In my series featuring animal heroes, I have been
highlighting those that have received the Dickin medal—the highest honor for
heroic acts. As I have said in previous posts, this award is the equivalent of
the Victoria Cross. The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals in Britain has
been giving this award since 1943.
On December 2nd 1943, Winkie, White Vision, and
Tyke were the first to receive this award, but we will focus on Winkie today.
Winkie began her career as a racing pigeon, owned by George
Ross of Broughty Ferry, Scotland. During the war, carrier pigeons served a valuable
role at a time when communications were still unreliable. Her owner donated her
to the war effort. Winkie soon proved her worth.
In February 1942, the RAF bomber Beaufort sustained enemy
fire while it was returning from a mission over Norway. The pilots had no
choice but to ditch the plane in the frigid waters of the North Sea. They were
100 miles from their base.
Winkie was also aboard the aircraft in a small container. Often,
pigeons were carried on missions in case communications failed—which it did on
that fateful day.
The four-man crew had no time to attach a message to Winkie’s
leg. They simply turned her loose with the hope that she wouldn’t fail them.
And she didn’t.
Covered in oil, Winkie took flight in stormy weather, braving
the 120-mile trek home to her owner. George Ross soon discovered her and
immediately contacted the RAF.
Although she carried no written message, the rescue crew
calculated the approximate location of the crash site from her arrival time back
home, the wind direction, flight conditions, and the effect of the oil on Winkie’s
known flight speed.
Within 15 minutes, the rescue operation launched, and all
four crew members of the Beaufort survived.
A year later, Winkie received the Dickin medal with this citation:
For delivering a message under exceptionally difficult conditions and so
contributing to the rescue of an aircrew while serving with the RAF in February
1942.
The crew also held a dinner in her honor. While they toasted
her, Winkie “basked in her cage.”
After the war, Winkie was returned to George Ross where she
lived the rest of her life in pampered retirement in his loft.
A homeschooling mama by day and a historical romance
writer whenever she can steal the time, Candace West writes hope-filled,
redemptive stories that snag her characters from disaster to victory. In 2018,
she published her debut novel Lane Steen. Since then, she has
authored the Valley Creek Redemption and Windy Hollow series. She also belongs
to The Mosaic Collection of authors. When she isn't crafting her next
story, she divides her time between family and three bossy cats.
Connect with Candace
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A shattered heart.
A wounded spirit.
A community in crisis.
Lorena Steen gave up on love years ago. She forgave her
long-time estranged husband, but when circumstances bring her to the Ozark town
of Valley Creek, she discovers forgiving is far from forgetting.
Haunted by his past acts of betrayal, Earl Steen struggles
to grow his reclaimed faith and reinstate himself as an upstanding member of
Valley Creek. He soon learns that while God’s grace is amazing, that of the
small-town gossips is not.
When disaster strikes, the only logical solution is for Earl
and Lorena to combine their musical talents in an effort to save the community.
But even if they’re willing to work together, are they able to? Or will the
shadows that descend upon Valley Creek reduce it to a ghost town?
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