SS pigeon ring 1936

[lebus12]

[Alpino]

First of all, thanks for the SS pigeon band & loft photos! "36" on the band is the year of bird's birth.
I love my paratrooper, mountain troops, US & Finnish firearms, but the past few years, the participation of homing or messenger pigeons "rock doves" in the two world wars is nothing short of fantastic. They are the messages un-cracked, un-hacked, with trained birds having a 95% success rate. Comms? WW1 telephone wires lasted 5x minutes under bombardment & at Arnhem, the 6th Paras were equiped with... desert use radios, worthless in their battlefield - enter the pigeon. If you have a moment look up these birds in WW1 the Mocker, Blue Pilot, & Cher Ami
WW2 William of Orange, Mary of Exeter, Winkie, GI Joe & two Australian birds 139D D43T & 879D D43Q.
In any mission the birds [also carried on any aircraft flying over water, on ships, subs] saved the lives of 4, 10, 200, 1000 troops or fliers at a time. These humble birds can fly 60mph for ten hours, can survive terrible wounds & are one of the most intelligent creatures on earth.
My greatest problem is, the British & US birds are very well documented, sometimes France, but German pigeons, I struggle to find the slightest info! Here are a few pics. OH YAH... the pigeon militaria, mostly baskets & carriers, are rare & fascinating. I do have one Swiss portable loft, made of wicker in the '3os, now for the US & GB