The courageous medal awarded to a pigeon that became an unlikely war hero sold for more than £ 35,000.
Tommy participated in a race from Dorset to Cumbria in 1942 when he was completely blown out of the race in a storm.
The Blue Pitch Pigeon ended up in Nazi living Holland, where a Dutch postman discovered him in an exhausted state.
He passed Tommy to the Dutch resistance member and Pigeon Fancier, Dick Dryver, who identified him as a British bird from his leg ring.
Dryver gave Tommy back to Fitness and then confirmed him a message container so that he could fly back to Great Britain with secret information.
The Germans, aware that pigeons were used to pass on messages to the Allies, ordered a homing pigeon cull.
Shortly after Tommy started his flight home, he was noticed by a German sniper and shot through the wing.
Although he was injured and bleeding, the courageous pigeon somehow survived the 400-MIJL flight back to Dalton-on-Furness, Cumbria, to be reunited with his owner, William Brockbank.
Displayed: Major -General JW van Oorschot, left, with Tommy's owner William Brockbank, right, in 1946
The PDSA Dickin medal is the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross. It has been awarded 74 times plus one honorary price that was made in 2014 to all animals that served in the First World War
The Blue Cock pigeon was of course blown while in 1942 he participated in a race from Dorset to Cumbria and was in the Netherlands
Brockbank, the striker of a blacksmith, was overjoyed to see his pigeon for six weeks after he started the race from Christchurch on the south coast.
Attached to Tommy was a resistance report with the text “God blessing Queen Wilhelmina and Long Live Winston Churchill.”
Thinking that there might be more going on, the Brockbanks have handed over to the local police in the message, who pass it on to the British intelligence services.
It later emerged that the message contained instructions that led the RAF to destroy a German weapon site in a bombing attack.
In 1946, Tommy received the PDSA Dickin Medaille, the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross, for his crucial role in the mission.
He received the medal during a special ceremony at the Dutch embassy in London and became a local celebrity that Toured by the county.
There is a plaque in honor of him in Dalton Leisure Center and he was buried in the pigeon of the Brockbank family family.
The medal has passed on generations of the Brockbank family before it is offered for sale at Laidlaw Auctioners, from Carlisle, Cumbria.
Animals were first awarded the medal in 1943 after Maria Dickin, who had set up the People's Depensary for Sick Dimals, suggested the idea
Shown: Mr Brockbank holds Tommy (left) and Mr. Drijoes, who found the exhausted pigeon in the Netherlands with two pigeons presented to him by the air control
Tommy depicted with a Dutch resistance member and pigeon jug Dick Dryver
It received an estimate of £ 6,000 to £ 10,000, but a bid war led the hammer to fall £ 30,000 to an applause in the saleroma.
With the reimbursements of auction masters, the buyer paid, considered an unknown institution that will show the medal, £ 35,400 – three and a half times the rating paid.
Auctioneer Paul Laidlaw said on the Rostrum: 'It is an absolute pleasure and privilege to handle this rare and powerful moving Dickin medal.
“It's an amazing story.
“There was both institutional and private interest and I believe that the medal went to an institution and it will be shown.”
The film Valiant from 2005 was inspired by pigeons such as Tommy who merge to deliver vital messages to the front lines.
The Dickin medal was founded in 1943 by Maria Dickin, the founder of the British Veterinary Charity The People's Dispensary for Sick Dimals, to honor animal film during the war.
It has been awarded to 74 animals, including dogs, pigeons, horses and one cat.
The medal received an estimate of £ 6,000 to £ 10,000, but a bid war led the hammer to fall £ 30,000 to an applause in the saleroom
The 2005 Animation Valiant has inspired itself by pigeons such as Tommy
One of the earliest recipients of the coin was the white vision that flew nine o'clock in October 1942 to save 11 crew members who were stranded in the sea of the Hebrides.
In December the Dickin medal presented to Antis de Alsatian who flew more than 30 fight missions in wartime with his master for £ 60,000.
The vast majority was granted for acts of courage in the Second World War, but various departments are made for weapons and explosives looking for dogs from the Royal Army Veterinary Corps for their bravery in Iraq and Afghanistan.
