1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy 3 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:19,080 Speaker 1: Wiebelson and I'm Holly Frying. You may remember back at 4 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: the start of February there were a bunch of headlines 5 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: in the United States, I don't know about elsewhere, definitely 6 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: in the United States about a Chinese spy balloon traveling 7 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 1: over North America, which was then shot down off the 8 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: coast of South Carolina on February fourth, And then after 9 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: that the US military started adjusting its radar operations to 10 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 1: look for other similar floating objects, and then they shot 11 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: down some other stuff that may or may not have 12 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: also been balloons. As all of this was happening, a 13 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: whole lot of newspapers and other media were publishing a 14 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: lot about these balloons or post balloons, and also stories 15 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,760 Speaker 1: about the balloon bombs that Japan used to target in 16 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,319 Speaker 1: North America during World War Two, and that is something 17 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:14,120 Speaker 1: we have gotten listener requests to talk about on the show. Before. 18 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:17,679 Speaker 1: These were not the only balloons that were in use 19 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 1: during the war, though, and they weren't the first time 20 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: that balloons were used for military purposes. So today we're 21 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 1: going to talk about the balloons of World War Two, 22 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: but first we're going to give kind of an overview 23 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: of how balloons were used for military purposes historically before 24 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: that point. So the concept of filling a lightweight container 25 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:42,919 Speaker 1: with hot air or another gas to make it float 26 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,120 Speaker 1: dates back to at least third century BC in China. 27 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: That was when people started making flying lanterns. Those are 28 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: also called sky lanterns, and they're like tiny hot air balloons, 29 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: usually made of paper and open at the bottom, with 30 00:01:55,800 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: a candle or other flammable material suspended underneath. When the 31 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: flammable material is lit, the air inside the paper heats 32 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: up and the lantern rises into the air. Today, these 33 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: lanterns are often used in festivals and other celebrations, but 34 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: they were originally for military signaling. Sometimes they are called 35 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:21,079 Speaker 1: Kongming lanterns, after military strategist Zou Guiliang, whose courtesy name 36 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: is Kungming. He was a military leader during the Three 37 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 1: Kingdoms period of Chinese history in the third century CE, 38 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: so these lanterns weren't his innovation. It's possible that this name, though, 39 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 1: comes from a story in which he and his troops 40 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: were surrounded and he used a sky lantern to call 41 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: for reinforcements. I'm saying story here rather than citing a 42 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: specific military event, because in addition to being a real 43 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: historical figure, he also became a popular character in Chinese 44 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: literature and plays. It's kind of tricky to tease out 45 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: which parts are the historical events in which parts are 46 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 1: the stories about him. Many of the earliest balloons that 47 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: were large enough to lift a person or made from silk, 48 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,360 Speaker 1: something that was also first developed in China, but it 49 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: doesn't appear that anyone successfully did this until much later 50 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: in Europe. And we covered this part of the story 51 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: in our episode on the Mongolfier Brothers that was a 52 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: Saturday Classic this past January. They were not going to 53 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:20,920 Speaker 1: go back through at all for that reason. But the 54 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: Mongolfier Brothers balloon made its first untethered flight carrying human 55 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: passengers on November twenty first, seventeen eighty three, and right 56 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,079 Speaker 1: away as soon as that happened, people were talking about 57 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 1: military uses for this innovation. This happened while the Treaty 58 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: of Paris was being negotiated to formally end the Revolutionary War, 59 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: so Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay were all 60 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: in France, along with sixteen year old John Quincy Adams. 