The heroic actions of soldiers on D-Day are well-known.

We’re celebrating them today to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, which helped liberate Europe from the Nazis.

But the heroics of pigeons and dogs are less well known.

In fact, animals played a crucial role in the war effort, and were a vital part of D-Day.

Pigeons carried crucial intelligence when radio equipment could be unreliable, particularly during heavy fighting.

The coded messages they carried were in a tiny scroll attached to a ring on the pigeon’s leg.

They braved fighting, bombs and bullets from enemy soldiers who would try to shoot them down, as well as hawk attacks.

Dogs were also used in the war effort. They were trained to sniff out explosives and bombs, keep watch, warn of enemies, and were also used to raise the morale of troops.

They were even trained to parachute, which numerous dogs did during the D-Day landings.

One of those dogs was Brian, also known as Bing, who joined the Army War Dog Training School after the Fetch family from Loughborough could not sustain feeding him with their rations.

After his training, he was posted to the 13th Lancashire Parachute Battalion and completed a two-week training course with the scout and sniper unit.

During his career, he completed seven parachute jumps.

As the D-Day landings began, Brian was parachuted into the town on Ranville but became stuck in a tree on his way down, injuring his face.

His fellow paratrooper Sgt Ken Bailey cut Brian down from the tree despite being under fire and the pair fought together over the next few months.

Brian, who took part in Operation Varsity, remained on active duty in occupied Germany but was eventually reunited with his family.

He was presented with a special medal designed for animals, the Dickin Medal, on March 29 1947, with the citation: ‘For excellent patrol work and qualifying as a paratrooper, Airborne Division, Normandy, June 1944.’

Pigeons were also awarded the medal for brave service.

Days before D-Day, a pigeon named the Duke of Normandy was dropped in Merville with paratroopers from the 21st Army Group.

Their mission was to ensure that four heavy-calibre guns trained directly on Sword Beach were out of action before D-Day.

Radios went missing and the only way to relay that the operation had been successful was to release Duke of Normandy with the news.

‘His journey home took 27 hours and he flew through bullets and bombs,’ Ms Dickin said.

‘There was a northerly gale and driving rain as he made his way back.’

The Duke’s heroics delivered critical intelligence to Allied Command that saved many lives.

He was awarded the Dickin Medal on January 8 1947, with the citation: ‘For being the first bird to arrive with a message from paratroopers of 21st Army Group behind enemy lines on D-Day.’

The medal has been awarded 71 times since 1943, plus one honorary medal that was awarded in 2014.

Recipients comprise 34 dogs, 32 pigeons, four horses and one cat.

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