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#1
29th July 2006, 05:12 AM
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The Animals' War Exhibition, LondonHi,
Just to advise those UK members or any visiting Pigeon-Life members that the Imperial War Museum in London is now holding an exhibition called "The Animals' War" which basically shows the roles of animals during the 1st and 2nd World wars. It runs until April 2007 so plenty of time to go and see it and I for one will be making a visit at some stage to see it. I had a quick look on the website and found this about pigeons, though I am sure the actual exhibition will have much more due to the pivotal and vitally important role they had and I am quite excited about seeing all the things etc. The link is http://www.iwm.org.uk/upload/package...munication.htm One of the pictures shows a pigeon in a parachute!!  I can recall a member a while back being interested in world war posters with pigeons so I shall have a look at the search thread as there may be some of these to purchase at the exhibition. When I've been I'll post a brief summary on the pigeon-related bits....  Tania xx Last edited by kittypaws; 29th July 2006 at 04:03 PM. 
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#2
29th July 2006, 04:14 PM
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Tania,
This would really be something to see! Bless their hearts...bless all of their hearts. I imagine an event like this would be a real eye opener to alot of animal haters. Let us know how it is. Oh, don't forget to take tissue, plenty of it. Feather
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#3
29th July 2006, 04:42 PM
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Please let us know your impressions, Tania!
Sounds like a wonderful exhibit! I will eagerly await your comments!
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#5
30th July 2006, 04:44 AM
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I will let you know - I have a couple of weeks off end of August so I'll probaly go then so that I can spend all day drifting around and drinking in all the sights - I want to read absolutely every article etc on the pigeons and the other animals too.
 We have a lovely memorial in Park Lane - of a tribute to the animals that died during the wars. A good link to the War memorial is this and it mentions Winkie and Mary, two heroic pigeons plus it advises that in WWII - over 200,000 pigeons were used as messengers with 17,000 parachuted over enemy lines. Only 1 in 8 returned - gives me goosebumps just thinking about how all these animals and birds had no choice in the war and were it not for them so many more people would have died. We owe them so much. Here's the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4037873.stm Tania x Last edited by kittypaws; 30th July 2006 at 05:05 AM.
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#6
30th July 2006, 08:12 PM
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Quote:
Thank you for posting the link and I will look forward to your impressions in August!
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#7
19th August 2006, 06:01 AM
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Haven't been yet! But planning to go in the next 2 weeks. However I was reading an article in a magazine called "OUTRAGE" which is Animal Aid's magazine- Animal Aid are a very influential campaigning group in the UK - they are often on TV debates and quote in national papers.
They cynically say that the exhibition although very good is a partially sanitised exhbition showing the majority of heroic efforts of animals. They do cite the following from the 1st World War advising that in 1914 the head of the Belgian Pigeon Service burnt 2500 pigeons alive, rather than risk them being captured and used by the enemy.  And this bit is awful as well especially to us Brits who pride ourselves on animal welfare that during the 2nd World War the British deliberately bombed elephants used by the Japanese to transport packs. Sucks I know. I am sure the exhibition will be great and there will be great tales of heroism of pigeons, dogs, horses etc and will make me feel very humble but I guess at the end of the day they were just a commodity to assist in winning the wars and if their lives were lost or detroyed deliberately as were these two examples then it is so very sad..... Tania x
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#8
29th August 2006, 11:59 AM
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Went to the ExhibitionHi,
Went to the exhibition today. It was very good - not as much about pigeons as I would have liked but I guess we have to remember all the dogs, horses, cats, mules, donkeys, camels, elephants etc. that were also used in the war. They had a bit on pigeons showing the actual register of the Dicken Medal winners showing GI Joe and Mary as two worthy winners - Mary being injured 3 times in her life. They also had some err "stuffed pigeons" on display - one demonstrating the parachute - but they were not famous ones just display models - I wonder how they came by these? There was also a gentle cooing around the pigeons display - sounded like they were above the ceiling. They had some black and white footage of a lady presenting two of the pigeons Augustus and Paddy with their medals too..... It was very sad to see Russian cavalry using their horses as shields and there was an awful picture of a load of dead camels that had died from leaking oil fields during the Iraq war...... I did buy the book - They Had No Choice - Racing Pigeons at War" by Garry McCafferty which I am looking forward to reading. Well worth a visit though. Tania xx
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#9
29th August 2006, 12:43 PM
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Hi Tania,
I hate to see the carnage and the innocent victims of these wars. It always gets me down, even though it was all for good purposes, nevertheless, suffering of innocent birds/animals is a hard one for me.Was the cooing an actual part of the display, or were there actually pigeons that happened to be up there? THAT would be quite a coincidence. Anyway, I HOPE that those who saw the pigeon display will take a NEW look at the ferals around them, and that everyone will start treating them with dignity and respect. Thank you for sharing your insight, and I'm going to look for that book and see if it is available here.
__________________
Treesa I don't want to gain the whole world, & lose my soul... http://changeourhearts.wordpress.com...-lose-my-soul/  http://community.webshots.com/user/duiven007
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#10
29th August 2006, 01:15 PM
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Tania,
Thank you for bringing us your impressions! I know that it's so hard to see animals hurt and/or killed! Thank you for attending! I, too hope that others may view pigeons in a better light!
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#11
29th August 2006, 02:46 PM
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No it was just sound effects - good though!! - There were real "live" pigeons but outside - I gave them all a cursory look - just to make sure they all looked OK - they did. There was one with a droopy wing, but then he suddenly took to the skies..... Tania x
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#12
8th September 2006, 11:17 AM
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Hard Reading.......Following on from my visit, I have found this pdf link which shows how animals not only helped the war efforts but were often abused. It's very sad and makes you almost ashamed to be human - after all wars are manmade and these poor creatures have no choice.
http://www.animalaid.org.uk/images/pdf/war.pdf Tania Don't read when you are listening to some sad ballads like I was!!!
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