PROTECTION FROM AIR RAIDS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 277, 23 November 1936, Page 10

PROTECTION FROM AIR RAIDS

Cheap, Efficient Measure

J>AS»SI\ E DEFENCE against lhe aerial uieuace to civilian population is Becoming more than e\ er a problem of the day, says Pierre Devaux in “La Nature/’ Paris. Ju the face of lhe ap parent difficulty to he encountered in teaching a fear frenzied citizenry to take orderly refuge in underground "as>roof chambers, if such are available and adequate or of making use of i %’i •idual means of protection, it has been ‘•sked if some technically infallible neang of defence cannot be developed Thick will have at least the psychological advantage of quieting the people, j Such a means of protection against air attack already exist,s, although practically ignored by the public at ffirge. For less than £1.000,01'0 the city •f Paris could be fairly well insured Igainst bombardment by a device which las already proved its worth in stopping enemy aircraft. Moreover, instead If becoming obsolete with the progress »f aviation, its efficacy promises actullly to increase. I This anti-aircraft device ’consists flmply of the classic ‘ ‘ *ausage ” kit elalloon, transformed ami modernised k) as to attain a height of at least 1500 yards against a 10-mile-anhour grind, and held in position by a ruble extending to the groud or to another Walloon on a lower level. If two balloons are used, the higher one anchorid to the lower, an altitude of ‘.‘,000 feet can be reached; and on this principle it is possible to extend a balloon telay to a height of over 30,00() feet. Inch an altitude is well above the )ossibilities of a bombing plane. And Experience has shown that the suspended cables offer a dangerous obstacle to aircraft, a menace that is Impossible to destroy or avoid, and Ine that will cause the planes to crash. £ During the war a captive balloon if the meteorological service at Nancy fas sent up one day just, as a French lirplane squadron was passing. Three Manes touched the cable, and being inable to disengage themselves crashed the ground without breaking the Jfible. At Metz a similar misfortune lestroyed two other French planes; jwo English and two German pianos hashed in the suburbs of London. and mother German plane near Boulogne, hi each case the cable resisted the lane, ami the plane spiralled to the pound near the balloon's windlass. Tn distances where the balloon carried one »r two observers and was hold with a fight cable, the increased inertia caused the cable tn break when struck »v an airplane, ami in one or two ••markable cases the pilot was abb* m make a landing. But the >laek line »it the lighter balloon never permits |n escape. Tt is illogical to suppose

Two thousand years ago, dentistry was an aristocratic luxury. A Roman patrician in need of a tooth would have a similar tooth yanked from the helpless jaw of one of his slaves and tied in his own mouth with gold wire.

that huge bomber-; travelling at 250 ■ m.p.h. will overcome the danger, for the loose cable is nearly impossible to break, and once the .speed of the beav ily-laiden plane is cut down by the resistance of the cable, the larger craiv is all the more ditlicult to control. Moreover it is a practically impossible task for planes to destroy the captive balloons, swinging, as they may be. in a diameter of 600 yards around their windlasses, and at varying heights; and the combination of suspending cables asd anti-aircraft makes the attempt extremely risky. The captive balloon is most effective at night when lhe danger of air raids is greatest. During the war the metallurgical factories of Neuves-Maisons, ten miles south of Nancy, were operating near the front under great hardships. Every night there was bombing, disorganisation ami casualties. But in August, 19.17, some balloons were sent to NeuvesMaisons and the bombing ceased at . once. Not one enemy plane ventured over the factories, but preferred to let their bombs fall in lhe woods nea.'by. The same tactics were rewarded with equal enemy respect at Dunkirk. Paris itself was effectively protected by cable balloons after March 1913. The arrangement of the balloon defences was changed from night to night in order that their position could not be definitely known. This precaution forestalled another bombardment of lhe Military School and the War Ministry. On the night of September 15, 50 German planes attacked Paris in two raids but only succeeded in making five bombs effective. Mod of the pilots turned short on reaching the balloon barriers in the north and let their explosives drop at random. To-dav the whole of Paris could be protected with 250 balloons, at the cost of a small battleship; three or four balloons would suffice for a smaller town; and one balloon wuld protect an isolated factory, bridge, fort or viaduct. For £1,000,000 Paris and her four millions could be freed from the deplorable psychosis of “ bombardment without declaration of war 7 ’ —a fear that has been obsessing her for years. 1! would cost more thon £4,000,000 to equip Paris with adequate underground shelter from air attack.