took on the task of developing a crewed version of the Fi 103, an example was made ready for testing within days and a production line was established at Dannenberg.

The V-1 was transformed into the Reichenberg via the addition of a compact cockpit at the point of the fuselage that was immediately ahead of the pulsejet's intake, where the compressed-air cylinders were fitted on a standard V-1. This cramped cockpit was outfitted with only basic flight instrumentation, along with a bucket seat composed of plywood. The single-piece canopy incorporated an armored front panel and opened to the side to allow entry. The two displaced compressed-air cylinders were replaced by a single one, fitted in the rear in the space which normally accommodated the V-1's autopilot. At no point was any landing gear fitted to the aircraft. The wings were fitted with hardened edges that would cut the cables of barrage balloons. The broader-chord forward support pylon for the Argus pulsejet, by coincidence, resembles the same airframe component used on the American clone of the uncrewed V-1, the Republic-Ford JB-2 Loon.

It was proposed that a He 111 bomber would carry either one or two Reichenbergs beneath its wings, releasing them close to the target. The pilots would then steer their aircraft towards the target, jettisoning the cockpit canopy shortly before impact and bailing out. It was estimated that the chances of a pilot surviving such a bailout were less than 1% due to the proximity of the pulsejet's intake to the cockpit.

Trainees were initially prepared using ordinary gliders to get them used to handling unpowered flight; specially-adapted gliders with shortened wings would be used to provide more advanced training. Amongst other things, these adaptations enabled them to dive at speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour (190 mph). Once sufficient proficiency had been demonstrated, the last stage of training would be conducted using the dual-control R-II. According to Christopher, there was no shortage of volunteers for the program despite the open acknowledgement that the mission involved their near-certain demise.

Training began on the R-I and R-II and, although landing them on a skid was difficult, the aircraft handled well and it was anticipated that the Leonidas Squadron would soon be using the machines. On 28 July 1944, Albert Speer wrote to Hitler, stating his opposition to the wasting of both men and machines on the Allies in France and suggested their deployment to be more worthwhile against Soviet power stations on the Eastern Front. These were not the only alternative targets that were proposed; other potential uses for the Fi 103R included ramming enemy bombers. Such was the interest in this latter role that formal evaluations were conducted in the final months of the conflict.

During September 1944, the first real flight was performed at the Erprobungsstelle Rechlin, the Reichenberg being dropped from a Heinkel He 111. However, this flight ended in a crash, which was attributed to the pilot having lost control of the aircraft after accidentally jettisoning the canopy. The next day, a second flight was conducted that also ended in a crash. The technical department struggled to explain these losses, although there were suspicions that the Fi 103R's flight characteristics could making landing particularly challenging.

Seeking to avoid further accidents while also hoping to uncover the source of these difficulties, further test flights were carried out by Heinz Kensche and Hanna Reitsch, both of whom were particularly accomplished test pilots. Reitsch herself experienced several crashes, which she survived unscathed. On 5 November 1944, during the second test flight of the R-III, a wing detached from the aircraft due to the vibrations; Kensche managed to parachute to safety, albeit with some difficulty due to the cramped cockpit. It was concluded that the Fi 103R had a relatively high stall speed and that pilots, unaware of this, had been attempting to land at speeds that were too slow for the aircraft to maintain stable flight.

During October 1944, Werner Baumbach assumed command of KG 200, and quickly opted to shelve the Reichenberg in favor of the Mistel project. By this point, the Allies had consolidated their position in France and thus the value of attacking potential invasion fleets was no longer considered to be as pressing as dealing with land warfare. On 15 March 1945, in a meeting between Baumbach, Speer, and Hitler, the latter was convinced that suicide missions were not part of the German warrior tradition; later that same day, Baumbach ordered the disbandment of the Reichenberg unit.

Role: Manned missile

National origin: Nazi Germany

Manufacturer: Fieseler

First flight: September 1944

Primary user: Luftwaffe

Produced: October 1944

Number built: c. 175

Developed from: Fieseler Fi 103 (V-1 flying bomb)

Variants

There were five variants:

R-I: The basic single-seat unpowered glider.

R-II: Unpowered glider; had a second cockpit fitted where the warhead would normally be.

R-III: A pulsejet-powered two-seater.

R-IV: The standard-powered operational model.

Crew: 1

Length: 8.00 m (26 ft 3 in)

Wingspan: 5.72 m (18 ft 9 in)

Gross weight: 2,250 kg (4,960 lb)

Powerplant: 1 × Argus As 109-014 pulsejet, 2.9 kN (660 lbf) thrust - static thrust: 2.2 kN (500 lbf); max thrust: 3.6 kN (800 lbf)

Cruise speed: 650 km/h (400 mph, 350 kn) at 2,400 m (8,000 ft)

Never exceed speed: 800 km/h (500 mph, 430 kn)

Range: 329 km (204 mi, 178 nmi) from point of launch, cruising at 2,500 m (8,200 ft)

Endurance: 32 minutes

Armament: 850 kg (1,874 lb) high-explosive warhead

R-V: Powered trainer for the Heinkel He 162 (shorter nose).

By October 1944 about 175 R-IVs were ready for action.

Aircraft on Display

Flying Heritage Collection, Everett, Washington

Canadian War Museum (under restoration 2009).

Lashenden Air Warfare Museum, Headcorn, Kent (restored N° 85)

La Coupole, Saint-Omer, France (restored N° 126)

Schweizerisches Militärmuseum Full, Full-Reuenthal, Switzerland (restored N° 27)

Stinson Air Field, San Antonio, Texas, United States (replica).

National Military Museum (Soesterberg) Netherlands (on temporary display)

Muzeum Molke, Ludwikowice Kłodzkie, Poland (replica)

Bibliography

Bishop, Chris (2002). The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. Sterling Publishing.

Christopher, John (2012). The Race for Hitler's X-Planes. The History Press.

Green, William (1970). The warplanes of the Third Reich (1st 1973 reprint ed.). New York: Doubleday. pp. 170–171.

Hyland, Gary; Anton Gill (1999). Last Talons of the Eagle. Headline.

Kay, Antony L. (1977). Buzz Bomb. Boylston: Monogram Aviation Publications.

Kay, Antony L.; J. Richard Smith; Eddie J. Creek (2002). German Aircraft of the Second World War. Naval Institute Press.

Mantelli - Brown - Kittel - Graf (2017). Wunderwaffen - The secret weapons of World War II. Edizioni R.E.I.

O'Neill, Richard (1981). Suicide Squads: Axis and Allied Special Attack Weapons of World War II : Their Development and Their Missions. London: Salamander Books.

Renneberg, Monika; Mark Walker (1999). Science, Technology, and National Socialism. Headline.

Young, Richard Anthony (1978). The Flying Bomb. New York: Sky Book Press.

Zaloga, Steven J.; Jim Laurier (2005). V-1 Flying Bomb 1942–52. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing.

Further Reading

Reitsch, Hanna (2009). The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot. Casemate.

Fieseler Fi 103R.

Captured Fi 103R in bogus camouflage scheme and markings.

Captured Fi 103R in Port Allegany, Pennsylvania, fall 1945, during a Victory Bond drive.

U.S. troops inspect Fieseler Fi 103R minus wings on its transport dolly, 1945.

Fi 103R Reichenberg (without warhead) on its transport dolly captured by British troops in 1945.

Fieseler Fi 103R.

Fi 103R on display at Farnborough in 1945.

Another view of the Fi 103R on display at Farnborough in 1945.

Fieseler Fi 103 (Reichenberg IV).

Captured Fi 103R (Reichenburg IV) at Freeman Field, Indiana, circa 1945. The nose cone and warhead have been removed.

Captured Fi 103R on its transport dolly with wings detached.

Captured Fi 103R on its transport dolly.

Captured Fi 103R.

Fieseler Fi 103R.

Captured Fi 103R.

Fieseler Fi 103R.

Test pilot standing next to a Fieseler Fi 103R.

Fieseler Fi 103R.

U.S.S. Iowa Joins The Navy, 1944 (Wartime Newsreel)

Pigeons at War

W/O MacKinnon holds his Coastal Command's B-24 Liberator's two carrier pigeons.

