Did you catch the item on the BBC news today - the latest release of WWII news.  Apparently the government planned to take pigeons to NW France and release them with fake information on the invasion being planned for that area.  Apparently many carrier pigeons were shot down by the Germans whilst on their way to Blighty in any case. Tough luck on any pigeon that was flying in the wrong direction really.

BBC News must be stuck - I'm sure that's not new news.

When Germany occupied the north and west of France, the remaining one third of the country was ruled by a French government located at Vichy and headed by aging Marechal Philippe Pétain, as the state collaborated with the occupier in the rest of the counry. The French army headquarters was set up in a grand chateau in the south, where the old military types installed themselves. The chateau was miles away from anywhere, and had no direct communication links - no radio installations, not even telephone.

Communications were to be made using... carrier pigeon.

It was pictured in the World at War last week, showing a caged window.

Pigeons had a hard life in the war - I take you've seen the system that used them as the guidance unit in guided bombs?

I only report on what I see on the TV screen.  I think the new aspect is the carriage of false misinformation pre the Invasion and not the general use of carrier pigeons.

I'm pretty sure the Beeb were stuck, and the deceotion plan was covered some time ago. It seems fair to assume that someone must have spilled the beans on this one at some time in the past.

They're hardly likely to have been carted of the "The Tower" fot letting that gem go before the archive was cracked open, or the Official Secrets Act was waved under their nose

You've astually sparked off some memories of other ideas along the same lines, but I just can't remember the detail, so I'll have to try sitting down ina darkened room.

Maybe you came across this one I read about a while ago. I forget the purpose, but one the sides thought of a great ideas using trained cats to carry something somewhere - I really have forgotten what and where - it doesn't take much imagination to work out that the first time they set the "trained" cats off on their mission... they were never seen again!