Homing pigeons have long been kept as a hobby in England but during the war they were recruited as carrier pigeons for Operation Columba.
Ollie Evans, a crop duster from Maine, but a descendant of British ancestors, follows his heart and arrives in England wanting to join the Royal Air Force. There he meets Susan who, with her grandfather, keeps homing pigeons. They are later used for the war effort. Hundreds of pigeons were dropped in cages into German-occupied France in the hopes of being found and using the small cylinder attached to their leg send messages of the enemy's location and their plans back to England.
According to the author, a homing pigeon can travel distances of up to six hundred miles per day, flying at speeds of seventy miles per hour and reach altitudes of thirty-five thousand feet.
During WWI a pigeon, Cher Ami, saved many soldiers and returned despite being severely injured.
