It’s December, the year 1941 is coming to a close as the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler, along with its Axis partners, declare war against the United States. There is about to be a dogfight in the skies, but it won’t be fought solely between Luftwaffe and P-51s. There is another battle going on in the European air.
Germany has found tremendous success using their radio intelligence to crack British naval ciphers, putting Churchill on his heels, and making the Allies more cautious than ever with their communication to the frontlines. To prevent any more leaks, the Allied forces dropped nearly 200,000 carrier pigeons into occupied territories, to communicate with soldiers and to gather intel directly from the combat zones.
The plan was a success. While not all flights carried valuable information, in fact only about 10% of the birds returned to England, the ones that did gave the allies key intel that allowed Britain to go on the offensive. Information such as bombing raids, troop positions, and even a country estate used by highly ranked Nazi commanders. All was going according to plan until the British soldiers spotted suspicious activity going on along the English coast.
Air Superiority
Just as the carrier pigeons were crossing over the English Channel, suddenly casts of peregrine falcons would swoop in, picking off the pigeons one by one. It was a slaughter, as the allies watched what could have been valuable intel fall to European waters by raptor carnage. Perhaps the most perplexing observation was that these predator birds had never been seen in numbers like this before.
It didn’t take long before rumors quickly floated around the London war rooms that the Nazis must have weaponized these falcons to patrol the coast of France, trained with only pigeon blood hunger.
It appeared the rumors were true, when mysterious birds of prey were found just west of Bournemouth, owned by suspected members of the fascist movement. The Nazis had adapted and quickly won the upper hand as the British remained clueless as to what their next move would be.
Hunting Nazi Birds
Sir David Petrie, Director General of MI5 at the time, had a somewhat taboo plan that may have just been crazy enough to work. MI5 organized a group of sharpshooters with a “license to kill” any predator birds they spotted interfering with their carrier pigeons off the English coast. It was officially called the Falcon Destruction Unit.
Thus the high-stakes bird hunting began. My vision of shooting birds over big water typically brings my mind to places like western coast, tucked in a boat blind leading heavy sea ducks at around 30 yards.
Picking off enemy-trained raptors, capable of diving over 240 miles per hour, all while feeling the pressure of protecting critical intel from falling—a far greater challenge than birds not working into my decoys, to be sure. Still, the sportsman in me wishes for a time machine just to spend one morning hunting with that group.
The program had its successes and failures. Eventually, it evolved into a counterattack unit, where the Allies would train their own groups of hawks and falcons to fight the Nazi birds.
To this day, MI5 claims that it is the only group they have given a license to kill. If the Falcon Destruction Unit ever does make a comeback, and they’re looking for recruits, I know a lot of people in Arkansas, Kansas, and Mississippi who will jump at the opportunity—including myself. Just so long as I can bring my A5 and some TSS 9 shot.
