Le Vaillant

Le Vaillant carried a message from the fort's commander Sylvain Reynal to his senior officers requesting reinforcements but was mortally wounded in flight.

[2] Telephone connection between the fort and the Verdun citadel [fr] had been severed by German troops and Raynal's only means of communication was by messenger pigeon, of which he had four.

[1] 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.

[7] The garrison lacked water and ammunition and Raynal was forced to surrender his position and 600 surviving troops on 7 June.

[11] 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.