61 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: They all saw this balloon go up, and Franklin had 62 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: been observing and writing letters about the Mongolfier's experiments for months, 63 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: and on the day of this launch he wrote to 64 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: English naturalists Sir Joseph Banks, saying, quote, this method of 65 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: filling the balloon with hot air is cheap and expeditious, 66 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: and it is supposed maybe sufficient for certain purposes, such 67 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 1: as elevating an engineer to take a view of an 68 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 1: enemy's army works and etc. Conveying intelligence into or out 69 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 1: of a besieged town, giving signals to distant places, or 70 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:30,559 Speaker 1: the like. Not long after, Franklin also wrote to Dutch 71 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: scientists Jan Ingenhou's about balloons, saying, quote, Convincing sovereigns of 72 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: the folly of wars may perhaps be one effect of it, 73 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:41,359 Speaker 1: since it will be impracticable for the most potent of 74 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: them to guard his dominions. Five thousand balloons capable of 75 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:48,799 Speaker 1: raising two men each would not cost more than five 76 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 1: ships of the line. And where is the prince who 77 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: can afford to cover his country with troops for its defense? 78 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: As that ten thousand men defending from the clouds might not, 79 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:02,920 Speaker 1: in many laces, do an infinite deal of mischief before 80 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: a force could be brought together to repel them, and 81 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: it did not take long for balloons to be put 82 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 1: into actual practical military use. They were used for reconnaissance 83 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: during the French Revolution, and France established an Army Air 84 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: Corps in seventeen ninety four. By the mid eighteen hundred, 85 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: several other European nations had also established balloon units of 86 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: their own. In the US, Colonel John Sherburne lobbied for 87 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: a balloon reconnaissance unit during the United States War against 88 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: the Seminole Nation in eighteen forty, and then a few 89 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: years later, during the Mexican War, balloonist John Wise proposed 90 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,280 Speaker 1: using balloons to bomb the city of their Accruz. Neither 91 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: of these proposals was actually put into action, though the 92 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 1: first attempted balloon air raid was on July twelfth, eighteen 93 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:56,479 Speaker 1: forty nine. During the First Italian War of Independence, Venice 94 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: had rebelled against the Austrian Habsburg Empire and had Establis 95 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 1: wished its own government, and in response, Austrian forces besieged 96 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: the city. They deployed balloons carrying explosive devices on timed fuses. 97 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:14,600 Speaker 1: Sources contradict wildly on exactly how many balloons there were, 98 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: somewhere between two and two hundreds. These balloons were unpiloted, 99 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 1: so they were totally dependent on the wind, which of 100 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: course shifted. Although one bomb did detonate in Saint Mark's Square, 101 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 1: most of them were blown not into Venice but onto 102 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: the besiegers. Another attempt a few weeks later was similarly unsuccessful. 103 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: By this point, the first airships were being developed, basically 104 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: balloons that were capable of self propulsion. The first demonstration 105 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: of one of these was by Armegefard of France in 106 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty two. He called his airship a dirigible, meaning 107 00:06:54,000 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: capable of being steered. There's obviously overlap between balloons and airships, 108 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:02,840 Speaker 1: but today we're mostly focused on the balloons that were 109 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: not capable of that kind of self propulsion and steering. 110 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 1: Airships kind of had a whole new set of abilities 111 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: that make it kind of a different thing. We do 112 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:15,320 Speaker 1: have other episodes on airships, though, and we have one 113 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: scheduled as one of our upcoming Saturday classics. During the 114 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: US Civil War, balloonists Thaddius Lowe convinced the United States 115 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: to establish a balloon reconnaissance unit. Lowe first conducted a 116 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: demonstration on June seventeenth, eighteen sixty one, in which he 117 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: and a telegraph operator went aloft above the Columbia Armory 118 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 1: in Washington. This was clunky. There were telegraph wires dangling 119 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: from the balloon and connected to the telegraph system below 120 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: so that the operator could relay messages to the people 121 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: on the ground, but it worked. Lowe recruited other balloonists 122 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: to establish the Union Balloon Corps, and he became its 123 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: chief aeronaut In August of eighteen sixty one, a rebuilt 124 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: whole barge, the George Washington Park Curtis, was put into 125 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: use as a balloon launch, so sometimes that is described 126 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: as the United States first aircraft carrier. These balloonists were 127 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: able to gather information about Confederate movements and report back 128 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 1: on what they saw, but beyond that, Confederate troops wasted 129 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: time and effort trying to shoot them down when they 130 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: were out of range because the balloons were so visible. 