Is that a fighter jet? No it's a pigeon! Did you know that they used birds in World War II? I certainly didn't and that is why I found the book The Long Flight Home by Alan Hlad to be so fascinating. (Affiliate Link)
This book kept me turning pages at a furious rate as I read through the story. The story begins in a simple pigeon loft where pigeons are born, raised and trained simply by a grandfather and his granddaughter. . World War II changes all of that when the government decides that pigeons would be a boon to war efforts as a way to retrieve information from within enemy lines. The mission to send pigeons into German occupied territories is dangerous to the pigeons and many are expected to pass away.
In the midst of planning for this mission, a friendship develops between one of the pilots that will be in charge of dropping the pigeons behind enemy lines. When this pilot finds himself hiding behind enemy lines, it is one of these pigeons that he is able to relay communications through to the authorities and his new friend.
While this book is a work of fiction, the author based the story on real life events that happened in World War II. I was tickled to visit a museum a few days after I finished reading this book to find a special exhibit about animals in wartime. They had a section dedicated to pigeons in the war!
This is the kind of book that will cause you to dive a little deeper into history as you discover events that you didn't even realize had happened. This book is one of those. It has everything needed to keep you turning the pages!
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