Balloon parachute jumper

[Bluehawk]

Balloon Parachute jumper

 

From: CN3125 Group 64, National Archive Photo Courtesy of Indiana War Memorial

 

Observers were sent up in wicker baskets, with cameras, sketchpads and a wireless set, to identify enemy troop movements. Usually the two man crew could see as far as forty miles and direct artillery fire, identify troop concentrations and site enemy planes. They were irresistible targets for the opposing forces. Highly protected, with AA guns and long range machine guns, and floating at high altitudes of over 4,000 feet, it was difficult for the enemy plane to take a balloon down and make a clean escape. Ordinary rifle fire would pass harmlessly through the hydrogen gas bag causing damage but not immediate destruction. British pilots would never attack a balloon under 1,000 feet as the Machine Gun fire from the ground forces was deemed too dangerous. The balloons were tethered and would be pulled down quickly with a motorized winch once a fighter plane was spotted. The Germans developed a flat nosed .45 caliber, incendiary, machine gun bullet, they dubbed the Buckingham Bullet, specifically to take down Zeppelins over England. The risks to the balloonist were enormous as they hung under huge hydrogen filled targets. They were the only group routinely fitted with parachutes but the early parachutes had a high failure rate. Balloonist would only jump in dire emergencies.

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