131 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:32,200 Speaker 1: Confederate units also kept having to change plans and strategies 132 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 1: in an attempt to evade the balloons and stay out 133 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: of sight. Yeah. I kind of imagine them getting their 134 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: plans all in order and then being like, ah, man, 135 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 1: there's one of those balloons. You got to make a 136 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: new plan again. At the same time, though these balloonists 137 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:50,439 Speaker 1: were civilians, military leaders did not necessarily see them as 138 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:54,360 Speaker 1: all that useful. Low also butted heads with officials and 139 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:58,000 Speaker 1: ultimately left the Core in the spring of eighteen forty three. 140 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:02,200 Speaker 1: Although some of the other balloons kept working after he left, 141 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: the corps really didn't last much longer. After that. The 142 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,079 Speaker 1: Confederate Army tried to make use of balloons as well, 143 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:13,439 Speaker 1: including the Gazelle, which was nicknamed the silk dress balloon 144 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: because it was made of a colorful patchwork of dress fabric, 145 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:20,439 Speaker 1: not as it is often said, actual dresses that were 146 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 1: deconstructed and made into a balloon, just the source material. 147 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: But this balloon was captured by Federal forces on the 148 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 1: James River after only a couple of months in service, 149 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,320 Speaker 1: and Thaddius Low cut it apart and gave away the scraps. 150 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: Back in Europe, balloons played a part in the Siege 151 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: of Paris in eighteen seventy during the Franco Prussian War, 152 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: as people used them to move themselves and the mail 153 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: in and out of the besieged city. This seems to 154 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 1: have inspired some of the other European nations that had 155 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: not yet established balloon corps to do so. Although balloons 156 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 1: hadn't had much success as bombers at this point, the 157 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 1: idea that they could be it was enough that a 158 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: temporary ban was proposed at the First Hague Convention in 159 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety nine. This went into effect in nineteen hundred, 160 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: expired in nineteen oh five, and was renewed in nineteen 161 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:16,760 Speaker 1: oh seven as the Declaration Prohibiting the Discharge of Projectiles 162 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 1: and Explosives from Balloons that was ratified by twenty eight 163 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: member states, including the US and the UK. That nineteen 164 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,360 Speaker 1: oh seven ban was supposed to remain in effect until 165 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: the end of the Third Hague piece Conference, but that 166 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:36,199 Speaker 1: conference never happened, so technically it still stands in spite 167 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:39,720 Speaker 1: of that. During World War One, Professor Robert A. Milliken 168 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: of the US Army Signal Corps and the National Research 169 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 1: Council proposed the development of balloon bombers. Although these went 170 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 1: through development and testing, they were ultimately used only to 171 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 1: drop propaganda leaflets, not to drop bombs. A big reason 172 00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:59,319 Speaker 1: for this ban was that since balloons had no means 173 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: of steering, they could wind up bombing random targets indiscriminately. 174 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:06,679 Speaker 1: But airship technology had come a long way between the 175 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:10,080 Speaker 1: eighteen fifties in the start of the twentieth century, meaning 176 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 1: that at least in theory, the airship could be steered 177 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: to the correct target rather than just striking whatever it 178 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:20,680 Speaker 1: happened to drift over. The first Zeppelin, named for its inventor, 179 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 1: Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, was launched in nineteen hundred and 180 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 1: Germany used Zeppelin's for bombing raids during World War One. 181 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:32,880 Speaker 1: For a brief period, flexible and rigid airships were widely 182 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:36,880 Speaker 1: used for both military purposes and civilian travel, but they 183 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 1: were soon overshadowed by airplanes. And that brings us up 184 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:45,600 Speaker 1: to World War Two, in which obviously airplanes were used extensively, 185 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 1: but even though they might seem way less technologically advanced 186 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 1: than an airplane, balloons had really not gone away. And 187 00:11:52,559 --> 00:12:04,680 Speaker 1: we will get to that after a sponsor break. Now 188 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:07,440 Speaker 1: we are going to talk about the balloon bombs that 189 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: Japan used to attack the United States during World War Two. 190 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:15,880 Speaker 1: These were also known in Japanese as FuGO. Unless you 191 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,040 Speaker 1: already know a lot about these devices and how they worked, 192 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:23,520 Speaker 1: just the term balloon bomb might bring to mind somebody 193 00:12:23,559 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: just tying an explosive device to a balloon and letting 194 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:29,719 Speaker 1: it go and hoping for the best. That is not 195 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: at all what was happening here. About two years of 196 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:37,680 Speaker 1: design and planning went into a bombing campaign that lasted 197 00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:41,840 Speaker 1: for about six months. Japan's balloon bombing campaign was made 198 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:46,960 Speaker 1: possible by earlier Japanese research into fast moving, high altitude 199 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,080 Speaker 1: air currents what we know today as the jet stream. 