 Tours lies some 200 km from Paris and Poitiers some 300 km; to reduce the flight distance the pigeons were taken by train as far forward towards Paris as was safe from Prussian intervention.Before release, they were loaded with their despatches.The first despatch was dated 27 September and reached Paris on 1 October, but it was only from 16 October, when an official control was introduced, that a complete record was kept.