Barrage Balloons: weapons or propaganda?

[1889]

I’ve seen barrage balloons in numerous photos but have often been puzzled by how such devices could have been effective. Considering the very low altitude required to fit these things into the pictures I’ve seen I’ve been getting the impression that they were better to be seen rather than deployed effectively.

So what do you say, were barrage balloons defences that the enemy had to seriously take into account or were they meant more to comfort the troops and civilians under threat of air attack?

 

[frekk]

Barrage balloons were implemented to deal with low-flying aircraft. Anti-aircraft guns couldn't traverse fast enough to target low-flying aircraft ... a high speed object that is closer to you crosses your field of vision alot faster than one that is farther away.

So, no, they weren't intended as propaganda devices but had a real purpose and were fairly effective in the role they were intended.

Sometimes they were used as propaganda devices. There was some sort of accident involving barrage balloons at Sault Ste. Marie, which is a city in Canada deep in the interior of the continent. Obviously, there was no need for them there as German bombers never even had the range to hit the more distant parts of the British Isles. But they gave Canadians a sense of urgency/emergency and reinforced the belief that the Germans were a threat to North American cities.