The playful cover of the ‘secret’ Columba file that detailed the operation. (© The National Archives, ref. WO208/3560)
The instructions for attaching messages to a Columba pigeon. (Courtesy of the Raskin Family)
Columba message 37 from Leopold Vindictive. This image is roughly the same size as the original. (© The National Archives, ref. WO208/3560)
The message covered both sides of the rice paper and required a magnifying glass to read. (© The National Archives, ref. WO208/3560)
Michel Debaillie clutches the pigeon destined for Britain. (Courtesy of the Debaillie family)
The message about to be placed in the container. (Courtesy of the Debaillie family)
The pigeon with a sign detailing its arrival and departure date. (Courtesy of the Debaillie family)
The pigeon that carried Columba message 37. (Courtesy of the Debaillie family)
The message being placed in the container. (Courtesy of the Debaillie family)
The pigeon with the Debaillie family (from left to right: Marie Debaillie, Michel Debaillie, Arseen Debaillie, Gabriel Debaillie, and Margaret Debaillie) and the details of its arrival and departure date. (Courtesy of the Debaillie family)
Michel Debaillie releases the pigeon from the roof. (Courtesy of the Debaillie family)
Brian Melland – the leading figure behind Columba in MI14(d) – strikes a theatrical pose. (Courtesy of David Melland)
Joseph Raskin, the leader of the Leopold Vindictive network. (Courtesy of the Raskin family)
Joseph Raskin while serving as a missionary in China. (Courtesy of the Raskin family)
Hector Joye (looking at the camera) and family entertaining or being entertained by Joseph Raskin (with his back to the camera). (Courtesy of the Joye family)
RAF reconnaissance photo of the field Leopold Vindictive requested for the second pigeon drop. (from the Sanderson Papers © Liddell Hart Archive, King’s College London)
The map of coastal defences drawn up by Hector Joye, Joseph Raskin and others which never made it back to Britain. (Courtesy of the Joye family)
Joseph Raskin’s diary, July 1941, with the pages torn out to remove any evidence of his activities. (Courtesy of the Raskin family)
The scene at Wijnendale on 27 May 1940. On one side is Roger Keyes with King Leopold’s aide-de-camp. On the other side, the King is talking to Joseph Raskin, his chaplain. (Courtesy of the Raskin family)
An earlier version of the coastal defences map. Detail was progressively added to each version. (Courtesy of the Joye family)
Hardy Amies, fashion designer and leading light of SOE’s Belgian section for much of the war. (Fred Ramage/Stringer © Getty Images)
King Leopold III of Belgium. (Hutton Archive/Stringer © Getty Images)
A hawk – Ursula – swoops to kill a pigeon during wartime. Trained Peregrine Falcons like Ursula were used to hunt German pigeons thought to be carrying messages from secret agents working undercover in Britain. (Keystone Features/Stringer © Getty Images)
RAF flights carried pigeons so they could release messages in the event of a crash. (© IWM, TR 193)
Hector Joye of the Leopold Vindictive network. (Courtesy of the Joye family)
William Dex Lea Rayner, the ‘pigeon supremo’ of the Air Ministry who frequently clashed with the Columba team. (Reg Burkett/Stringer © Getty Images)
Frederick Jempson – also known as Major Page – the head of MI6’s Belgian section during the war. Courtesy of the Belgian Security Service Archives at CEGESOMA)
MI5’s Falcon Destruction Unit – the team that went around British cliff-tops to try and destroy hawks in order to protect the pigeons of Columba.(Courtesy of The Racing Pigeon Pictorial International)
The National Pigeon Service Committee outside the House of Commons – on the far left is Selby Thomas and on the far right is William Osman.(Courtesy of The Racing Pigeon Pictorial International)
Group photo of the Special Section (Carrier Pigeon) in the Army’s Royal Corps of Signals. (Courtesy of The Racing Pigeon Pictorial International)