A dead pigeon discovered down a chimney in Surrey may hold vital insight into code-cracking and military messages during World War II.
A little red capsule was found attached to the bird's decomposed leg bone. Once unscrewed the conical carrier revealed a coded message from a veteran Sergeant.
The inky scrawlings were found on a sheet the same size and thickness of cigarette paper and are believed to be "top secret."
The pigeon met its end down a fireplace in Surrey
The codes are now being cracked by a team of experts using WW2 log books.
Colin Hill, a volunteer for the Royal Pigeon Racing Association and the curator of Bletchley Park’s permanent ‘Pigeons at War’ exhibition, told SWNS: “We have more than 30 messages from WWII carrier pigeons in our exhibition, but not one is in code.
“The message Mr Martin found must be highly top secret.
“The aluminium ring found on the bird’s leg tells us it was born in 1940 and we know it’s an Allied Forces pigeon because of the red capsule it was carrying – but that’s all we know.”
David Martin originally thought it could have been a racing pigeon
Former probation officer David Martin found the pigeon during a restoration of his fireplace and didn't interest the until he spotted a little capsule round the bird's leg bone.
His house in Surrey is close to the hotel in Reigate where General Montgomery secretly planned the D-Day invasion and kept military pigeon lofts.
It's believed the message may have been going to a team of code crackers at Bletchley Park where the Nazi enigma code was cracked.