News Letter 1941 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office

OVERSTUFFEDAERIAL WATCHMEN
Barrage Balloons Stand Guard
Just as the role played by the barrage balloon
in the great aerial Battle of Britain has largely
been submerged by the more spectacular phases of
the conflict, sothe story of this country's preparations
to give its cities, factories and defense
installations balloon protection has remained to a
large degree untold.
Barrage balloons don't make power dives at 600
miles per hour; they don't lay two-ton "eggs"deep
in hostile territory, and they don't pack the firing
power a pursuit ship needs to stop enemy bombers.
But they do perform a vital, if unspectacular,
job in keeping constant vigil against the
aerial blitzkrIeg tactics so much a part of modern
warfare.
Proven valuable inactual combat in Great Britain,
the balloon is not being neglected by this country
as a vital feature of national defense. For many
years the Air Corps has been experimenting with
barrage balloons and recently has put certain types
into production.
Up until May of this year barrage balloons were
ccrnpletely under the jurisdiction of the Air Corps,
but at that time the job of operating them was
turned over to the Coast Artillery Corps, which
has organized the 301st Barrage Battalion to take
care of the new function. As more men are trained
and more equipment is procured, additional battalions
will be organized.
The job of developing barrage balloons still is
in the hands of the Air Corps, which maintains a
Barrage Balloon Section (Materiel Division) and
also the Third Barrage Balloon Squadron. Lieut.
Col. Clarence B. Lober heads the section.
Balloon barrages are perhaps most effective when
used in conjunction with anti-aircraft and defending
pursuit and interceptor aviation. When used
to supplement pursuit aircraft they serve to reduce
the amount of airspace over vital objectives
which need tobe defended, and when used with antiaircraft
they tend to keep the enemy up in the
strata where gunfire is most effective. In turn,
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