Barrage Balloons being towed by their winch vehicles. In 1938 the British Balloon Command was established to protect cities and key targets such as industrial areas, ports and harbours. Balloons were intended to defend against dive bombers flying at heights up to 5,000 feet (1,500 m), forcing them to fly higher and into the range of concentrated anti-aircraft fire—anti-aircraft guns could not traverse fast enough to attack aircraft flying at low altitude and high speed.

---

Size: 3410px × 4630px
Location: Great Britain
Photo credit: © De Luan / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1938-1945, 2, 20th, aerodrome, air, aircraft, airfield, airport, anti, archival, aviation, balloon, balloons, barrage, black, blitz, bombers, britain, british, century, civil, command, countryside, crew, culture, defence, defensive, dive, equipment, flight, floating, great, ground, heritage, history, iconic, image, kingdom, measures, mid, military, monochrome, photo, photograph, photography, picture, print, raid, rural, trucks, united, vehicles, vintage, war, warfare, white, winch, world, ww2