OCR Text |
Show Aviators Learned to Avoid Decoy Balloon Life was full of surprises, mostly mpleasant, for the aviation force-" during the World war, as related In the war diary of a young American flyer in Liberty. For instance, be wrote, "There's a Hun balloon that's rather close to the lines. They always al-ways pull down the others when they see us coming, hut they leave this one up. It looked like easy pickings and we asked the commander if we couldn't drop down and get it some time when the wind was with us strong. He snld he'd investigate nnd that we'd better leave balloons alone until we were sent after them, because they were very dangerous toys. "He got word from the brigade that this balloon Is a dummy," the diarist further recorded, "and Is there as a decoy. About four batteries have It ranged," he explained, "and instead of having a passenger basket, it's loaded with amonal, and as soon as some sucker dives on It, the Huns will explode ex-plode it and that will be the last heard of him. . . . This Is certainly a nice frendly little war." |