While other nations concentrated their energies upon the
simplification of hydrogen-manufacturing apparatus for use upon
the battle-field, Great Britain abandoned all such processes in
toto. Our military organisation preferred to carry out the
production of the necessary gas at a convenient manufacturing
centre and to transport it, stored in steel cylinders under
pressure, to the actual scene of operations. The method proved a
great success, and in this way it was found possible to inflate a
military balloon in the short space of 20 minutes, whereas, under
the conditions of making gas upon the spot, a period of four
hours or more was necessary, owing to the fact that the
manufacturing process is relatively slow and intricate. The
practicability of the British idea and its perfection served to
establish the captive balloon as a military unit.
The British military ballooning department has always ranked as
the foremost of its type among the Powers, although its work has
been carried out so unostentatiously that the outside world has
gleaned very little information concerning its operations.
Captain Templer was an indefatigable worker and he brought the
ballooning section to a high degree of efficiency from the
military point of view.
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