A chronic problem for spies operating in enemy territory is transmitting their findings to their home base. The problem was especially acute in World War II Europe, where German signal-detection technology, based on triangulation skills, took a deadly toll on agents.
The British spy services delved into history for their solution: The use of carrier pigeons to speed information from agent to headquarters. The story is told in a splendidly readable account by Gordon Corera, veteran national security correspondent for the BBC.
For reasons mysterious to us Yanks, the harboring of vast flocks of carrier pigeons is a national pastime for uncountable Brits, whose flocks number into the hundreds.
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