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Whilst growing up in Devon,
England. I can clearly remember a box that my great
grandmother owned. It was left by a relative that had fought
in the Anglo Boer war along with a Chocolate box sent to the
troups by Queen Victoria for Christmas or so I was told. The
first box was clad in porcupine quills which for a small boy in
rural Devon was a thing of great wonder.
Even in the 70's South Africa seemed as remote as the moon
from our village. I would never have guessed that I'd end up
living and flying over Africa.
I'm not the first person to fly around here!! The
British bought several balloon squadrons over for the Anglo
Boer war. They had been used in other battles but were
particularly useful in South Africa as the rough terrain gave
the Boers many places to hide.
Flying over the battlefields today
it is not hard to see the problems the British faced. If you
would like to see for yourself, let us know and we can arrange
flights from the site of General Bullers headquarters at
Spioenkop.
As for what was thought 100 years ago.
The Boers were not too impressed.....
Boer Soldier John Lane, in the Laager at Paardeberg.
Wrote:
'I have not been able to have a wash since last night, I
ventured down to the river. I had just pulled my shirt over my
head, happening to look up, my eye caught sight of a big black
thing, at first glance it seemed to be right on the top of me,
I said, Oh my God, and fell flat on my stomach, thinking it
would explode. I then got my senses about me and looked up,
and Lo and behold, it was the balloon, appears for the first
time since lying around Magersfontien... Some fellows shouted
to me to hide away, "Poets kernel" they shouted, it does not
much matter now, it is all up, they will now be able to find
out every hole and position we are in and will pour in a hell
of shells. The balloon kept up for about three hours, it looks
very close, but is far out of range. Lots of our men kept
firing at it. It is amusing to hear the talk of some of our
Burghers such as "do you call this fair play" that damnable
big round thing, spying our positions, we would not be so mean
to do a thing like this'.
Smurthwaite, David: The Boer War 1899-1902: Hamlyn
History: London: 1999: p.165.
However for those trapped in Ladysmith the story was
somewhat different.
THE SIEGE OF KIMBERLEY
Its Humorous and Social Side
ANGLO-BOER WAR (1899-1902)
EIGHTEEN WEEKS IN EIGHTEEN CHAPTERS
BY T. PHELAN
DUBLIN M.H. GILL & SON, LTD. 1913
The sight of what appeared to be a balloon (and we soon
discovered that it was nothing else) excited tremendous
interest. It ascended and descended repeatedly during the
battle, apparently for the purpose of locating the enemy and
directing the fire of Methuen's guns. We had been inundated
with narratives of the extraordinary strength of the positions
into which Boer ingenuity had converted the kopjes of
Magersfontein. No further attention was paid to these tales,
for lyddite was a terrible thing—that could move kopjes. It
was but a matter of hours until the Column would be with us,
unless, indeed, it paused for rest. The next day, we felt,
would end the Siege of Kimberley, and bring again into vogue
good dinners, buttered bread, and—something to drink.
Friday was all excitement; we had a glimpse of the balloon
again, waltzing at a high altitude in the heavens, the
Column's artillery the while maintaining a continuous uproar.
Soon a terrific report was heard, which was presumed to have
been caused by the explosion of a Boer magazine. A lyddite
missile had done the deed; no "common" shell, we argued, could
have created such a noise. After an hour the balloon
disappeared, and we were of the earth earthly once more.
Read the entire book
here
Would'nt you believe it as if to prove things never
change.........
Balloons return to war in Iraq’s battlefield skies
Published Sunday, December 5, 2004
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The lumbering, low-tech observation
balloon first used on Civil War battlefields is making a
comeback in Iraq. But this time around it’s packed with
zoom-lens video cameras and thermal imagers.
The unmanned craft - which look like smaller versions of
the Goodyear blimp - monitor battle zones and other danger
spots. They’re also used to detect possible ambushes on roads
used by multinational forces.
On a recent evening in Baghdad, three balloons floated over
the Green Zone that houses Iraq’s interim government as well
as the U.S. and other foreign missions in central Baghdad.
They have also been seen circling dangerous highways
leading to Baghdad International Airport, where car-bomb
attacks against U.S. troops have become a daily occurrence.
And during last month’s U.S.-led offensive against the
rebel-held city of Fallujah, a balloon hovered constantly over
the battlefield.
"They are on a tether and can be relatively easily moved to
any area required," U.S. military spokesman Maj. Jay Antonelli
said.
While the gleaming white balloons are hard to ignore,
Antonelli was reluctant to discuss all they can do. "I cannot
disclose their capabilities for force-protection reasons," he
said.
The balloons’ payload typically consists of an array of
high-tech sensors, including a video camera with a zoom lens,
a thermal imager or a laser range finder, a U.S. official said
on condition of anonymity. The devices mainly look for muzzle
flashes from small arms or mortars or try to spot suspicious
movements by potential attackers.
While the balloons might appear to be easy targets
themselves, they are more likely to survive hostile fire than
fixed-wing drones.
Unlike World War I balloons - which were filled with highly
flammable hydrogen - today’s craft contain helium, an inert
gas that doesn’t burn. That means ground fire only causes slow
leaks and a very gradual loss of buoyancy.
Observation balloons were first used during the Civil War,
when the Union and Confederate armies sent officers up in
wicker baskets to direct artillery fire at opposing troops.
Their use by artillery spotters peaked during the trench
warfare on the western front in World War I, but the balloons
largely faded from use soon after because of the ascendancy of
fixed-wing biplanes, though some remained in service for
several more decades.
Tethered air-defense balloons hovered over London in World
War II to prevent low-level attacks by Nazi aircraft, while
the Japanese army released thousands of balloons armed with
firebombs in the hope that the jet stream would carry them to
the United States and Canada. The campaign was largely
ineffective.
The U.S. Navy withdrew its last blimps from service in 1962
after years of using them for ocean patrols.
During the last decade, robotic spy balloons equipped with
high-tech optics systems began to reappear. They primarily
have been used by the Israelis to track the movements of
militants and by the U.S. Border Patrol to monitor illegal
immigrants crossing the Mexican border.
Surveillance balloons, also known as aerostats, were
introduced into U.S. service in Iraq earlier this year after
it became clear they had inherent advantages over the unmanned
drones that provided battlefield intelligence during the U.S.
invasion of Iraq in 2002.
Front lines change quickly or don’t exist at all in the
battle with insurgents, who appear in order to fire mortar
shells or plant explosives before melting into the background.
Balloons can loiter over a military base or likely ambush
site to discourage such strikes. Or they might accompany foot
and vehicle patrols, spotting potential targets from several
miles away.
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