Cologne (pigeon)

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Cologne was a World War II pigeon used by the British. He served with the National Pigeon Service as Pigeon NURP 39.NPS 144 and carried out more than 100 missions with Bomber Command. He had previously homed successfully from several downed aircraft before the incident that earned him the Dickin Medal. In 1943, while with the Royal Air Force, he managed to home from a crashed aircraft over Cologne despite being seriously wounded. For this act of bravery, Cologne was awarded the Dickin Medal in 1947 by the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA).