Pigeon's war secret revealed
A coded message from World War Two found attached to the remnants of a carrier pigeon in a chimney, reveals information about German tank operations dispatched by a British soldier, claim Canadian researchers.
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World War Two code remains a mystery
Has mystery message been decoded?
Has a coded wartime message, which was found on a dead carrier pigeon, been cracked at last?
The message was found on the bird's skeleton in the chimney of a house in Surrey.
Then intelligence experts at GCHQ insisted it was indecipherable without the original codebook.
Well now researchers in Canada reckon they've done it.
So what exactly does the message say?
Toby Sadler reveals all.
Researchers: Some parts of code still need need to be cracked
The Canadian researchers claim to have deciphered the short-form code using a World War One artillery code book, reports the Daily Telegraph.
It is thought it was dispatched by Sergeant William Stott, 27, a paratrooper from the Lancashire Fusiliers who landed by parachute behind enemy lines on a special mission.
The message informed Royal Air Force officers that he was giving updates and he was also asking for information.
He died in action several weeks later. The researchers said some sections of the code still need to be cracked.
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Canadian researchers claim to have cracked WW2 coded message
A coded message from World War Two found attached to the remnants of a carrier pigeon in a chimney, reveals information about German tank operations dispatched by a British soldier, according to researchers from Canada, reports the The Daily Telegraph.
The message was discovered by David and Anne Martin when they took apart a fireplace in their home in Bletchingley in Surrey 30 years ago. They found the bird's bones and with it a red container tied to one of its legs. Within the container there was a piece of paper with 27 coded messages.
It is now thought the message, which has baffled British codebreakers was wartime intelligence from a soldier in Normandy just after D-Day, indicating German tank and infantry arrangements for Bomber Command. Canadian researchers at Lakefield Heritage Research say they have decoded the message.
Bid to crack pigeon code
People from around the world try to crack a World War Two message found on the leg of a dead pigeon
Read the full storyWorld War Two code remains a mystery
A secret World War Two message found on a dead carrier pigeon has left 21st Century code-breakers baffled.
Read the full story'Disappointing we can't read message brought back by pigeon'
– UK intelligence agency GCHQ spokesmanAlthough it is disappointing that we cannot yet read the message brought back by a brave carrier pigeon, it is a tribute to the skills of the wartime code-makers that, despite working under severe pressure, they devised a code that was indecipherable both then and now.
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Pigeon message stumps codebreakers
A secret World War Two message found on the leg of a dead pigeon has left 21st century codebreakers flummoxed.
The code, hand-written on a small sheet of paper headed "Pigeon Service", was found in a small red canister attached to the bird's skeleton up a chimney at a house in Bletchingley, Surrey.
Experts from UK intelligence agency GCHQ said the message, which has 27 five-letter code groups, is impossible to crack without its codebook.
They were also left stumped by missing details, such as the date of the message and the identities of the sender, "Sjt W Stot", and the recipient, "X02".
Mystery pigeon's coded message
The remains of a WWII carrier pigeon lost in action while delivering a secret message have been found in a chimney in Surrey.
Read the full story