Homing pigeons have long played an important role in war. Due to their homing ability, speed, and altitude, they were often used as military messengers. Carrier pigeons of the Racing Homer breed were used to carry messages in World War I and World War II, and 32 such pigeons were presented with the Dickin Medal. Medals such as the Croix de Guerre, awarded to Cher Ami, and the Dickin Medal awarded to the pigeons G.I. Joe and Paddy, amongst 32 others, have been awarded to pigeons for their services in saving human lives.

During World War I and World War II, carrier pigeons were used to transport messages back to their home coop behind the lines. When they landed, wires in the coop would sound a bell or buzzer and a soldier of the Signal Corps would know a message had arrived. The soldier would go to the coop, remove the message from the canister, and send it to its destination by telegraph, field phone, or personal messenger.

A carrier pigeon's job was dangerous. Nearby, enemy soldiers often tried to shoot down pigeons, knowing that released birds were carrying important messages. Some of these pigeons became quite famous amongst the infantrymen for whom they worked. One pigeon, named “Spike”, flew 52 missions without receiving a single wound. Another, named Cher Ami, lost his foot and one eye, but his message got through, saving a large group of surrounded American infantrymen.

Before the advent of radio, carrier pigeons were frequently used on the battlefield as a means for a mobile force to communicate with a stationary headquarters. In the sixth century BC, Cyrus, king of Persia, used carrier pigeons to communicate with various parts of his empire. In Ancient Rome, Julius Caesar used pigeons to send messages to the territory of Gaul.

During the 19th-century (1870–71) Franco-Prussian War, besieged Parisians used carrier pigeons to transmit messages outside the city; in response, the besieging Prussian Army employed hawks to hunt the pigeons. The French military used balloons to transport homing pigeons past enemy lines. Microfilm images containing hundreds of messages allowed letters to be carried into Paris by pigeon from as far away as London. More than one million different messages traveled this way during the four-month siege. They were then discovered to be very useful, and carrier pigeons were well considered in military theory leading up to World War I.

Homing pigeons were used extensively during World War I. In 1914, during the First Battle of the Marne, the French army advanced 72 pigeon lofts with the troops. The US Army Signal Corps used 600 pigeons in France alone.

One of their homing pigeons, a Blue Check cock named Cher Ami, was awarded the French "Croix de Guerre with Palm” for heroic service delivering 12 important messages during the Battle of Verdun. On his final mission in October 1918, he delivered a message despite having been shot through the breast or wing. The crucial message, found in the capsule hanging from a ligament of his shattered leg, saved 194 US soldiers of the 77th Infantry Division's “Lost Battalion".

United States Navy aviators maintained 12 pigeon stations in France, with a total inventory of 1,508 pigeons when the war ended. Pigeons were carried in airplanes to rapidly return messages to these stations, and 829 birds flew in 10,995 wartime aircraft patrols. Airmen of the 230 patrols with messages entrusted to pigeons threw the message-carrying pigeon either up or down, depending on the type of aircraft, to keep the pigeon out of the propeller and away from airflow toward the aircraft wings and struts. Eleven of the thrown pigeons went missing in action, but the remaining 219 messages were delivered successfully.

Pigeons were considered an essential element of naval aviation communication when the first United States aircraft carrier USS Langley was commissioned on 20 March 1922, so the ship included a pigeon house on the stern. The pigeons were trained at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard while Langley was undergoing conversion. As long as the pigeons were released a few at a time for exercise, they returned to the ship; but when the whole flock was released while Langley was anchored off Tangier Island, the pigeons flew south and roosted in the cranes of the Norfolk shipyard. The pigeons never went to sea again.

During World War II, the United Kingdom used about 250,000 homing pigeons for many purposes, including communicating with those behind enemy lines such as Belgian spy Jozef Raskin. The Dickin Medal, the highest possible decoration for valor given to animals, was awarded to 32 pigeons, including the United States Army Pigeon Service's G.I. Joe and the Irish pigeon Paddy.

The UK maintained the Air Ministry Pigeon Section during World War II and for a while thereafter. A Pigeon Policy Committee made decisions about the uses of pigeons in military contexts. The head of the section, Lea Rayner, reported in 1945 that pigeons could be trained to deliver small explosives or bioweapons to precise targets. The ideas were not taken up by the committee, and in 1948 the UK military stated that pigeons were of no further use. During the war, messenger pigeons could draw a special allowance of corn and seed, but as soon as the war ended this had been cancelled and anyone keeping pigeons would have to draw on their own personal rationed corn and seed to also feed the pigeons. However, the UK security service MI5 was still concerned about the use of pigeons by enemy forces. Until 1950, they arranged for 100 birds to be maintained by a civilian pigeon fancier in order to prepare for any eventuality. The Swiss army disbanded its Pigeon section in 1996.

In 2010, Indian police expressed suspicion that a recently captured pigeon from Pakistan might have been carrying a message from Pakistan. In 2015, a pigeon from Pakistan was logged into Indian records as a "suspected spy". In May 2020, another suspected Pakistani spy pigeon was captured by Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir. After finding nothing suspicious, India authorities released the pigeon back into Pakistan.

In 2016, a Jordanian border official said at a news conference that Islamic State militants were using homing pigeons to deliver messages to operatives outside its "so called caliphate".

In total, 32 pigeons were decorated with the Dickin Medal including:

Winkie (1943)

Commando (1944)

Paddy (1944)

William of Orange (1944)

Mary of Exeter (1945)

G.I. Joe (1946)

Gustav (1944)

Beach Comber (1944)

Canadian PO (A) S Jess, wireless operator of a Lancaster bomber operating from Waddington, Lincolnshire carrying two pigeon boxes. Homing pigeons served as a means of communications in the event of a crash, ditching or radio failure. October 1942.

The seven man crew of an Avro Lancaster bomber wait near the crew room at Waddington, Lincolnshire for transport out to their aircraft. The pigeons seen in boxes in the foreground are homing pigeons carried for communication purposes in case of ditching or radio failure. October 1942.

Royal Blue receiving his Dickin Medal. The first pigeon to deliver a message from a downed aircraft on the continent was one with a royal pedigree. This was Royal Blue who came from the royal lofts. He flew 120 miles in 4 hours and 10 minutes on the 10 October 1940 after the aircraft he was on had been forced to make a landing in occupied Netherlands. Delivering his message with the aircrew's whereabouts he was awarded the Dickin Medal in March 1945.

Winkie the pigeon with PDSA founder Maria Dickin. Winkie. The first pigeon to receive the Dickin Medal was Winkie, she served with No. 42 Squadron, RAF Leuchars and with a number of sorties already completed it would be for her actions on the 23rd February 1942 that earned her the award. On this day the Bristol Beaufort she was on was returning from a sortie over Norway where it had been subject to flak and damaged. Whilst trying to return to their home base the aircraft was too badly damaged and ditched into the North Sea. As a result of the impact Winkie's cage opened and her instincts kicked in and she flew the 120 miles home. When she returned to her loft covered in oil and exhausted she didn't have a message detailing the crew's location. Despite this the Royal Air Force were able to work out where the aircraft could be by the birds time of arrival and other factors which enabled the crew of four to be rescued. To show their appreciation a dinner was held by No. 42 Squadron with Winkie the guest of honor and on the 2 December 1943 she received her Dickin Medal.

One of the very first recipients of the Dickin Medal was White Vision, she was serving with No. 190 Squadron, RAF Sullom Voe when on the 11 October 1943 the Consolidated PBY Catalina she was in had to ditch in the North Sea. With the radio of the aircraft out of action and other aircraft unable to see the crew due to bad visibility, which was down to 100 yards, a message detailing the crew's location was sealed in her leg canister. White Vision was then released and flying against a formidable headwind she arrived back at her loft. With the details of the crew's location the search was underway again and after 18 hours in the North Sea all eleven members of the crew were finally rescued. She would receive her Dickin Medal on the 2 December 1943.

Gustav receives his Dickin Medal from Mrs AV Alexander with W/C Rayner and Cpl Randall. Serving aboard an Allied warship during Operation Overlord off the Normandy coast on the 6th June 1944, Gustav would bring the first message of the landings back to the United Kingdom. He had been one of six carrier pigeons issued to Montague Taylor a war correspondent for Reuters by the Royal Air Force. With a headwind, sometimes as much as 30 mph, and a 150 mile journey ahead, Gustav arrived with his message 5 hours 16 minutes later at RAF Thorney Island. He was awarded his Dickin Medal on the 17 November 1944. The message delivered by Gustav read: “We are just 20 miles or so off the beaches. First assault troops landed 0750. Signal says no interference from enemy gunfire on beach... Steaming steadily in formation. Lightnings, Typhoons, Fortresses crossing since 0545. No enemy aircraft seen.”

