published 27/12/2013 at 07:00 AM GMT by Hannah Furness
Dame Eliza Manningham Buller, the former head of MI5, tells how her mother helped the secret service during the Second World War.
Eliza Manningham-Buller, whose inquiry inside MI5 exposed Michael Bettaney
The former director general of MI5 has told how her own mother trained pigeons to save lives in the Second World War because she “needed something to do”, with one receiving the Dickin Medal for
animal gallantry.
Dame Eliza Manningham Buller, who was head of MI5 from 2002 to 2007, said her mother Mary, who would become Vicountess Dilhorne, had been employed to train pigeons in wartime, from her Victorian
cottage in Oxfordshire.
The small group of pigeons went on to carry vital messages back from Europe, with one winning the coveted Dickin Medal for animal valour; one of only 32 birds to receive the award.
Dame Eliza will speak of her mother’s contribution during a special Radio 4 Today programme broadcast this morning (Fri), as she visited her old family home to find out more.
Speaking of her mother, Dame Eliza said: “She needed to do something. She had two young children, but she needed to have a job.
“She was recruited by what was then the war office to train and house carrier pigeons."
She added: “My mother was told – and I don’t know whether this is true - that one of the pigeons brought back confirmation of what was happening at Peenamunde, where the V2 rockets were being
made, which led to the RAF raid.”
Colin Hill, the curator of Bletchley Park’s ‘Pigeons at War’ exhibition, confirmed a team of around 20 pigeons belonging to Dame Eliza's mother had flown for the secret service, delivering
messages from France, Holland and Belgium.
“The majority of her pigeons brought very important messages back,” he said. “One flew three different journeys and he was given the Dickin medal.
“Any pigeons that won the medals had got to be on something to save lives. We know for a fact that one of the runs her pigeon was on was to bring messages back about the V1 and V2.”