200 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:54,480 Speaker 1: Japanese meteorologist Wassuburo Oishi was one of the first people 201 00:12:54,559 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: to observe and systematically study these wind patterns, and he 202 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: did this using weather balloons to track upper level wind 203 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 1: patterns near Mount Fuji, making more than one thousand observations 204 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:10,559 Speaker 1: between nineteen twenty three and nineteen twenty five. And although 205 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:13,559 Speaker 1: he published his work, his discoveries really didn't get a 206 00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:17,200 Speaker 1: lot of attention. There's some speculation that this was because 207 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 1: he published in the constructed language Esperanto. We did an 208 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,679 Speaker 1: episode on that back in twenty twenty one. In nineteen 209 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:28,680 Speaker 1: thirty three, during a period of ongoing border disputes between 210 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:34,480 Speaker 1: Japan and the USSR, Lieutenant General Reigishi Tata proposed using 211 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 1: balloons to bomb Soviet targets. These would have been fairly 212 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 1: short range balloons with bombs that were on timed fuses, 213 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: but this never really came to fruition. Then, in April 214 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,559 Speaker 1: of nineteen forty two, during World War Two, the United 215 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,839 Speaker 1: States carried out a surprise attack on Japan called the 216 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 1: Doolittle Raid that was named after Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle. 217 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:59,440 Speaker 1: And we've done an episode about this on the show before, 218 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 1: and we're going to and that as another upcoming Saturday classic. 219 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:08,320 Speaker 1: Japan's ninth Military Technical Research Institute was tasked with developing 220 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: ways to strike back at the United States, something that 221 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,720 Speaker 1: became an even bigger priority after Japan was defeated at 222 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:18,479 Speaker 1: the Battle of Midway just a few weeks later. Returning 223 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 1: to the idea of balloon bombs, Japanese scientists started studying 224 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: the wind currents over Japan and neighboring areas, and over 225 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:29,600 Speaker 1: the course of nineteen forty three and nineteen forty four, 226 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: they launched approximately two hundred weather balloons. They discovered that 227 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:38,400 Speaker 1: the jet stream over southern Japan was particularly strong at 228 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 1: an altitude of about thirty thousand feet or nine point 229 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:46,480 Speaker 1: one kilometers, especially from November to March. The jet stream 230 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 1: farther out over the Pacific Ocean hadn't really been charted yet, 231 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: but researchers estimated, based on what they knew the area 232 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:58,800 Speaker 1: around Japan, that a balloon launched from southern Japan during 233 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 1: those months, lying at the right altitude, could cover more 234 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: than six thousand miles of ocean in between fifty and 235 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:11,960 Speaker 1: seventy hours. As this atmospheric research was going on, the 236 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:16,720 Speaker 1: Japanese Army and Navy were each developing balloon prototypes. The 237 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:20,120 Speaker 1: Army developed a spherical balloon thirty two feet in diameter 238 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 1: made of layers of tissue paper with gores held together 239 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:27,400 Speaker 1: with a paste made from a root vegetable called konyaku. 240 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 1: The Navy design used rubberized silk, and eventually these two 241 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 1: projects were combined and the Navy balloon design was mostly 242 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 1: abandoned as impractical, that rubber was needed for other uses, 243 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: and because the rubberized balloons were less buoyant than the 244 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: paper ones. They took a lot longer to reach the 245 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 1: desired altitude, since Japan's plan was to take advantage of 246 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: that November to March jet stream. Once the balloon design 247 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 1: was finalized in May of nineteen forty four, there was 248 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: a huge push to make ten thousand balloons in time 249 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: to start launching them in November. Most of the balloon 250 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:10,640 Speaker 1: construction happened in seven locations around Tokyo, and most of 251 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 1: the people building the balloons were schoolgirls. The school day 252 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:18,120 Speaker 1: was shortened during the war in Japan so that children 253 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 1: could contribute to the war effort. The girls weren't told 254 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,080 Speaker 1: what they were working on, and those who heard through 255 