Messenger pigeons' wartime bravery is honoured

The memorial is on a raised mound in the park and the pathways up the bank are considered too hazardous for the public to use.

Parks manager Chris Bradley said: "When the memorial was installed on top of the mound in 1949, the pathways were laid in a kind of crazy paving.

"Over the years this has worn down, so the stones are now quite slippery when wet. The paths are also rather narrow and we don't want anyone to slip over and get hurt up there.

"We realised that if we made a new, modern, wide pathway, it would ruin the whole design of the memorial.

"Instead, we have put a fence around the area and opened up the planting so that the public can see the memorial.

"We've also put in an interpretation board to explain what's there and what it's all about."

During the 1939-45 war, British carrier pigeons often managed to cross enemy lines with vital messages, although hundreds of birds were killed. Pigeons were used by the RAF, the army and intelligence services as standard 'equipment' for carrying secret messages.

For full story see West Sussex Gazette November 28