World War II Carrier Pigeon's Message Cracked

News December 23, 2012

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PORTLAND, ENGLAND—A coded World War II message discovered earlier this year in England has been cracked. Researcher Gord Young of Ontario had a World War I code book that had been kept in his family. This was a key factor in solving the riddle, since war-time code books and computers in England had been destroyed. The message, which was found strapped to the skeletal remains of a carrier pigeon that had never reached its destination, had been sent by a paratrooper who had been dropped into occupied Normandy. He was killed a few weeks after sending the message.

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