WARTIME LONDON

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 256, 30 October 1939, Page 2

WARTIME LONDON

BALLOON BARRAGE AFTER MOCKING, GERMANS COPIED IT. METHOD OF “FIELD SITING." (By H. J. Sarginl, Air Raid Warden.) LONDON. I One of the most interesting sights of' London nowadays is not the streets or . the houses or the people going quietly i about their business, each with his [ little box containing his respirator, but the skies above this great city.' They arc literally pockmarked with ’ the silver sausage-shaped balloons of the barrage system. In overcast weather they blend with and sometimes disappear in the clouds, but when the sun is shining, and we have had a lot of beautiful weather lately, they stand out like great silver blobs and, to tell | the truth, in spite ot their appeariance, which reminds one a little of overgrown squatting frogs, they make an impressive and not. ugly picture. In I fact, one ot these days an artist will [paint a picture ot the London balloon I barrage and make a good job of it. I The world has not forgotten how, I when the balloon barrage was first ' I thought of and tried out in England, i | the Germans mocked it, but lated ■ I copied it. To those experts who are 'wise in things of the air it is an ■ i axiom that the increased range of I modern bombers and their improved ! capacity for flying at night in bad . weather and bad visibility has made - these machines far more dangerous : than they used to be even a few years . ago, and of course beyond comparison ■' more deadly than anything used, dur- > ing the Great War. An Air Stockade. 1 It must not be forgotten, however, ; that while bombers car. fly in bad J weather and unsatisfactory visibility, such conditions do not help them in 1 their raids, but the same conditions ' inflict a severe handicap on the guns and searchlights of the anti-aircraft defences. On balance, it is said that ’ bad; weather conditions handicap the 1 guns and searchlights more than they > do the raiders. This is where the balloon barrage 1 comes in useful. Clouds and bad visi--1 bility favour tho enemy when his ■ bombers arc able to fly low, but with 1 a balloon barrage, which goes right up into the clouds, low flying raids are ' made very difficult, if not impossible, ; and consequently an enemy has either 1 to fly in cloud, when he might hump into a balloon or a. balloon wire at any 1 moment and incidentally where he cannot sec to drop his bombs accurately, or fly high whore accurate bombing is again very difficult. Put briefly, this barrage system is really a stockade of balloons and ■ cables round the areas which have lo be defended and after a. good many I tests it was found that the best, way ■ of distributing the baloons was in a I regular pattern equally spaced, over ■ the whole area to be defended. If readers want, to visualise how this plan is worked let them take a piece of paper and draw a circle on it. Let them then mark a number ot spots inside the area enclosed. They will sec quite easily then that it is almosi , impossible to run a line indicating a I clear course which would take the width of an aircraft through this system of marks. ' The experts call this method the t "field: sitting of balloons. I may not . give further particulars about I his . method, but I can say this much, that • there is little chance of an enemy ■ machine flying through a field-sited

barrage without running up against at least one cable. The Inflammability Factor. There was some talk both here and in Germany many years ago of using steel nets or aprons hung between balloons high up in the sky. but the practical difficulties of the plan were found to be almost insuperable. Not only would such an apron be exceedingly difficult to raise to a desired height, but it. would be an infernal nuisance if it had to be lowered, to the ground in a built-up area. It could not be left permanently in the air because the kite balloons which supported it would have to be lowered j from time to time if only to be re- ■ I charged with hydrogen gas, which is ..constantly leaking with a consequent . 'loss of lift of the balloon. i In conclusion a word might be said 'about why a non-inflammable form of igas is not. used in the balloons. Helium iis practically the only non-inflam-Imabic gas which could be used in the ) quantities required, and unfortunately . helium is unobtainable in England. These balloons have occasionally caught tire in the air and this is simple , lo understand when one remembers I that during thunderstorms or w here balloons are in contact with electrically charged clouds lhe balloon and its , Icable constitute a very good conductor Ito electricity, a condition which is ini'creased when rain or moisture has ;collected, on lhe balloons or the cables. I Ceaseless experiments, we are told, are being made, to put an end as far ,''as possible to the danger of tire, and 'it is hoped in tho not too distant I future to eliminate the danger even in the worst conditions which a balloon may encounter high up. ’ “Me Arc Going To Win Through.'’ 1 ' I want to end this article with a few ?! words about activities on the ground, s While the balloons are, we hope, kceps ing guard overhead, quite sound adr .vice in the form of well-written little - addresses are being distributed, far and | wide by the A.R.P. authorities. These 'are written in a language which I does not irritate and antagonise peo- ; pie by its cold formality. We are told ■ Ho nav no attention to rumours, a very i sound idea; we arc also told to listen in all radio instructions and note them i' down. Of course the regulations about S lighting restrictions arc repeated, and s'rightly repeated, over and ove. again, t and the same is done about fire pret cautions and the method of dealing - with incendiary bombs. ”■ i It is emphasised that stocks of foodstuffs in the country are sufficient, and . that steps have been taken to prevent 1 any sudden rise of price,or the holds ing up of supplies. , If I were an old lady inclined to be , 1 nervous, I should feel very comforted. -> ' after reading one of these leaflets. . Finally we are told “Keep a good j heart; we are going to win through. ,iAnd that, unde: the good providence • of God, to borrow a lino from tho i Navy prayer, is just what Illis country . is going to do. (N.A.N.A.)