Historical information

Taken in 1944 in Bonegilla, Victoria, this photograph depicts soldiers of the 1st Australian Corps Signals training battalion releasing carrier pigeons from a portable loft for their daily exercise.

Significance

The 1st Australian Corps Signals was a branch of the Australian Imperial Airforce that was active during World War Two. One of the tasked carried out by 1st Australian Corps Signals was to send messages through the use of carrier pigeons. Carrier pigeons were most commonly used by the Allied Forces to send messages from the front line trenches or advancing units.

Physical description

Black and white square reproduced photograph on rectangular archival paper

Inscriptions & markings

Obverse:
Bonegilla Victoria 1944 - 05 - 03 Carrier pigeons being released for their daily exercise/
from a portable loft of the 1st Signals training Battlion/
copied from the Australian War Memorial No 066265 Order No 2319835 Copyright/
permission for the collection of/
Robert O'Hara Burke Memorial Museum Beechworth/

Reverse:
7993.1