WHITE VISION - THE STORY OF HARD WORK AND WILL POWER

WHITE VISION

On 11th. October 1943, RAF Coastal Command operated from the Shetland Islands, was patrolling the Northern sea routes using Catalinas looking for U Boats returning to Germany. It was a 22 hours mission. As each plane was ready to leave, the crew collected two pigeons from the loft, just as to keep an option for communication, if radio signals somehow fail to work.

White Vision was one of them, who was aboard a Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat. White Vision was bred by the Flemming Brothers of Motherwell, Scotland. During the Second World War, she was lent to the National Pigeon Service and was posted at Sullom Voe in the Shetland Islands with no. 190 Squadron RAF.

Towards the end of the flight the weather turned really bad with gales and fog. The Catalina was not allowed to land on the Sullom Voe in the Shetland Islands and was directed to Aberdeen. But, Good God., the storm conditions were worse over there and the plane was forced to direct towards Oban. With petrol running low, and finally running out, the plane was forced to ditch in the Atlantic. it was out of all the radio signals. So the Captain put messages informing their location into the leg capsules of each pigeon and sent them off. There were two life rafts, but accidentally one of them drifted off with only two men in it, which left too many of the crew for the second raft, and everyone voted to stay on board the plane.

DICKIN MEDAL

One of the pigeons never made it, but White Vision flew 60 miles (97 kms.) against the storm, with visibility almost reduced to zero and arrived back at her pigeon loft. She landed exhausted and with lots of her feathers missing. From the message in the capsule, calculating the wind speed and tidal drift, the RAF came to rescue the Catalina after about 40 hours. As the last man jumped the gap between the tossing plane and the launch, the plane immediately sank. The two men who were drifted off in the life rafts were rescued later, with the result that White Vision was responsible for saving the lives of 11 men. White Vision was one of about 33 pigeons, who was awarded with the Dickin Medal on 2nd. December 1943. She lived until 1953.

We salute her "For delivering a message under exceptionally difficult conditions and so contributing to the rescue of an Air Crew while serving with the RAF in October 1943.

WHITE VISION WITH HER MADAL