(no subject)
Jul. 29th, 2020 11:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsYou know, the thing is, it's not even that I have a particular pre-existing interest in WWII spycraft -- or at least I didn't, before I started reading Ben MacIntyre -- it's that I have consistently found people who write about WWII spycraft to be really good narrative nonfiction writers with excellent primary source research, a relative minimum of un-sourced speculation, and a solid sense of the ridiculous. All rarer than you might think! Except, apparently, among the subset of historians who specialize in narrative nonfiction about British intelligence agencies during the war.
Anyway, I just finished Operation Columba: The Secret Pigeon Service, a really in-depth look into the British use of homing pigeons for intelligence and counterintelligence, and while I really didn't intend to livetweet another book so soon after Amy's Eyes I just enjoyed the pigeon facts so much ...
The actual objective of Operation Columba was to drop homing pigeons in occupied France, Belgium, and Amsterdam, armed with rice paper, tiny pencils, pigeon-feeding instructions, and a survey questionnaire about a.) any top secret information the pigeon recipients might wish to share and b.) the quality of BBC radio service in their area. (I understand the tactical importance of the latter during wartime, but it remains particularly delightful to me as a public-media-adjacent professional.) Despite the dangers, quite a lot of people did actually write back via pigeon post, and the author is determined to make the argument that the information they provided and the services rendered by the pigeons were key to victory in Europe.
The book is more or less split between the bureaucratic details of the pigeon service on the British side -- a riveting tale of pigeon politics and hobby drama, featuring, among other elements, a gay occultist Baron, a pair of Girl Guides, and accusations of national secrets splashed in Racing Pigeon magazine -- and the much more dramatic story of a group of Belgians who picked up a pigeon early on and were inspired to form themselves into a proper spy ring, making beautiful secret maps in the hopes that they could eventually get a second pigeon to send them to Britain.
(...instead, Britain parachuted in a couple MI6 spies to make contact with them ... who were greeted with a general sentiment of "nice to meet you? but where are our pigeons??" At least, this is certainly the tone conveyed by author Gordon Corera, who also very clearly feels this way about MI6.)
As a result, the book itself manages to be both a compelling narrative about ordinary people running great risks to express resistance under occupation, and an extremely funny account of Weird Wartime Activity. Gordon Corera absolutely cannot resist a single opportunity to make a pigeon joke -- the book is littered with phrases like "pigeons were low in the pecking order of intelligence requirements" -- and to this I say, with all my heart, more power to him. Write what you love!
I leave you with this image of a 'pigeon bra', for parachuting in troops with as many pigeons strapped to them as possible:
Anyway, I just finished Operation Columba: The Secret Pigeon Service, a really in-depth look into the British use of homing pigeons for intelligence and counterintelligence, and while I really didn't intend to livetweet another book so soon after Amy's Eyes I just enjoyed the pigeon facts so much ...
The actual objective of Operation Columba was to drop homing pigeons in occupied France, Belgium, and Amsterdam, armed with rice paper, tiny pencils, pigeon-feeding instructions, and a survey questionnaire about a.) any top secret information the pigeon recipients might wish to share and b.) the quality of BBC radio service in their area. (I understand the tactical importance of the latter during wartime, but it remains particularly delightful to me as a public-media-adjacent professional.) Despite the dangers, quite a lot of people did actually write back via pigeon post, and the author is determined to make the argument that the information they provided and the services rendered by the pigeons were key to victory in Europe.
The book is more or less split between the bureaucratic details of the pigeon service on the British side -- a riveting tale of pigeon politics and hobby drama, featuring, among other elements, a gay occultist Baron, a pair of Girl Guides, and accusations of national secrets splashed in Racing Pigeon magazine -- and the much more dramatic story of a group of Belgians who picked up a pigeon early on and were inspired to form themselves into a proper spy ring, making beautiful secret maps in the hopes that they could eventually get a second pigeon to send them to Britain.
(...instead, Britain parachuted in a couple MI6 spies to make contact with them ... who were greeted with a general sentiment of "nice to meet you? but where are our pigeons??" At least, this is certainly the tone conveyed by author Gordon Corera, who also very clearly feels this way about MI6.)
As a result, the book itself manages to be both a compelling narrative about ordinary people running great risks to express resistance under occupation, and an extremely funny account of Weird Wartime Activity. Gordon Corera absolutely cannot resist a single opportunity to make a pigeon joke -- the book is littered with phrases like "pigeons were low in the pecking order of intelligence requirements" -- and to this I say, with all my heart, more power to him. Write what you love!
I leave you with this image of a 'pigeon bra', for parachuting in troops with as many pigeons strapped to them as possible:
no subject
Date: 2020-07-30 06:16 am (UTC)https://www.powells.com/book/saboteur-a-novel-9781250079534
Based on a true story of remarkable heroism, New York Times bestselling author Andrew Gross delivers a stirring, thrill-a-minute read fans of World War II fiction will not soon forget...
February, 1943. Both the Allies and the Nazis are full speed ahead to construct the decisive weapon of the war. Kurt Nordstrum, an engineer in Oslo, puts his life aside to take up arms against the Germans as part of the Norwegian resistance. After the loss of his fiancee, and with his outfit whittled to shreds, Kurt escapes to England to transmit secret evidence that the Nazis are closing in on the atomic bomb. His mission: to disrupt their plans before they advance any further.
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Date: 2020-07-30 06:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 03:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 03:37 am (UTC)Le Carré is all post-war, you're good!
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Date: 2020-07-30 06:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 03:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-30 06:43 am (UTC)This is beautiful.
I assume I have already recommended, to the point of annoyance and/or you've read it already, Leo Marks' Between Silk and Cyanide (1998)?
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Date: 2020-07-31 03:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-30 07:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 03:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-30 08:39 am (UTC)Honestly, this sounds amazing!
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Date: 2020-07-31 03:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 08:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-30 09:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 03:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-30 09:23 am (UTC)I am not even a public-media-adjacent professional, and I still find it particularly delightful!
Relatedly, have you by any chance heard of RFC 1149 and its real life implementation? (content note: photo of dead bird on that last link if you scroll down)
a riveting tale of pigeon politics and hobby drama, featuring, among other elements, a gay occultist Baron, a pair of Girl Guides, and accusations of national secrets splashed in Racing Pigeon magazine
Okay, sold.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 03:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 05:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 11:16 pm (UTC)In AKICIDW news,![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mdlbear has committed filk.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 11:06 pm (UTC)Have an internet, or at least a weekend. I'm going to be chuckling about this for the rest of my life.
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Date: 2020-07-30 12:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 03:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-30 03:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 03:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-30 03:11 pm (UTC)I love you.
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Date: 2020-07-31 03:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-30 03:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 03:34 am (UTC)(I forgot to even mention the war between the pigeon fanciers and the falconers -- the pigeon fanciers were like "yesssss, finally an excuse to get the government to officially declare open season on raptors to Protect Our Pigeons," and the falconers were like "PLEASE just let us form a national defense falcon unit! the pigeon people got to do it!!!")
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Date: 2020-08-03 10:46 pm (UTC)Oh no! </3 But this book sounds DELIGHTFUL omg, thanks for the post!!
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Date: 2020-07-30 06:55 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2020-08-04 07:53 am (UTC)