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,200 Speaker 1: some kind of gossip generally did not believe it because 256 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 1: that idea just seemed so far fetched. Because Japan faced 257 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 1: critical food shortages during the war, and the konyaku powder 258 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: used to make the paste for the balloons was made 259 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 1: out of edible roots, that was not at all uncommon 260 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 1: for workers to take from the powder supply and eat it. 261 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 1: Because the balloons would be useless if they were punctured 262 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,600 Speaker 1: or damaged. Everything in the manufacturing area was wrapped so 263 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: nothing sharp could stick out. The girls working on the 264 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:00,760 Speaker 1: balloons were required to keep their nail short and to 265 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 1: wear gloves and socks, and they were told not to 266 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,280 Speaker 1: wear pins in their hair. Balloon material was inspected for 267 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 1: holes in a dimly lit room with a frosted glass 268 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:14,359 Speaker 1: floor that was lit from below. Finished balloons were test 269 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:17,400 Speaker 1: inflated with water to check for leaks, and once they 270 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:20,120 Speaker 1: had passed the tests, they were coated with protective lacquer. 271 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 1: The balloons themselves were also only one part of this device. 272 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:29,199 Speaker 1: They were draped with fabric, with shroud lines connecting the 273 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:32,399 Speaker 1: fabric to the gondola underneath it that would carry the 274 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:36,679 Speaker 1: instruments and the payload. This included sensors to detect the 275 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: balloon's altitude, two incendiary bombs, an anti personnel bomb, and 276 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:45,919 Speaker 1: sandbags that were used as ballast. Once the balloon was 277 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:49,160 Speaker 1: inflated with hydrogen at the launch point, it would rise 278 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:53,240 Speaker 1: up toward the jet stream. Its ideal elevation was between 279 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:57,200 Speaker 1: thirty thousand and thirty eight thousand feet. During the day, 280 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,880 Speaker 1: as the sun heated up the balloon and the gas inside, 281 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: it would rise higher at night. As things got colder, 282 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:06,480 Speaker 1: it would start to drop. If the gas heated up 283 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:09,119 Speaker 1: to the point that the pressure in the balloon became 284 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 1: too high, a pressure valve would release some of the gas, 285 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:16,520 Speaker 1: causing it to lose some altitude and keeping it from bursting. 286 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 1: But if the altimeter detective that it had dropped below 287 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:23,800 Speaker 1: thirty thousand feet, it would ignite release fuses, causing two 288 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:26,280 Speaker 1: bags of ballast to be dropped, one on each side 289 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:29,840 Speaker 1: of the balloon so that it would stay balanced. By 290 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 1: periodically venting gas and dropping ballast, the balloon remained at 291 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:37,840 Speaker 1: about the right height for its trip across the Pacific, 292 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:41,919 Speaker 1: and then once there was no more ballast to drop, 293 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:45,360 Speaker 1: the bombs would be deployed and a demolition charge would 294 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:49,600 Speaker 1: at least in theory, destroy the balloon and its remaining components. 295 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:53,400 Speaker 1: That clearly didn't always work because people found a lot 296 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:57,200 Speaker 1: of balloon parts. The equipment required to do this involved 297 00:18:57,240 --> 00:19:01,800 Speaker 1: several newly developed or refined devices, including release charges and 298 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 1: batteries that could withstand the extreme cold of high altitudes, 299 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:09,200 Speaker 1: and a radio sand or a balloon telemetry instrument that 300 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:11,920 Speaker 1: could be placed aboard some of the balloons and would 301 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:14,720 Speaker 1: last long enough to send signals until the balloon was 302 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:19,800 Speaker 1: out of range of Japanese receivers. Cold testing balloon components 303 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:23,639 Speaker 1: required essentially all of the dry ice that was available 304 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: in Tokyo. Japan's Special Balloon Regiment was established to handle 305 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 1: fill and launch the balloons, and coastal launch sites were 306 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 1: chosen based on their landscape and how close they were 307 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 1: to the rail lines that would bring in the balloons 308 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:42,280 Speaker 1: and the hydrogen needed to fill them. The first balloons 309 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 1: were launched on November third, nineteen forty four, which was 310 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 1: the birthday of Emperor Meiji, who had ruled Japan from 311 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:52,480 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty seven to nineteen twelve. Although the plan was 312 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:56,679 Speaker 1: to launch ten thousand balloons between November and March, about 313 00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:59,639 Speaker 1: four hundred of them actually went up in April. It 314 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:03,000 Speaker 1: took between thirty minutes and an hour to fill each 315 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: balloon with hydrogen, and then the weather and atmospheric