No products in the cart.
Use coupon code “MARCH20” for a 20% discount on all items! Valid until 31-03-2025
Royal Mail express delivery to UK destinations
Regular sales and promotions
Stock updates every 20 minutes!
We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.
The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ...
Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.
Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.
Use coupon code “MARCH20” for a 20% discount on all items! Valid until 31-03-2025
Royal Mail express delivery to UK destinations
Regular sales and promotions
Stock updates every 20 minutes!
Out of stock
£10.99
Buy new:
Delivery: UK delivery Only. Usually dispatched in 1-2 working days.
Shipping costs: All shipping costs calculated in the cart or during the checkout process.
Standard service (normally 2-3 working days): 48hr Tracked service.
Premium service (next working day): 24hr Tracked service – signature service included.
Royal mail: 24 & 48hr Tracked: Trackable items weighing up to 20kg are tracked to door and are inclusive of text and email with ‘Leave in Safe Place’ options, but are non-signature services. Examples of service expected: Standard 48hr service – if ordered before 3pm on Thursday then expected delivery would be on Saturday. If Premium 24hr service used, then expected delivery would be Friday.
Signature Service: This service is only available for tracked items.
Leave in Safe Place: This option is available at no additional charge for tracked services.
| Product ID: | 9780008220341 |
| Product Form: | Paperback / softback |
| Country of Manufacture: | GB |
| Title: | Secret Pigeon Service |
| Subtitle: | Operation Columba, Resistance and the Struggle to Liberate Europe |
| Authors: | Author: Gordon Corera |
| Page Count: | 336 |
| Subjects: | Diaries, letters and journals, Diaries, letters & journals, True war and combat stories, Second World War, Espionage and secret services, True war & combat stories, Second World War, Espionage & secret services, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Belgium, c 1939 to c 1945 (including WW2) |
| Description: | Select Guide Rating Gordon Corera uses declassified documents and extensive original research to tell the story of MI14(d) and the Secret Pigeon Service for the first time. ‘This is an amazing story’ Simon Mayo, BBC Radio 2 Gordon Corera uses declassified documents and extensive original research to tell the story of MI14(d) and the Secret Pigeon Service for the first time.‘This is an amazing story’ Simon Mayo, BBC Radio 2Between 1941 and 1944, sixteen thousand plucky homing pigeons were dropped in an arc from Bordeaux to Copenhagen as part of ''Columba'' – a secret British operation to bring back intelligence from those living under Nazi occupation. The messages flooded back written on tiny pieces of rice paper tucked into canisters and tied to the legs of the birds. Authentic voices from rural France, the Netherlands and Belgium – they were sometimes comic, often tragic and occasionally invaluable with details of German troop movements and fortifications, new Nazi weapons, radar system or the deployment of the feared V-1 and V-2 rockets that terrorized London.Who were the people who provided this rich seam of intelligence? Many were not trained agents nor, with a few exceptions, people with any experience of spying. At the centre of this book is the ‘Leopold Vindictive’ network – a small group of Belgian villagers prepared to take huge risks. They were led by an extraordinary priest, Joseph Raskin – a man connected to royalty and whose intelligence was so valuable it was shown to Churchill, leading MI6 to parachute agents in to assist him.A powerful and tragic tale of wartime espionage, the book brings together the British and Belgian sides of the Leopold Vindictive’s story and reveals for the first time the wider history of a quirky, quarrelsome band of spy masters and their special wartime operations, as well as how bitter rivalries in London placed the lives of secret agents at risk. It is a book not so much about pigeons as the remarkable people living in occupied Europe who were faced with the choice of how to respond to a call for help, and took the decision to resist. |
| Imprint Name: | William Collins |
| Publisher Name: | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Country of Publication: | GB |
| Publishing Date: | 2019-02-21 |
GoBookshop!
Proudly owned and operated by:
Raythex LTD
17-19 Saint Georges Street
NORWICH
NR3 1AB
Registered No. 15042401
We accept the following payment methods:
