Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Pioneer R. T. Holland, Carrier Pigeon Service, Royal Engineers, late Royal Warwickshire Regiment, who was specially selected to be involved in the rearing, training and deployment of carrier pigeons across hundreds of miles of open desert

1914-15 Star (11750 Pte. R. T. Holland. R. War. R.); British War and Victory Medals (11750 Pte. R. T. Holland. R. War. R.) better than good very fine (3) £80-£100

Richard Thomas Holland was born at Nuneaton in 1886. A miner, he attested at Warwick for the Royal Warwickshire Regiment on 6 May 1915, being sent to the 4th Battalion for training. His Army Service Record notes that he embarked from Port Suez to Basra on 9 April 1916, and was posted to “A” Company of the 9th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment at Amara on 31 July 1916. Following a spell at No. 40 Field Hospital, Sindiyah, Holland transferred to the Carrier Pigeon Service on 7 March 1918, being mustered as Pioneer on transfer to the Royal Engineers.

The role of carrier pigeons during the Great War is well documented - indeed, a number of birds became stars of the British and foreign press. Frequently targets of enemy troops who attempted to shoot them down in flight - knowing all too well that they were carrying important messages - the carrier pigeons were also subject to attack by birds of prey and the vagaries of the weather; in Baghdad and the deserts of Mesopotamia, this often involved them coping with scorching 40-degree conditions by day and freezing temperatures at night.

Sent to hospital at Remadie on 19 October 1918, Holland embarked home to England from Basra aboard H.T. City of Sparta on 7 March 1919. His return to Nuneaton was likely an emotional one, given the loss of a young son not long beforehand.