conditions 316 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 1: meant that the launch windows were really pretty narrow, like 317 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:12,120 Speaker 1: there was a whole There were weather that it could 318 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,199 Speaker 1: not be launched in. There were best conditions depending on 319 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:17,840 Speaker 1: what kind of fronts had moved through. They just could 320 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,879 Speaker 1: not deploy them as fast as was planned. The radio 321 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:25,680 Speaker 1: songs aboard some of the balloons allowed the Japanese military 322 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:29,000 Speaker 1: to track balloons for about thirty hours until they were 323 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:32,400 Speaker 1: out of range, but learning whether any of the balloons 324 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,880 Speaker 1: actually hit or damaged targets in North America after that 325 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:41,280 Speaker 1: required Japan to monitor American media and other communications for news. 326 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: So the US Navy recovered one of these balloons off 327 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,440 Speaker 1: the coast of California on November fourth, nineteen forty four. 328 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 1: That balloon had been launched on the very first day 329 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:57,639 Speaker 1: of operation of this campaign. The balloon was clearly Japanese. 330 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:01,200 Speaker 1: It was carrying some kind of radio transmit, but beyond that, 331 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:05,320 Speaker 1: it wasn't immediately clear what its purpose was or exactly 332 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 1: where it had come from. The US Coast Guard found 333 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 1: part of another balloon and its rigging off of Hawaii 334 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 1: ten days later. Then, on December sixth, nineteen forty four, 335 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:21,440 Speaker 1: an explosion was reported near Thermopolis, Wyoming. Witnesses said they 336 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:23,879 Speaker 1: had seen something that looked kind of like a parachute 337 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:28,160 Speaker 1: before that explosion occurred. Over the next several months, there 338 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 1: were almost three hundred confirmed balloon sightings or recovered parts 339 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:36,480 Speaker 1: of one of these devices all around North America. They 340 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:39,720 Speaker 1: reached from the Aleutian Archipelago in Alaska on the north 341 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:42,960 Speaker 1: end all the way to Mexico in the south, and 342 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:47,240 Speaker 1: as far east as Michigan. The balloons reached at least 343 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:50,960 Speaker 1: twenty six US states, as well as Canada and Mexico. 344 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 1: The military, of course, tried to figure out exactly where 345 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:58,400 Speaker 1: these balloons were coming from, but in the United States 346 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: knowledge of the jet stream still pretty limited. Most research 347 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,880 Speaker 1: into it had started during World War Two, as these 348 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:10,920 Speaker 1: winds affected the performance of high altitude bombers. Initially, US 349 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:15,520 Speaker 1: military officials thought there might be some undetected Japanese naval 350 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:20,080 Speaker 1: force somewhere in the Pacific which was launching balloons from platforms, 351 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 1: and there had been some marine platforms used for testing 352 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:26,240 Speaker 1: while the balloons are being developed, but the ones that 353 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:29,920 Speaker 1: reached North America during this campaign were launched from Japan. 354 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: Other efforts to find the source of these balloons and 355 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:37,480 Speaker 1: to track that down included analyzing the sand from the ballast, 356 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,119 Speaker 1: reinflating some of the balloons to try to test radar 357 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 1: configurations that might be able to spot them, and figuring 358 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:50,200 Speaker 1: out which wavelength that radio son was transmitting on. Overwhelmingly, 359 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:53,919 Speaker 1: unless they had personally seen one or heard about it 360 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:57,320 Speaker 1: through gossip, the American public didn't know about the balloons 361 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:00,800 Speaker 1: at all, and the military did try to them a secret. 362 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:04,480 Speaker 1: There were big concerns about what knowledge of a Japanese 363 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:08,480 Speaker 1: balloon attack on American soil would do to moral. This 364 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:11,680 Speaker 1: was the first air attack on the continental US by 365 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 1: a foreign power since the nation's founding, and there were 366 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:19,080 Speaker 1: also concerns about how it might raise Japanese moral to 367 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:23,359 Speaker 1: know that the balloon bombs were reaching their targets. Although 368 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:27,320 Speaker 1: some local newspapers did cover sightings of balloons or explosions 369 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:31,680 Speaker 1: early on on January fourth, nineteen forty five, the Office 370 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:37,440 Speaker 1: of Censorship officially asked news media not to report on it. Meanwhile, 371 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 1: Japanese media spread their own propaganda about successful balloon attacks. 372 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 1: At the same time, American officials were worried about the 373 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:50,159 Speaker 1: balloon's potential to cause wildfires or to be used for 374 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: chemical or germ warfare. Several defense units came together to 375 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:59,359 Speaker 1: establish the Firefly Project, which involved stationing people to watch 376 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:01,920 Speaker 1: for fives and to put them out if they started. 