Question for the group,
Would airfields ever post Barrage Balloons against dive bombing attacks, at least strategically placed to protect certain hangars and such?

Or is the risk to all the local (friendly) airtraffic just too great to use them for protection?

thanks,
Dadio

quote:

Originally posted by Dadio2009:
Question for the group,
Would airfields ever post Barrage Balloons against dive bombing attacks, at least strategically placed to protect certain hangars and such?

Or is the risk to all the local (friendly) airtraffic just too great to use them for protection?

thanks,
Dadio

Yes, but mainly to protect against strafing aircraft. I've never read about any doctrine on them but it seemed to be more of an early war thing.

Thanks for the confirmation, I'm gonna leave them in my mission - its early war anyway (1940), and they serve to help me spot the airfield, as its a very non-discript grass strip, AND even better I've used them for cover!

In testing out some of the missions which use this airfield, I was flying escort. During the escort mission our flight was attacked by 2 bf110s. We proceeded to shoot down one, and I damaged the other. My flight mates (all AI's) proceeded to return to base, probably emptyy on ammo, leaving me to finish off the final 110 alone! Well, I proceeded to damage it further, but ran out of ammo myself and turned to run for home. The 110 chased me like a pit-bull with a bone! After a harrowing chase, and several maneuvers, it followed me the whole way back to my base. I called for fighter help, and hoped that the AA at the base would scare it off. Well it kept coming! Next I saw the balloons! I banked and skipped right between two of the balloon cables, where the 110 didn't care to follow me! Finally AA hit it, and it left!

Never planned to use the balloons that way, but it helped, and provided me some much needed cover to scrape off that pesky 110!

cheers, the track of the escape was fun to watch.

Here's a brief history of the use of balloons, it seems they were used by the British throughout the war - though later it was more aimed at v-1 interception.

As bobbo said, early on they were mainly useful at discouraging mine, torpedo and strafing attacks. They did work against dive bombers to an extent, mainly by forcing them to release bombs at a higher altitude. For example, a Stuka could pull out of a dive at 500m, but barrage balloons could extend up to 1,500 meters, which limited the altitude the Stuka could operate at.

They could be a pain as well, as wiki shows - In 1942 Canadian and American forces began joint operations to protect the sensitive locks and shipping channel at Sault Ste. Marie along their common border among the Great Lakes against possible air attack.[3] During severe storms in August and October of 1942 some barrage balloons broke loose, and the trailing cables short-circuited power lines, causing serious disruption to mining and manufacturing. In particular, the metals production vital to the war effort was disrupted. Canadian military historical records indicate that "The October incident, the most serious, caused an estimated loss of 400 tons of steel and 10 tons of ferro-alloys."

http://www.worldwar-two.net/armamento/90/

quote:

Next I saw the balloons! I banked and skipped right between two of the balloon cables, where the 110 didn't care to follow me!.

I don't mean to burst your balloon (pun intended), but the AI cannot 'see' barrage balloons, nor their cables. If a cable is in their path, they will fly right into it. They will never try and evade it.

Actually, if an enemy AI is on my tail, one of my favorite tactics is to fly close to balloon cables and 'lead' my enemy right into the cable. They simply don't 'see' the cables.

Aviar

Aviar, no burst of bubble taken!
I didn't know that little bit of info - and its very useful! I was just happy he left me alone to land in peace. I would have been even more thrilled had he flown into the cables and exploded! At that point I was pretty annoyed at having to evade him the whole way back to base.

I thought it was pretty ironic, that I posted a question about the use of balloons, then found what I think was a pretty useful use for them myself straight off. I would have been thrilled had I actually tricked him into flying into them!

FWIW, This is an early war (1940) BOB campaign, and it sounds like from other postings that barrage balloons may have been common in Britain at that time. I posted the question about their use, cause I didn't want them in my missions if their use over airfields was just flat out wrong.

thanks for the info too.
Dadio