There's Something About Mary of Exeter

In a soaring tale of espionage and bravery, Mary, our heroine, flew military missions transporting top secret messages across the English Channel from France to England during World War II.

Racing through the skies, she carried handwritten code concealed in canisters, bobbing and weaving around snipers and air raids, and piloting her way back to safety where her wounds were sewn up in precise stitches by a local bootmaker. She was hit by shrapnel, the tip of one wing shot off, and attacked by hawks.

Mary traveled with bomber crews, smaller than her fellow soldiers and often the only female. She was chosen for these classified missions for her size, speed and because she could move stealthily for long periods of time when radio silence was required. Not a peep out of Mary. Rather plain looking, she blended in like camouflage among her army of messengers.

As the crow flies, Mary's route took her from Exeter in southwestern England, a city 10 miles from the English Channel which separates southern England from northern France, and back to Exeter. She piloted over the 900-year-old Exeter Cathedral, the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and the smooth sands of Dawlish Warren Beach. She flew home alone.

So bewitching was Mary that she was forbidden to travel with any blokes for fear of distracting them from their critical assignments. Any romantic cooing could result in their discovery by an enemy soldier adjusting the magnification of his binoculars. Or worse, this alluring protagonist could be grounded as a mother-to-be, out of commission until left as an empty nester.

Without a male companion and fiercely independent, Mary quickly learned to carry secret messages and rolls of film. Her own innate sense of direction through bullets, bombs and thunderstorms led her back home to Cecil "Charlie" Brewer. They lived together in Exeter, she upstairs, he downstairs.

When Mary returned home, Brewer set out a cup of peanuts and a drink, much like James Bond but hers was neither shaken nor stirred. A teetotaler, Mary sipped water. Brewer surveyed and sewed up her wounds and nursed her back to health before sending her out on another mission.

Liv Hooper, 32, Brewer's great-granddaughter, remembers hearing stories about the legendary Mary. 

"Mary has always been present in our family," said Hooper. "My dad was really proud of Charlie and Mary and their legacy and we always knew we had this famous pigeon in the family."

For five years of flying with the National Pigeon Service without a squawk, Mary of Exeter was awarded the Dickin Medal for Outstanding War Service.

Mary is one of 32 pigeons bestowed with the Dickin medal, established in 1943 to honor animals in military service. Hooper's family treasures the small bronze medallion awarded for her "conspicuous gallantry or devotion to duty." It's boxed for safekeeping in their attic loft.

Other Dickin awardees include fellow pigeons Winkie and Tyke, Bob the dog, Simon the cat and a horse named Olga. There's even a pigeon in the British royal family. King George VI donated pigeons from the royal lofts of Sandringham to the war effort. Royal Blue was celebrated as the first pigeon of the war to deliver a message which identified the location of his comrades in their downed aircraft.

Brewer raced pigeons from the pigeon coop on top of his house, winning medals for birds who returned the fastest. When war broke out, Brewer and Mary, who may have been named after a Brewer family member, volunteered their services. Brewer was sworn in as a Special Constable in charge of pigeons in Exeter.

Mary of Exeter would be dropped behind enemy lines to relay messages back to the British.

Hundreds of Mary's cousins were dropped into Europe during World War II, traveling in individual wooden cases or baskets topped by parachutes. Their mission: communicate details of the Germany army to allied forces. Her American counterparts were strapped in pigeon vests designed by Maidenform, the lingerie company, attached to the chests of soldiers as they parachuted through the skies.

"Soldiers would write a message, pop it in the canister and she would be released," said Liv Hooper. "She would fly home to Charlie's loft. Charlie would then get the message and run it to the Guild Hall, an office for pigeons in the city that handled incoming messages."

Once pigeons were released, they only knew one route. Studies point out that pigeons find their way home through odors, the magnetic field of the earth, low-frequency sound waves and by using the sun as a compass. Today, pigeons, long retired from combat duty, have been replaced by satellites and WhatsApp, Signal and other encrypted apps.

When Mary, hatched in Exeter year unknown, retired in 1945, she and Charlie Brewer visited local women's groups and raised money for the Red Cross. Brewer died at the age of 90 in 1985. Mary died in 1950 at about six years of age (considered average for a pigeon) peacefully at home in her nest. Unlike award winning homing pigeon Cher Ami who is stuffed and on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Mary is buried in a local pet cemetery.

Mary of Exeter has never been forgotten. Liv Hooper's father, Rob, who wrangled politicians for appearances, perched on desks to talk about Mary's exploits to local school children before he died at 62 in 2018. The Hooper collection of artifacts includes Brewer's Special Constable uniform and hat, notebooks, Mary's red message canisters and first aid kit, a tiny white backpack stitched with a red cross.

She's still so popular that a recent children's book, play and cartoon detail her exploits. Mary and Charlie Brewer's home was purchased by George Barron, a local artist, who was so captivated by Mary's story that he directed a cartoon about her life and arranged with the Exeter Civic Society for a blue plaque commemorating her life and work.

Enthralled with her exploits, Katie Villa and Simon Hall wrote "Mary, The Pigeon Who Never Gave Up," a colorful children's book illustrated by Rosie Race which includes collages of pigeons made by the townspeople of Exeter. A Quirk Theatre production featuring projection and puppetry based on the book was produced in 2022.

"It's about this tiny, generally ignored, ubiquitous bird battling against the odds. Pigeons are so common and are seen as pests by many (if not most) and we very rarely stop to consider them or think of them as beautiful," Villa said, "But they are amazing creatures, perfectly adapted for navigation and long distance flying. And the story of her flying in the face of all these terrible events was just so wonderful."

Lord Mayor of Exeter, Kevin Mitchell, sports a tricorn hat adorned with ostrich feathers for ceremonial appearances, including those honoring his most famous citizen.

"You think about something that's so small that had such a major impact, taking across messages that were just so vital to the war effort," Mitchell said. "A lot of humans attempted to do that, but for a pigeon to do it is absolutely outstanding. She's a heroine, and we need to treat her that way. We need to recognize that all animals on earth have their purpose and intelligence."

Pigeons, still aloft in Exeter, never made it into the Hooper household.

Liv Hooper, Public Programmes Manager with Exeter, a UNESCO City of Literature, did not grow up with birds. But her bird watcher father carried his binoculars and bird books on family vacations.

"If we were on holiday," she recalled, "My brother and sister and I would be playing in the pool and my dad would be on the balcony looking at the birds."

But there must be something about Liv Hooper. Local pigeons often flock to her.

"So I have been known to chat with the pigeons and just be like, 'Look, you know, I haven't got anything for you today,'" she said. "They call them like the rats of the sky here. They get a bit of a bad rap. But I'm always fairly defensive of them."

She shoos them off her windowsill.

"Not many people," she said, "have a famous pigeon in the family."

Arlene Schulman is a writer, photographer and filmmaker living in Manhattan. She is the author of several books, including the critically acclaimed "The Prizefighters: An Intimate Look at Champions and Contenders" and "23rd Precinct: The Job." Visit her at www.arlenesscratchpaper.com She's also on Instagram: @arlenesbodega Read More