The Dickin Medal awarded to pigeon ‘Tommy’ NURP.41.DHZ.56, for assisting the Dutch Resistance during World War II, was auctioned by Laidlaw Auctioneers & Valuers in Carlisle on 31st January.

In 1942 Tommy was fitted with a message container and liberated by Dutch Resistance member and pigeon fancier Dick Dryver, in an attempt to notify British Intelligence of a concentration of arms at a factory at Ijmuiden, near Amsterdam. Aware of the security threat they posed, the Germans had ordered the culling of homing pigeons, making Tommy conspicuous to occupying military personnel. The bird was indeed spotted by soldiers at a lookout post and was “winged” by a bullet. Although wounded, Tommy survived the 400-mile flight back to Dalton, arriving, still bleeding, on the 19th August. The Resistance message was illegible to the Brockbanks but was appended in English “God bless Queen Wilhelmina and long live Winston Churchill”. Suspecting its importance, Mr Brockbank passed it on to the County Police. The covert message “Tommy has arrived safely” was broadcast to the Dutch Resistance by the BBC Dutch Service. In 1946 Mr Brockbank was informed that the message had resulted in the destruction of the arms site during an Allied air raid, and that Tommy had been awarded the Dickin medal.

Click on the image below to watch the auction.

We are pleased to report that the winning bidder was The Dock Museum in Barrow-in-Furness – very near to Tommy’s loft – where the medal will go on display to the public.