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During the First World War, not every life behind the lines carried a rifle.
Some carried grain, ink, and small metal tubes.

In this episode, you become a WWI pigeon handler, stationed just far enough from the trenches to hear the guns without seeing them. Your days are spent feeding birds, cleaning straw, fastening messages to small legs, and waiting — waiting for wings to return when men often do not.

This is a quiet role in a loud war.
One built on routine, patience, and an uncomfortable truth: when survival matters most, reliability often outranks bravery.

Through the calm rituals of the pigeon loft, this story explores distance, efficiency, and the soft regret that comes from being useful to a system that works disturbingly well. The war arrives not as explosions, but as ink, timing, and absence — folded neatly and carried away on wings.

Settle in, get comfortable, and drift into a forgotten corner of history where peace exists only in small movements, and meaning leaves without saying goodbye.

🛏️ Drowsy Historian’s Favorite Sleep Tools

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• Blanket Soft Enough to Make the Plague Feel Tolerable → https://amzn.to/3GSOq8f

• Weighted Blanket for Pretending You’re a Mummified Pharaoh → https://amzn.to/4kVJCgE

• Sleep Mask Headphones For Total Historical Escape → https://amzn.to/4nWsNVn

• Book Light for Reading About Plagues at 2AM → https://amzn.to/4eSg0iu

• White Noise Machine for Blocking Out the 21st Century → https://amzn.to/3GJ9jTw

These are affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them—at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the show while staying cozy.

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