Paddy the Pigeon was raised as a carrier pigeon by Andrew Hughes of Carnlough village in County Antrim. During World War II, thousands of trained messenger pigeons were enlisted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) to help military service personnel by carrying secret coded messages between the Allies from the war front back home to Britain. Paddy the Pigeon was trained at the air force’s Hurn Base, where the officers became impressed with his abilities during Air-Sea rescue operations. Paddy was later used in service with the First U.S. Army during covert missions as…