377 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:07,080 Speaker 1: Agricultural officers, four age clubs, and other people who had 378 00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:10,640 Speaker 1: some kind of agricultural role were also tasked with watching 379 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: for signs of disease and animals, but efforts to keep 380 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 1: people from panicking also meant that the general public was 381 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 1: not warned about the balloons and their dangers, and this 382 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 1: had a tragic outcome. On May fifth, nineteen forty five, 383 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:29,760 Speaker 1: after Japan had finished launching the balloons, the Reverend Archie 384 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:33,000 Speaker 1: Mitchell and his wife Elise were taking some children from 385 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: their church in Bligh, Oregon, on an outing to Gerhardt Mountain. 386 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,240 Speaker 1: While Archie was parking the car, Elise and the children 387 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:45,680 Speaker 1: spotted a strange device which exploded almost immediately. Elise, who 388 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: was pregnant, was killed, along with Eddie Engen, Jay Gifford, 389 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 1: Dick Patsky, Joan Patsky known as Siss, and Sherman Shoemaker. 390 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:57,000 Speaker 1: All of those kids were between the ages of eleven 391 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:00,399 Speaker 1: and fourteen. They were the only known dea in the 392 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,440 Speaker 1: continental US that came directly from enemy action during World 393 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:09,159 Speaker 1: War Two. Only after this happened on May twenty second 394 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 1: did the US government warn people about these bombs, and overall, 395 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 1: there was so much secrecy about the balloons in the 396 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:20,280 Speaker 1: United States that surviving family members of these people who 397 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,640 Speaker 1: were killed in Oregon were often just met with total 398 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,560 Speaker 1: disbelief when they told other people how their loved ones 399 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:30,360 Speaker 1: had been killed. Most of the balloons that weren't recorded 400 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,439 Speaker 1: as arriving somewhere in North America probably went down somewhere 401 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:37,760 Speaker 1: over the Pacific Ocean, but it's possible that there are 402 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: still undetonated paid loads out in the world somewhere. One 403 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 1: was found near Lumby, British Columbia in twenty fourteen, which 404 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 1: had to be handled by a bomb disposal team. We 405 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,040 Speaker 1: will get to the Allies use of balloons after another 406 00:25:52,119 --> 00:26:05,040 Speaker 1: quick sponsor break. Japan was not the only nation using 407 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:08,000 Speaker 1: balloons during World War Two. Now we're going to talk 408 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,520 Speaker 1: about how the Allies were using balloons for both defensive 409 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:16,240 Speaker 1: and offensive purposes. We're going to start with the defensive balloons, 410 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:20,199 Speaker 1: in particular barrage balloons, which were used as protection in 411 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:24,680 Speaker 1: multiple countries. Barrage balloons were first developed during World War 412 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:28,240 Speaker 1: One as a way to protect cities, ports, factories, and 413 00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:31,919 Speaker 1: other sites from aerial attack, and nations on both sides 414 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:35,720 Speaker 1: of the conflict put them to use. Attacking aircraft often 415 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:39,280 Speaker 1: flew at low altitude to try to avoid anti aircraft guns, 416 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 1: so flying a bunch of balloons above their potential targets 417 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:46,240 Speaker 1: forced the planes to fly higher, and this put them 418 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 1: in the range of anti aircraft weapons while also putting 419 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:53,240 Speaker 1: them farther away from their intended targets. These balloons were 420 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:57,200 Speaker 1: also usually anchored with cables, and the cables themselves presented 421 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:00,520 Speaker 1: their own hazards. Planes that hit these cable could be 422 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: damaged or even crash. Balloons could also be used to 423 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:08,560 Speaker 1: hold suspended nets with the same purpose. You may be thinking, 424 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:10,919 Speaker 1: if these balloons were causing so much trouble, why not 425 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:13,280 Speaker 1: just shoot them down? And the answer is that they 426 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:16,639 Speaker 1: were usually filled with hydrogen, which would explode if you 427 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:19,520 Speaker 1: did that. Yeah, so you shot them down, you were 428 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:23,920 Speaker 1: risking yourself. The balloons used during World War Two were 429 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:27,280 Speaker 1: similar in both design and purpose. In the UK, the 430 00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:30,359 Speaker 1: Royal Air Force Balloon Command was formed on November first, 431 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:33,199 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty eight, and it was made up of volunteers 432 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 1: from the Auxiliary Air Force. The Women's Auxiliary Air Force 433 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,000 Speaker 1: was a huge part of this. Women made the balloons 434 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:42,720 Speaker 1: and they were trained on balloon handling and managing the 435 