William of Orange (pigeon)

William of Orange was a male war pigeon of British military intelligence service MI14.

[1] Communications in that battle were a problem for the Allied units; German troops had surrounded the airborne forces and the few radio sets present malfunctioned.

William of Orange was released by British soldiers at 10:30 on 19 September 1944 and arrived at his nest box in England at 14:55.

He flew over 400 km (250 mi) and the message he carried was one of few to make their way back to the United Kingdom.

Smith bought him out of service for £185 and ten years later reported that William was "the grandfather of many outstanding racing pigeons".