Balloon buster explained

Balloon busters were military pilots known for destroying enemy observation balloons. These pilots were noted for their fearlessness, as balloons were stationary targets able to receive heavy defenses, from the ground and the air. Seventy-seven flying aces in World War I were each credited with destroying five or more balloons, and thus were balloon aces.

The crucial role of observation balloons

An observation balloon was both a vulnerable and a valuable target: the balloon was moored in a stationary position and was lifted by flammable hydrogen gas, whose use was necessitated by the scarcity of helium reserves among European powers. The artillery observer, suspended in the wicker basket beneath, typically had a wireless transmitter, binoculars and/or a long-range camera. His job was to observe actions on the front-line and behind it, to spot enemy troop movements or unusual activity of any sort, and to call down artillery fire onto any worthwhile targets.

Balloon observers were consequently targets of great importance to both sides, especially before any sort of infantry action or offensive, so individual pilots, flights or whole squadrons were frequently ordered to attack balloons, to destroy them or at least disrupt their observation activities. Pilots on both sides tried to attack from a height that could enable them to fire without getting too close to the hydrogen and pull away fast. They were also cautioned not to go below 1000feet in order to avoid machine gun and AA fire.

Due to their importance, balloons were usually given heavy defenses in the form of machine gun positions on the ground, anti-aircraft artillery, and standing fighter patrols stationed overhead. Other defenses included surrounding the main balloon with barrage balloons; stringing cables in the air in the vicinity of the balloons; equipping observers with machine guns; and flying balloons booby-trapped with explosives that could be remotely detonated from the ground. These measures made balloons very dangerous targets to approach.

Although balloons were occasionally shot down by small-arms fire, generally it was difficult to shoot down a balloon with solid bullets, particularly at the distances and altitude involved. Ordinary bullets would pass relatively harmlessly through the hydrogen gas bag, merely holing the fabric. Hits on the wicker car could however kill the observer.

One method employed was the solid-fuel Le Prieur rocket invented by Frenchman Lt. Yves Le Prieur and first used in April 1916. Rockets were attached to each outboard strut of a biplane fighter aircraft and fired through steel tubes using an electrical trigger. The rockets' inaccuracy was such that pilots had to fly very close to their target before firing.

It was not until special Pomeroy incendiary bullets and Buckingham flat-nosed incendiary bullets became available on the Western Front in 1917 that any consistent degree of success was achieved. Le Prieur rockets were withdrawn from service in 1918 once incendiary bullets had become available.

Balloon busting aces

NameNationalityBalloon victoriesAircraft victoriesTotalReference
Willy CoppensBelgian35 237[1]
Léon BourjadeFrench27128[2]
Michel CoiffardFrench241034[3]
Maurice BoyauFrench211435[4]
Friedrich Ritter von RöthGerman20828[5]
Jacques EhrlichFrench18119[6]
Heinrich GontermannGerman182139[7]
Andrew Beauchamp-ProctorSouth African163854[8]
Frank LukeAmerican14418[9]
Karl SchlegelGerman14822[10]
Oskar HennrichGerman13720[11]
Marcel HaegelenFrench121123[12]
Marius AmbrogiFrench11314[13]
Friedrich FriedrichsGerman111021[14]
Henry WoollettBritish112435[15]
Tom F. HazellBritish103343[16]
Fritz HöhnGerman101121[17]
Max NätherGerman101626[18]
Erich ThomasGerman10010[19]
William George BarkerCanadian95059[20]
Louis Bennett Jr.American9312[21]
Théophile Henri CondemineFrench909[22]
Hans von FredenGerman91120[23]
Sidney HighwoodBritish9716[24]
Erich LöwenhardtGerman94554[25]
Jean Andre PezonFrench9110[26]
Armand PinsardFrench91827[27]
Erich ThomasGerman9110
Paul BarbreauFrench808[28]
Josef JacobsGerman84048[29]
Max KuhnGerman8412[30]
Charles J. V. MacéFrench8412[31]
Ernest MaunouryFrench8311[32]
Friedrich T. NolteniusGerman81321[33]
Fritz PütterGerman81725[34]
Otto SchmidtGerman81220[35]
Maurice BizotFrench7310[36]
Oskar Freiherr von BoenigkGerman71926[37]
Julius BucklerGerman72936[38]
Siegfried BüttnerGerman7613[39]
Harry King GoodeBritish7815[40]
Harold B. HudsonCanadian7613[41]
Hans NülleGerman7411[42]
Charles NungesserFrench73643[43]
Hans Martin PippartGerman71522[44]
Paul SantelliFrench707[45]
Eugen BönschAustro-Hungarian61016[46]
Hans Klein[47] German61622
Antoine LaplasseFrench628[48]
Donald Roderick MacLarenCanadian64854[49]
Georg MeyerGerman61824[50]
Marcel BlochFrench505[51]
Heinrich BongartzGerman52833[52]
Fernand BonnetonFrench549[53]
Godwin BrumowskiAustro-Hungarian53035[54]
William Charles CampbellBritish51823[55]
Pierre CardonFrench505[56]
Sydney CarlinBritish5510[57]
Arthur CobbyAustralian52429[58]
Martin DehmischGerman5510[59]
Pierre DucornetFrench527[60]
Wilhelm FrickartGerman5712[61]
Louis Prosper GrosFrench549[62]
Francis GuerrierFrench505[63]
Heinrich Haase[64] German516
Lansing Holden[65] American527
Adrien L. J. Leps[66] French5712
Richard Burnard Munday[67] British549
Marcel Nogues[68] French5813
Eddie Rickenbacker[69] American52126
George R. Riley[70] British5813
Gilbert Sardier[71] French51015
William Ernest Shields[72] Canadian51924
Walter Southey[73] South African51520
Paul Y. R. Waddington[74] French5712
Joseph Wehner[75] American516
Hans Weiss[76] German51116

