Century-Old World War I Carrier Pigeon Message Discovered in France Field
Guest Contributor
In a quiet French field, more than a century after the guns of World War I fell silent, a remarkable discovery has brought a forgotten voice of the past back into the light. An elderly couple, out for a walk in September, stumbled upon a tiny metal capsule nestled in the grass. Inside was a fragile, handwritten message—one that had been carried across the skies by a World War I carrier pigeon. The note, penned by a Prussian soldier, offers a rare and deeply human glimpse into the chaos of war.
This rediscovered artifact, found in the region of Ingersheim—then part of Germany and now located in France’s Grand Est—has since been transferred to the Linge Museum at Orbey. The museum is dedicated to the Battle of Le Linge, a brutal and prolonged confrontation that took place between July and October of 1915. As many as 17,000 soldiers lost their lives in that battle, yet the frontlines barely shifted by the war’s end in 1918. The note, likely written in 1916 based on its contents, provides a chilling snapshot of the battlefield conditions during that time.
Museum curator Dominique Jardy, recognizing the potential significance of the find, enlisted a German-speaking colleague to decipher the faded script. The message, though difficult to read, was ultimately transcribed and translated. It reads: “Platoon Potthof receives fire as they reach the western border of the parade ground, platoon Potthof takes up fire and retreats after a while. In Fechtwald half a platoon was disabled. Platoon Potthof retreats with heavy losses.”
This brief but haunting dispatch reveals the grim reality of trench warfare and the immense human cost endured by soldiers on both sides. Jardy described the note as “super rare,” underscoring its historical value. It is now slated to become a permanent part of the museum’s collection, joining other war relics such as weapons, ammunition, and personal belongings unearthed from the surrounding countryside over the decades.
Messages like this one, carried by pigeons or sealed in bottles, often surface long after the conflicts that spawned them have faded into history. While the rediscovered World War I pigeon message contains military intelligence, other messages from the past offer more personal reflections. In 2019, for instance, an Alaskan man searching for firewood found a message in a bottle written by a Soviet sailor during the Cold War. The note, penned in the 1960s by sea captain Anatoly Botsanenko, was addressed to any future finder and conveyed warm wishes for health and happiness.
“Sincere greetings! From the Russian Far East Fleet mother ship VRXF Sulak,” the message read. “I greet you who finds this bottle and request that you respond to the address Vladivostok -43 BRXF Sulak to the whole crew. We wish you good health and long years of life and happy sailing.”
The sailor’s note, though not a wartime dispatch, resonated with many around the world. When the letter went viral, a Russian news outlet tracked down Botsanenko, who was 86 years old at the time. During an interview, he reflected on his years at sea and was visibly moved to learn that his old ship had been decommissioned and sold for scrap in the 1990s.
Such discoveries remind us that history is not only recorded in books or official records, but also in the small, personal artifacts left behind by those who lived through it. Whether documenting a tactical retreat under fire or offering a heartfelt greeting across oceans and decades, these messages give voice to individuals whose stories might otherwise be lost.
For historians and museum curators, letters from wartime—whether carried by pigeon or sealed in glass—are among the most poignant and valuable relics. They capture the immediacy of the moment, the raw emotion, and the lived experiences of those who served. I found this detail striking: that a simple walk through a field could lead to the rediscovery of a century-old message, still intact, still capable of moving us.
As the Linge Museum prepares to display the Prussian soldier’s note, it becomes more than just a military artifact. It becomes a testament to endurance, to the passage of time, and to the enduring human impulse to communicate—even in the face of war. Through such relics, we are offered not only a glimpse into the past, but also a reminder of the resilience and vulnerability that define the human experience.