The bomber was badly damaged after being hit ... shore in the event that an aircraft came down. The four-man crew released their pigeon, called Winkie, in the hope she could fly home to her ...

where her owner George Ross discovered the exhausted pigeon. He alerted the airbase at RAF Leuchars in Fife, and a desperate search and rescue mission was launched. The Bomber crew were all saved ...

Did you know? The first Dickin Medal was awarded in February 1943 to a pigeon that saved the crew of an RAF bomber that crashed in the North Sea. More than 60 animals have received the medal.