Aces with four balloon victories

NameOriginBalloon victoriesAircraft victoriesTotal
Heinrich ArntzenGerman4711
Otto BrauneckGerman4610
American437
Gustave DaladierFrench4812
Benno Fiala Ritter von FernbruggAustro-Hungarian4[77] 2428
Elwyn KingAustralian42226
Wilhelm KühneGerman437
Georges LachmannFrench459
Auguste LahoulleFrench4610
Edgar McCloughryAustralian41721
Paul PetitFrench437
Maurice RousselleFrench415
Karl SchattauerGerman459
Leonard TaplinAustralian4812
Edgar TaylorAmerican415
Guy WareingEnglish459

Aces with three balloon victories

NameOriginBalloon victoriesAircraft victoriesTotal
Giovanni AncillottoItalian3811
Yves F. BarbazaFrench325
Hans BöhningGerman31417
Karl BohnyGerman358
Walter von Bülow-BothkampGerman32528
Hamilton CoolidgeAmerican358
Pierre DelageFrench347
Rudolf von EschwegeGerman31720
Henri Hay De SladeFrench31619
Francis W. GilletAmerican31720
Max GossnerGerman358
Justus GrassmannGerman3710
Robert HallSouth African325
Ludwig HansteinGerman31316
William Frederick James HarveyEnglish32326
Albert HaussmannGerman31215
Heinrich HenkelGerman358
Adolf HeyrowskyAustro-Hungarian3912
Camille LagesseCanadian31720
Friedrich ManschottGerman3912
George McElroyIrish34447
Maurice NewnhamEnglish31518
John Steele RalstonScottish3912
Paul RotheGerman325
Franz RudorferGerman3 811
Cecil ThompsonSouth African336
Remington VernamAmerican336
Hans WaldhausenGerman336
Herbert Gilles WatsonNew Zealander31114

Aces with two balloon victories

NameOriginBalloon
victories
Aircraft
victories
Total
Edgar O. AmmSouth African257
Maurice ArnouxFrench235
Horace BartonSouth African21719
John Courade BatemanEnglish257
Douglas John BellSouth African21719
Armond J. BerthelotFrench2911
Billy BishopCanadian27072
Konrad BrendleGerman279
French21113
William Gordon ClaxtonCanadian23537
Edwin ColeEnglish268
James ConnellyAmerican257
Charles CudemoreEnglish21315
Gilbert de GuingandFrench268
Armand de TurenneFrench21315
Pierre Dufaur de GavardieFrench246
Eduard Ritter von DostlerGerman22426
Otto FitznerGerman279
Willi GabrielGerman2911
Karl GallwitzGerman2810
George GatesEnglish279
Frederick Stanley GordonNew Zealander279
Franz GräserAustro-Hungarian21618
Fernand GuyouFrench21012
Erich HahnGerman246
Georges HalbergerFrench235
Lloyd HamiltonAmerican2810
Thomas Sinclair HarrisonSouth African22022
Robert HeibertGerman21113
Albert HetsGerman246
Ernest Charles HoyCanadian21113
Frederick HuntEnglish279
Albert Leslie JonesEnglish257
Erich JustGerman246
Arthur KorffGerman268
James LattaEnglish235
Pierre Leroy de BoiseaumarieFrench235
Frederick LuffAmerican235
John MackerethEnglish257
Malcolm Plaw MacLeodCanadian257
Rudolf MatthaeiGerman2810
Maurice MealingEnglish21214
Zenos MillerAmerican235
Hans Karl MüllerGerman279
Edmund NathanaelGerman21315
Otto ParschauGerman268
Andre Petit-DelchetFrench235
Croye PitheySouth African2810
Arthur RahnGerman246
Hervey RhodesEnglish2810
Cyril RidleyEnglish2911
Charles G. RossSouth African21820
Hugh SaundersSouth African21315
Gustav SchneidewindGerman257
Wilhelm SchwartzGerman268
Kurt SchönfelderGerman21113
Sumner SewallAmerican257
Langley SmithCanadian268
Werner SteinhauserGerman2810
Francis S. SymondsonEnglish21113
Mathieu Tenant de la TourFrench279
Renatus TheillerGerman21012
Bernhard UltschGerman21012
Gilbert J. UteauFrench235
Clive W. WarmanAmerican21012
Paul WenzlGerman2810

