Balloon stations
are dotted all over thecountry, including Heligoland and Kiel,
while regular sections are attached to the Navy for operating
captive balloons from warships. Although the Zeppelin and
aeroplane forces have come to the front in Germany, and have
relegated the captive balloon somewhat to the limbo of things
that were, the latter section has never been disbanded; in fact,
during the present campaign it has undergone a somewhat spirited
revival.
The South African campaign emphasised the value of the British
balloon section of the Army, and revealed services to which it
was specially adapted, but which had previously more or less been
ignored. The British Army possessed indifferent maps of the
Orange Free State and the Transvaal. This lamentable deficiency
was remedied in great measure by recourse to topographical
photographs taken from the captive balloons. The guides thus
obtained were found to be of extreme value.
During the early stages of the war the hydrogen was shipped in
cylinders from the homeland, but subsequently a manufacturing
plant of such capacity as to meet all requirements was
established in South Africa.
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