The coming of war

• Barrage balloons had first been used

  First World War
• Barrage balloons


  • Large balloon filled with lighter-than-air gas
  • Attached to a steel cable
  • Designed to 'float' in the air at altitudes that would deny low level air space to attacking enemy aircraft
  • Forcing aircraft to fly at higher altitudes which could make bombing less accurate
• The Committee of Imperial Defence decided to have 450 barrage balloons built to protect London in the event of a possible future attack


  1936
• Their foresight proved to be very accurate
• When war broke out in September 1939, not only would London need this type of defence, but other major industrial cities, naval ports and airfields would as well
• By August 1940 2,368 barrage balloons flew over major strategic sites across Britain
• These were to prove invaluable during the Blitz