Le Vaillant
{{Short description|French pigeon awarded a Legion of Honour}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
Le Vaillant (French: The Valiant){{cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Spencer C. |title=World War I: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection [5 volumes]: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection |date=28 October 2014 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-85109-965-8 |page=353 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DBwTBQAAQBAJ |language=en}} (died 4 June 1916) was a pigeon used by the French Army in the First World War. The bird was the last held at Fort Vaux before it was overrun in the Battle of Verdun. Le Vaillant carried a message from the fort's commander Sylvain Raynal to his senior officers requesting reinforcements but was mortally wounded in flight. The bird was posthumously appointed to the Legion of Honour and is commemorated by a plaque at the fort.
Background
Fort Vaux was a fortification guarding the north-east approach to the city of Verdun. The fort was besieged by German forces during the 1916 Battle of Verdun and by early June the remaining French garrison was under the command of Commandant Sylvain Raynal.{{cite book |last1=Gilbert |first1=Martin |title=The First World War: A Complete History |date=5 June 2014 |publisher=Rosetta Books |isbn=978-0-7953-3723-9 |page=335 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8usaDAAAQBAJ |language=en}} Telephone connection between the fort and the {{ill|Citadelle souterraine de Verdun|fr|lt=Verdun citadel}} had been severed by German troops and Raynal's only means of communication was by messenger pigeon, of which he had four.{{cite news |title=7 things you (probably) didn't know about Verdun |url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/first-world-war/verdun-facts-where-france-longest-battle-ww1-forts/ |access-date=1 November 2022 |work=HistoryExtra |date=21 February 2019 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=Histoires 14-18 : Le Vaillant, le dernier pigeon du commandant Raynal |url=https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/grand-est/meuse/histoires-14-18-vaillant-le-dernier-pigeon-du-commandant-raynal-1017569.html |access-date=1 November 2022 |work=France 3 Grand Est |date=6 July 2016 |language=fr-FR}}
With German attacks continuing to gain ground Raynal sent the first of his pigeons on 2 June. The message requested that artillery fire be directed upon the fort against German troops that had occupied its upperworks. The pigeon arrived at the citadel, despite injury but had lost the ring containing the message. Raynal's penultimate bird was received and was awarded the Croix de Guerre for its flight.{{cite book |last1=Osman |first1=Alfred Henry |title=Pigeons in the Great War: A Complete History of the Carrier-pigeon Service During the Great War, 1914 to 1918 |date=1928 |publisher="Racing pigeon" publishing Company, Limited |page=54 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Ac2AAAAMAAJ |language=en}}
Flight of 4 June
On 4 June Raynal released his last pigeon, number 787.15, named Le Vaillant.{{cite web |title=Le Vaillant and his peers |url=https://www.cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr/en/le-vaillant-and-his-peers |website=Chemins de mémoire |publisher=French army ministry}} The message he bore included the text "we are holding. But ... relief is imperative ... This is my last pigeon". Le Vaillant had been affected by gas released from German shells and was revived by a number of trips to a loophole in Raynal's command post. He set off at 11:30 a.m.
Le Vaillant delivered the message to the dovecot at the citadel. The bird was grievously wounded and died in the hands of the citadel's pigeon master.{{cite book |last1=Everette |first1=Susanne |title=Wars of the 20th Century |date=November 1986 |publisher=Smithmark Pub |isbn=978-0-8317-9303-6 |page=85 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gwnv8rRk6WMC |language=en}} Because of the message, five relief parties were sent to reinforce Raynal, arriving on 5 June.{{cite web |title=Postcard, 'The Last Pigeon of Fort de Vaux'|url=https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/595712 |website=Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa}} The garrison lacked water and ammunition and Raynal was forced to surrender his position and 600 surviving troops on 7 June.
Legacy
Le Vaillant was posthumously appointed to the Legion of Honour, the only pigeon to be so rewarded during the war.{{cite book |last1=Small |first1=Steve |title=Home Fronts, Technologies of War |date=2002 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=978-0-7614-7234-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fnl0zsFAZRcC |language=en}} The diploma of the award hung in the headquarters of the French army signals units. Le Vaillant was stuffed and preserved and is now in the Mont Valérien Military Pigeon Museum in Suresne.{{cite news |title=France's army platoon of carrier pigeons is one of its kind in Europe |url=https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/Practical/Work/France-s-army-platoon-of-carrier-pigeons-is-one-of-its-kind-in-Europe |access-date=1 November 2022 |work=Connexion France |date=17 June 2021}} Le Vaillant was commemorated by a series of postcards issued after the war.{{cite web |title=Postcard, 'Au Pigeon de Verdun' |url=https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/595709 |website=Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa |access-date=1 November 2022}} He was formally recorded as Mort pour la France (died for France). A plaque memoralising the bird, with a depiction of him, is in the courtyard of Fort Vaux, being erected by the pigeon fanciers societies of France on 24 June 1929.{{cite book |last1=Abram |first1=David |title=The Rough Guide to France |date=2003 |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=978-1-84353-056-5 |page=303 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9obU8526SiQC |language=en}} The French Army perpetuates the history of messenger pigeons and the 8th Signal Regiment maintains a dovecote of 200 pigeons for ceremonial use and in case of all other communications being lost.
See also
- Valiant (film) - about a Second World War British messenger pigeon named Valiant.