GI Joe with its Dickin Medal which was awarded in August 1946. “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.”

War Pigeon Carrier at the History on Wheels Museum, Eton Wick, Windsor, UK. The pigeon would be released from this carrying important messages back home.

War pigeon G.I. Joe mounted and on display at Fort Monmouth.

Examination and treatment of Army pigeons at the Signal Pigeon Center Tidworth, England, UK. This was a part of the European theater's veterinary program to obtain and maintain an efficient Army Pigeon Service in the armies and divisions in continental Europe.

WAVE pigeoneers in training, February 15, 1944.

WAVE pigeoneers in training, February 15, 1944. Chief Warrant Laity instructing class.

WAVE pigeoneers in training, February 15, 1944.

WAVE pigeoneers in training, February 15, 1944. Releasing pigeons.

WAVE pigeoneers in training, February 15, 1944. Loading K-ship before patrol flights.

WAVE pigeoneers in training, February 15, 1944. Serving the pigeons.

WAVE pigeoneers in training, February 15, 1944. Disbursing pigeons to K-ship for patrol flight.

WAVE pigeoneers in training, February 15, 1944. Releasing pigeons. Note dog in the background.

WAVE pigeoneers in training, February 15, 1944. Muster in front of cages.

The crew of a Lockheed Hudson Mark I, N7318, of No. 206 Squadron RAF which rescued the Commander in Chief of Free Polish Forces, General Władysław Sikorski and his staff from Bordeaux, France, in June 1940, gather by the door of their aircraft at Bircham Newton, Norfolk. They are (left to right): Leading Aircraftman Garrity (from USA), navigator; Flight-Lieutenant W Biddle, pilot; unknown; Leading Aircraftman W D "Spike" Caulfield, wireless operator/air gunner, who holds a wicker carrier containing a homing pigeon.

The crew of a Lockheed Hudson of No. 224 Squadron RAF, prepare to board their aircraft at Leuchars, Fife. The wireless operator/air gunner (far right) is carrying his log book, rations and a homing pigeon in a wicker carrier for emergency communications.

Norwegian airman John Ryg with pigeon, Grimbergen, 1944.

A pigeon in a sling ready for a jump with a US paratrooper.

Crewmen of Consolidated Liberator GR Mark VA, BZ818 'C', of No. 53 Squadron RAF handling carriers containing homing pigeons at St Eval, Cornwall, after a patrol over the Bay of Biscay. Sergeant J Knapp of Toronto, Canada, (in the hatchway) hands a carrier to Sergeant W Tatum of London, while Warrant Officer A Mackinnon of Auckland, New Zealand, holds a second carrier.

An aircrew sergeant of No. 209 Squadron RAF about to launch a carrier pigeon from the side hatch of a Saro Lerwick flying boat.

Homing pigeons, in their containers, being fed by the airman responsible for their care at St Eval, Cornwall.

Two Canadian soldiers strap a basket to the back of an Airedale dog during a training exercise, somewhere in Britain. The basket contains carrier pigeons. 1940.

A message written on rice paper is put into a container and attached to a carrier pigeon by members of 61st Division Signals at Ballymena, Northern Ireland, 3 July 1941. (Imperial War Museum)

Half-buried, a camouflaged combat loft at the Anzio beachhead, Italy.

Men of the 21st Signal Loft release pigeons in March 1943.

A paratrooper releases a pigeon in training for the Normandy invasion.

The Kaiser, captured from World War I Germans and used for World War II breeding.

Pigeons in a mobile loft during training in the Carolinas.

Title page, US Army Air Forces technical manual, "Handling and Releasing Homing Pigeons from Aircraft in Flight", T.O. 01-1-120, August 1, 1943.

From "Handling and Releasing Homing Pigeons from Aircraft In Flight".

A Finnish soldier releases a pigeon.

Finnish soldiers working with pigeons.

Finnish soldier with pigeons.

Torokina, Bougainville Island. January 20, 1945. Lance Sergeant V. Blandin, 7th Pigeon Section "B" Corps of Signals, using a mobile loft to train young message carrying pigeons.