Cher Ami

 

Cher Ami

Cher Ami on display at the Smithsonian Institution

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Last night we were watching Guy Ritchie’s 2024 television series, ’The Gentlemen’. It is by turns funny, dark, unbelievable, hysterical and actually very entertaining, with a cast of very good actors playing interesting characters. It was one of those characters, played by Ray Winstone, who mentioned Cher Ami (Dear Friend) and his role in WWI.

Cher Ami was a homing pigeon, one of 600 donated by the British Home Forces Pigeon Service to the U.S. Army Signal Corps.  Pigeons were used to carry messages when it was difficult to use other methods of communication, either because telephone lines had been cut or it was too dangerous to use human runners.

During the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in October 1918, a battalion of the 77^th Division, under the command of Major Charles W. Whittlesey, became separated from other American troops and found themselves surrounded by the enemy for five days. The 594 troops became known as the Lost Battalion, as Allied Commanders could not locate their position. Seven messages were sent by pigeons, one with incorrect coordinates, resulting in the battalion being attacked by their own side, believing them to be a regiment of German soldiers. Some pigeons were shot and killed.

Eventually, the last pigeon, Cher Ami, was dispatched with a message attached to his leg. As he flew, he was shot but managed to continue his flight and deliver the message, which read, ‘We are along the road parallel to 276.4. Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heaven’s sake, stop it.’

Cher Ami was very badly wounded; his right leg, holding the message canister, was almost severed, he was blind in one eye and had a severe wound in his breast. Army medics treated him and he survived, though he lost his leg. He was taken to the USA with other surviving homing pigeons, but never fully recovered from his injuries, dying a year later.

Because of his determination to complete his mission, the bombardment was stopped and 194 survivors of the Lost Battalion were rescued and returned to American lines. The French government awarded him the Croix de Guerre for bravery on the battlefield. The Animals in War and Peace Medal of Bravery was bestowed on him in 2019, and in 1931 he was posthumously inducted into the Racing Pigeon Hall of Fame.

The story is not inconclusively verified, since many pigeons were used, and there are contradictory reports of events. What is known is that Cher Ami had already successfully flown twelve other missions, proving his worth and deservedly gaining his reputation as a symbol of courage under fire.

In gratitude, when Cher Ami died, the Signal Corps chose to have his body preserved and presented to the Smithsonian Institution in 1921.

Homing pigeons are remarkable birds and can fly hundreds of miles to their home lofts. They were employed in both World Wars and there were documented incidences of pigeons walking when they could no longer fly, so strong was the instinct to reach their home loft.

A few years ago, a Scottish racing pigeon landed in our garden and stayed for a few days. We feared the local wood pigeons might attack it, but it was perfectly at home among them. 

Cher Ami was hatched on April 21^st 1918 in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England. He died in New Jersey, USA, on June 13^th 1919 – a short but valued and valuable life.