In literature

On the afternoon of September 14, 1918, while the Doughboys of the 33rd U.S. Infantry Division were stationed at Fromereville near Verdun, American war poet Lt. John Allan Wyeth was taking a shower with a group of bickering Doughboys when he heard the cry, "Air Raid!" Like every other bather, Wyeth ran, naked and covered with soap, into the village square. There, he watched as a Fokker D VII, flown by Unteroffizier Hans Heinrich Marwede from Jasta 67's aerodrome at Marville, attacked and set on fire three French observation balloons.[78] Lieut. Wyeth later described Marwede's victory in his sonnet Fromereville: War in Heaven.[79]

William Sanders' novel The Wild Blue and the Gray was set in a World War I squadron that flew several balloon-busting missions.

In Wilbur Smith's The Burning Shore the lead character carries out balloon-busting missions during World War I.

DC Comics published a character known as Steve Savage, the Balloon Buster in All-American Men of War title in 1965.

See also

References

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Franks et al. 1997, pp. 98–99.
  2. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 122–123.
  3. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 133–134.
  4. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 124–125.
  5. Franks et al. 1993, pp. 192–193.
  6. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 157–158.
  7. Franks et al. 1993, p. 116.
  8. Shores et al. 1990, pp. 68–69.
  9. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 58–59.
  10. Franks et al. 1993, p. 199.
  11. Franks et al. 1993, p. 128.
  12. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 172–173.
  13. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 112–113.
  14. Franks et al. 1993, p. 110.
  15. Shores et al. 1990, pp. 389–390.
  16. Shores et al. 1990, p. 190.
  17. Franks et al. 1993, pp. 130–131.
  18. Franks et al. 1993, pp. 172–173.
  19. Franks et al. 1993, p. 216.
  20. Shores et al. 1990, pp. 62–64.
  21. Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 23.
  22. Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 135.
  23. Franks et al. 1993, p. 109.
  24. Shores et al. 1990, p. 194.
  25. Franks et al. 1993, pp. 158–160.
  26. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 205–206.
  27. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 206–207
  28. Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 116.
  29. Franks et al. 1993, pp. 135–136.
  30. Franks et al. 1993, p. 151.
  31. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 187–188.
  32. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 193–194.
  33. Franks et al. 1993, pp. 174–175.
  34. Franks et al. 1993, p. 183.
  35. Franks et al. 1993, pp. 202–203.
  36. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 119–120.
  37. Franks et al. 1993, p. 77.
  38. Franks et al. 1993, pp. 87–88.
  39. Franks et al. 1993, pp. 91–92.
  40. Shores et al. 1990, pp. 171–172.
  41. Shores et al. 1990, p. 203.
  42. Franks et al. 1993, p. 175.
  43. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 198–199.
  44. Franks et al. 1993, p. 180.
  45. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 216–217.
  46. Franks et al. 1997, pp. 174–175.
  47. Franks et al. 1993, pp. 145–146.
  48. Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 182.
  49. Shores et al. 1990, pp. 249–250.
  50. Franks et al. 1993, pp. 166–167.
  51. Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 120.
  52. Franks et al. 1993, pp. 81–82.
  53. Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 121.
  54. Franks et al. 1997, pp. 175–176.
  55. Shores et al. 1990, pp. 96–97.
  56. Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 128.
  57. Shores et al. 1990, p. 98.
  58. Shores et al. 1990, pp. 110.
  59. Franks et al. 1993, p. 97.
  60. Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 156.
  61. Franks et al. 1993, pp. 109–110.
  62. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 166–167.
  63. Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 168.
  64. Franks et al. 1993, p. 121.
  65. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 44–45.
  66. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 184–185.
  67. Shores et al. 1990, p. 287.
  68. Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 197.
  69. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 67–68.
  70. Shores et al. 1990, pp. 321–322.
  71. Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 217.
  72. Shores et al. 1990, p. 336.
  73. Shores et al. 1990, pp. 346–347.
  74. Franks, Bailey 1992, pp. 225–226.
  75. Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 80.
  76. Franks et al. 1993, pp. 227–228.
  77. Includes the Italian airship M4.
  78. Omanson (2019) Before the Clangor of the Gun, pages 7–13.
  79. Wyeth (2008), This Man's Army: A War in Fifty-Odd Sonnets, page 49.