Mary of Exeter

Mary of Exeter was a carrier pigeon who flew many military missions with the National Pigeon Service during World War II, transporting important messages across the English Channel back to her loft in Exeter, England. She was awarded the Dickin Medal in November 1945 for showing endurance on war service despite being injured on three occasions and emerging uninjured when her loft was bombed.

Mary was owned by Cecil "Charlie" Brewer, a bootmaker from Exeter.[1] She served with the National Pigeon Service[2] between 1940 and 1945[3] carrying top secret messages.[4] Mary made four trips from France to England.[5]

She died in 1950[1] and is buried in Ilford Animal Cemetery.[3][6]

  1. ^ a b "Remembered at last: animals who served during wartime". The Independent. 25 November 2004. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  2. ^ Walker, Robin (2009). Sergeant Gander : A Canadian Hero. Natural Heritage Books. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-55488-463-6.
  3. ^ a b "Animals at War captions" (PDF). Imperial War Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  4. ^ "Animal heroes to be honoured at cemetery restoration". UK Ministry of Defence. 10 December 2007. Archived from the original on 8 April 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  5. ^ Maev Kennedy (14 December 2007). "Pet heroes honoured as cemetery reopens". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  6. ^ Sarah Bell (13 December 2007). "Fitting tribute to animal heroes". BBC News. Retrieved 8 February 2011.