Trust treasures wartime pigeon tale

 

Artefacts relating to an unlikely wartime hero, a homing pigeon, are among many which have been entrusted to the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust by the family of an Australian flying boat pilot.

 

They belonged to Wing Commander Vic Hodgkinson, DFC, who flew Sunderland's from Pembroke Dock in 1940 and 1941 with the famous No 10 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force. He remained in the UK after the war and died last year, aged 94.

 

Vic’s son, Bob, and daughter-in-law Jenny visited the Flying Boat Centre in Pembroke Dock to meet project staff and volunteers. They also called in at the Trust’s Archive Centre where the artefacts will be copied and digitally stored as part of a rapidly growing collection.

 

Said Bob: “My father had a long connection with flying boats, both wartime and post-war. He would have been very impressed by what is being achieved by the Sunderland Trust and its wonderful team.

 

“The pigeon story is one which dad was directly involved in, after his Sunderland flying boat crashed in the Irish Sea in 1941. Sunderland's carried homing pigeons which were released with messages after an aircraft came down in the sea.

 

“There’s a special rescue story about one pigeon and this is now part of the Sunderland Trust archive. We are delighted to have been able to pass this on to Pembroke Dock as this is the place where that story can be told.”

 

*  The Flying Boat Centre is open Tuesdays to Saturdays inclusive, 10 am - 4 pm. Funding for the Centre is from the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013, which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). This is administered locally by Pembrokeshire County Council.

 

 

 

 

Caption:

Some of the items from the collection of the late Wing Commander Vic Hodgkinson, DFC, are displayed by Bob and Jenny Hodgkinson and by (right) John Evans, Project Manager of the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust (right).

PICTURE: Martin Cavaney Photography.