Boglin Marsh
The Boomerang System of Pigeon Racing
www.boglinmarsh.com

The Indian Pigeon Service was formed in 1941, when a small draft of Signals personnel, under the very capable leadership of Major Swarbrick, was allotted the immense task of organising a pigeon service in a gigantic country like India. The hazards of climate, distances, disease, hawks, killer ants, white ants and scores of other obstacles were tremendous. To a large extent all were overcome and at any rate they were exciting, interesting and eventful years that we spent together.

I had been in India some time when the Indian Pigeon Service was formed and any fancier will realise how pleased I was when I heard that I was to receive my transfer to the new pigeon section. Right at the start I was very keen to listen tom the stories of other fellows who had been on experimental Boomerang work back home. At first we did no Boomerang training at all, it was considered to be a long drawn out affair and difficult to lay on quite a two way short service. I had other ideas and asked to be allowed to try my hand at putting on a four mile service; to the great amusement of all concerned, my request was granted. I was given a few very doubtful looking specimens of pigeons and three weeks in which to complete the task!

I had no previous experience of the system whatever and all of the chaps wanted to bet that I just wouldn't be able to do it in three weeks; but I did have one advantage and that was that I should be allowed to do it in my own sweet way! I knew that the official method of laying on a Boomerang system of service was, broadly speaking, to first train the birds to feed from a crate or a box, complete with bob wires, outside the loft and then release them, whereupon they entered the loft for water. After this, the feeding crate had to be moved in very easy stages, until the required distance was reached. This of course took endless time and even when the crate was moved in very easy stages of only a few hundred yards the birds would take days to get used to it and would repeatedly visit the previous site in an effort to find food.

This to my mind was completely unnecessary and the wrong approach; I was of the firm opinion that the crate could be moved or jumped any required distance up to twenty five miles. To cut a long story short, I did not require the three weeks, nor anything like it, that had been allowed to me for my very first Boomerang effort. The service was working perfectly in exactly five days! Later on, with experienced Boomerang pigeons and a further improvement by very good friend Sergeant S. A .Hardy (of Hardy Bros. Forrest Hill F.C.) we were able to lay on a sixteen mile service within three days through thick jungle country, where one spot was indistinguishable from any other. The speed with which the birds completed their two-way trips always fascinated me; even poor specimens of birds were able to put up good times under very trying conditions and we had a few really good birds relaying messages through tropical monsoon storms!