Since early October, the staff of the Australian War Memorial located in Canberra has noticed a strange incident. For a while, the poppies from an unknown soldier’s grave have been disappearing one by one. It took them some time to figure out the culprit which turned out to be a pigeon. The bird has been picking the flowers from the tomb to build a stunning, colorful nest by a stained glass window at the war memorial. The beautiful nest lead-up to Remembrance Day commemorations that are held on November 11th.

Recently the staff of the Australian War Memorial noticed a pigeon who made a nest out of poppies stolen from the tomb of an unknown soldier

Image credits: The Australian War Memorial

Image credits: The Australian War Memorial

Image credits: The Australian War Memorial

The war memorial told Sydney Morning Herald that the stained glass window which was accidentally chosen by the bird commemorates the wounded soldier, which symbolizes the quality of “endurance”, and the nest of poppies nearby was a “reminder of the powerful bond between man and beast on the battlefield”.

Image credits: Travis

These days, pigeons may be considered to be very unpleasant birds, but throughout history, they have been useful allies during battle.

Image credits: denisbin

“Particularly in the early wars, communication is really difficult. Wireless is in its absolute infancy in the First World War and telephone wires get broken apart in the shellfire on the Western Front. So pigeons are particularly of use in warfare when you’ve got a couple of men trying to get a message from where they are back to the backline; a pigeon can get that through sometimes when nothing else can, ” historian Dr. Meleah Hampton said.

Image credits: Mike

During World War II, 32 pigeons received The PDSA Dickin Medal which is awarded to any animal displaying conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.

Image credits: Edward Dalmulder

One of the most memorable instances of a pigeon on duty, the one named ‘White Vision’ who received the medal for “delivering a message under exceptionally difficult conditions and so contributing to the rescue of an aircrew while serving with the RAF in October 1943”.

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