Winkie was a carrier pigeon and the first animal to be awarded the Dickin Medal for gallantry
In February 1942 a Beaufort bomber was returning alone from a mission over Norway. Badly damaged by enemy fire during the mission the aircraft was unable to reach the safety of Britain's shores and ditched some 100 miles out to sea. As the aircrew abandoned their aircraft and made their way onto a liferaft, unable to radio for help and with little hope of survival they sent Winkie on her way.
With a storm raging and her feathers covered in engine oil from the wrecked aircraft Winkie covered some 120miles back to her home in Broughty Ferry where her owner George Ross passed on the distress message to the airbase at RAF Leuchars and within minutes a rescue operation was launched.
Even then finding the aircrew was a huge challenge in the open sea but the message Winkie carried indicated when the ditching had happened. With that knowledge combined with the weather conditions and George's estimate of how fast Winkie could fly was enough to narrow the search area enough for a successful rescue of the four airmen.
Winkie's medal was awarded with the citation:
"For delivering a message under exceptionally difficult conditions and so contributing to the rescue of an aircrew while serving with the RAF in February 1942"
