![]() Steven Rome, a local councillor, said: “It will help to ensure that the story of Winkie will never be forgotten.”Īfter Winkie died, it was stuffed and put on display with its medal in The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum. She told BBC Scotland that the pigeon had “always been part of the history of the family”, adding that the statue was important to “keep Winkie’s story alive”. Norma Nicolson, whose mother was a cousin of Winkie’s owner, recalled holding the pigeon as a child aged five or six. Winkie’s statue was unveiled by some of Mr Ross’s relatives and some local cubs, who helped campaign for the commemoration. Take direct control over every squad member. Take part in the historical campaign across occupied Europe. Command each member of the crew and feel their stress and tension. Destroy key targets by dropping tons of bombs on them. They took into account the wind direction and the impact of the oil on its feathers on its flight speed and, astonishingly, the crew was found within 15 minutes of the rescue mission being launched. Take control of a B-17 in a realistic bomber simulator. Crew found within 15 minutes of search launch George Ross, its owner, alerted RAF Leuchars in Fife, some 30 miles south of Dundee, across the river Tay estuary.Īlthough Winkie was not carrying a message, airmen at the base identified the bomber’s location by calculating how long Winkie had taken to fly to Broughty Ferry from where it had to be ditched. However, Winkie flew 129 miles back to its loft in Broughty Ferry, arriving exhausted and covered with oil. They wrote down their last known position and attached it to the leg of a second pigeon, Stinkie, which flew off but was never seen again. ![]() However, Winkie escaped from its basket before the bomber’s crew could attach one. Carrier pigeons routinely carried by RAFĬarrier pigeons were routinely carried by RAF planes to enable airmen to send a message for help if they were shot down. The bomber broke up on impact but its crew of four managed to haul themselves into an emergency dinghy. ![]() The badly damaged aircraft was returning from a mission in Norway on when its port engine exploded, forcing it to ditch in the North Sea, some 120 miles from the coast. It was awarded the medal in December 1943 after playing a key role in the rescue the crew of a Beaufort bomber that crashed the year before. Winkie, one of the first recipients of the Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross, has been commemorated with a bronze cast in the seaside town of Broughty Ferry, near Dundee on Scotland’s east coast. A statue has been unveiled in honour of a carrier pigeon that helped save the crew of an RAF bomber that crashed in the North Sea during the Second World War.
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