July-August - Air Defense Artillery School

Barrage Balloon Operations
Board
By Captain James S. Webb, Jr., Coast Artillery Corps
It is the night of the full moon. clear as the nose blister
on a ~Iitsubishi 97 bomber and a likelY time for our vellO\\'
"brethren" to be gluing their slant e).es to bombsights as
they approach an American objective.
Twentv thousand feet below and a hundred miles ahead
in a smal1 building is the headquarters of the defending
barrage balloon battalion. In the barrage control room the
switchboard operator looks up from his copy of Yallk and
scans the balloon operations board.
"Air Raid Status-\Vhite. Operational Control-Normal.
\Veather Class-I. Condition of Readiness-Stand Bv. Balloons
flying at 1000 feet." He muses to himself. •
Unceremoniously the higher headquarters drop on his
switchboard falls. His ear caresses the handset lazilv and is
quickly bitten off by the crisp message it spits out. •
"Condition Two-f\LERT. Flv all balloons Hal-I. Interceptor
Control. Barking Dog. Co~poral 1\lisfit. 1944."
Almost instantaneously our hero has rung all subordinate
units of the command and relayed the message. Then reaching
under the desk in front of him with one hand he pushes
a button which sends a buzzing sound throughout the building
while with his other hand he begins to throw the little
switches clustered on the desk in front of him. The lio
on the balloon operations board above him dance on and
stopping finally to indicate the new status of the barra~
In an adjoining room the Commanding Officer ana
message center clerk look up at the sound of the buzzer
a replica of the upper portion of the balloon operatiOl
board which reposes on a mantle. These lights are changir
too, in unison with those in front of the switchboard ope
tor next door.
Everyone in the headquarters has in front of him
graphic picture of the situation immediately, dramatical
illustrated by colored lights and forcefully commandil
attention by the use of buzzers in event of change of stall
The balloon operations board then is the intelligeo
medium of the balloon barrage, designed to keep all hea
quarters personnel constantly and accurately informed
the military situation in the defended area.
Constru~tion of this board is a relatively simple and i
expensive project. 1\lerely requisition, purchase or "othl
wise procure" a few pieces of plywood, a couple of 2" x 4'
fine piano wire, rubber bands, paint and paper. Then \\T
home for your old Christmas tree light bulbs and strinl
SWITCHBOARD BARRAGE CONTROL ROOM
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COMMANDING OFFICER'S BOARD
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