Dalton: Tommy the war hero pigeon honoured with remembrance display

Tommy was a "brave little bird"

A racing pigeon awarded for his war efforts has been honoured as part of a remembrance display in his home town.

Tommy, from Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, was blown off course and found himself in Nazi-occupied Holland, where he was later returned with a coded message.

A wooden plaque of the bird sits alongside nearly 5,000 knitted poppies outside Dalton Community Church.

"It was such a brave thing for a little bird to do and he still lives on," said organiser Deirdre Kerr.

Tommy was awarded the Dickin Medal by charity the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) in 1946, which is given for bravery.

After he was found by the Dutch resistance in 1942 and nursed back to health, he was sent back with a coded message containing vital information about the location of a German U-boat base in Amsterdam, which was then bombed by the Allies.

He was also awarded the Dutch medal for bravery.

Tommy's wartime exploits are still remembered in his home town

A film about the efforts of homecoming pigeons during World War Two was brought to life in the 2005 film Valiant, starring Ewan McGregor.

"He saved lives," Ms Kerr told BBC Radio Cumbria.

"When you hear the story of Tommy you realise just how important the animals were, we tend to forget abut the animals but they tended to play an important part."

Volunteers have knitted close to 5,000 poppies in the town, and while the majority are traditional red, there is a splashing of purple poppies which pay tribute to animals for their wartime efforts.

"After the war, the couple who owned the pigeon did an exhibition, and with the money raised they wanted to buy a piece of land for a playground for the children of Dalton," Ms Kerr said.

"That playground is still there today and the leisure centre is there on the same land.

"We as a group go to the leisure centre and a lot of the poppies were made on the very land that Tommy bought."

Tommy being given his medal in 1946