- Paddy (pigeon)
Paddy (Pigeon number NPS.43.9451) [ [http://www.pdsa.org.uk/page309_3.html PDSA website] , Dickin Medal awardees, retrieved 2006-02-26] was an Irish
pigeon awarded theDickin Medal after being the first pigeon to arrive back inEngland with news of the success of the D-Day invasion, out of hundreds dispatched. He flew 230 miles across theEnglish Channel in four hours and five minutes [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article3033257.ece Times Online] , "Top 50 greatest sporting animals", retrieved 2008-04-26] , the fastest recorded crossing, and was awarded the medal on1 September 1944 , just under three months after the crossing. [ [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,2012830,00.html Observer magazine] Dickin medal awardees, retrieved 2006-02-26] Paddy was trained by John McMullan ofCarnlough and is the only bird in Ireland to be awarded this medal. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/yourplaceandmine/topics/war/dday_news.shtml BBC Your Place and Mine] , "Paddy Power", retrieved 2008-04-26] The medal citation reads,His medal was sold at auction for almost £7,000 in September 1999. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/458238.stm BBC News website] , "Northern IrelandFancier flies away with pigeon medal", retrieved 2006-02-26]References
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