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:46,199 Speaker 1: winches that were used to position and anchor them. The 436 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: balloons themselves were very large, sixty four feet or nineteen 437 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 1: meters long by thirty four feet or of ten point 438 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 1: four meters in diameter, and they were shaped kind of 439 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: like a blimp or a kite balloon. That's an aerodynamic 440 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:03,399 Speaker 1: shape that was meant to make them more stable in 441 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,159 Speaker 1: the air, but they did not have any kind of 442 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:10,640 Speaker 1: self propulsion. It's estimated that during the Blitz, more than 443 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:14,560 Speaker 1: one hundred enemy aircraft struck the cables from the barrage 444 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:18,280 Speaker 1: balloons that were floating over London and either crashed or 445 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:22,440 Speaker 1: were forced to land. The United States was using barrage 446 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 1: balloons as well, and more than thirty barrage balloon battalions 447 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 1: were trained at Camp Tyson in Tennessee, which was built 448 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 1: for that purpose. The balloons were used in conjunction with 449 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:35,800 Speaker 1: the Coast Artillery Corps and the Marine Corps to protect 450 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:39,680 Speaker 1: sites around the US coast, and American balloon battalions were 451 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:44,920 Speaker 1: also deployed overseas. The US Army was racially segregated, and 452 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:48,480 Speaker 1: four of these balloon battalions were made up entirely of 453 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,760 Speaker 1: Black troops, and then one of those units, the three 454 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:56,320 Speaker 1: hundred twentieth Barrage Balloon Battalion, was responsible for helping to 455 00:28:56,360 --> 00:29:00,800 Speaker 1: protect landing sites during the D Day invasion of Normandy. 456 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:04,000 Speaker 1: This was the only all Black troop unit to storm 457 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: the beaches at Normandy. These balloons were meant to provide 458 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:11,800 Speaker 1: cover and protection for the landing craft, and many of 459 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:14,880 Speaker 1: them were destroyed during the initial beach landings at Normandy. 460 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:20,120 Speaker 1: Soldiers kept having to fill and redeploy replacement balloons after 461 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: the initial landing was over. The three twentieth was stationed 462 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:26,960 Speaker 1: in France for about one hundred and fifty days as 463 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:29,200 Speaker 1: the war in Europe ended. There was a plan to 464 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,440 Speaker 1: redeploy them in the Pacific, but the Pacific War ended 465 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:37,480 Speaker 1: before that happened, and then on the offensive side. Operation 466 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 1: Outward was a British campaign to attack Germany using balloons, 467 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:46,160 Speaker 1: and it grew out of Britain's use of barrage balloons. 468 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:50,120 Speaker 1: On September seventeenth, nineteen forty, during the Battle of Britain, 469 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:54,240 Speaker 1: several barrage balloons broke free of their anchors during a 470 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:58,680 Speaker 1: severe storm. They drifted away, making their way to Sweden, 471 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:02,680 Speaker 1: Finland and Denmark, and they were trailing their anchoring cables 472 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:08,560 Speaker 1: behind them. These wayward balloons caused various problems, especially when 473 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:12,960 Speaker 1: those cables brushed up against electrical lines, which caused short 474 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: circuits and power outages, and also knocked out antennas. Officials 475 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:21,440 Speaker 1: in Sweden reported what had happened back to British authorities, 476 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 1: and Prime Minister Winston Churchill was like, so what if 477 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:29,040 Speaker 1: we did this on purpose, or to use his actual words, 478 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:35,000 Speaker 1: we may make a virtue of our misfortune. I'm just like, hey, 479 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:41,360 Speaker 1: that's neat they do that. The Air Ministry had some 480 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:43,440 Speaker 1: doubts that this was going to work, and there were 481 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:47,680 Speaker 1: also people who really thought this entire idea was unsporting. 482 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:52,120 Speaker 1: But the Admiralty started conducting studies similar to what we 483 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:56,240 Speaker 1: discussed Japan doing, figuring out that at the right altitudes, 484 00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:00,720 Speaker 1: prevailing winds went from west to east, meaning that Britain 485 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:04,600 Speaker 1: could float balloons to Germany, but Germany probably couldn't float 486 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:08,000 Speaker 1: them back, and also the balloons weren't likely to float 487 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:11,800 Speaker 1: back toward Britain once they'd been launched. They used eight 488 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:15,440 Speaker 1: foot weather balloons with an internal cord which tightened as 489 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:18,520 Speaker 1: the balloon inflated, so when the gas got hot and 490 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:21,240 Speaker 1: the balloon expanded, the cord would open a valve that 491 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:24,680 Speaker 1: would vent some of the gas. A container of mineral 492 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: oil also acted as ballast with the mineral oil, slowly 493 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:31,360 Speaker 1: dripping out to lighten the load as the balloon gradually 494 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:36,480 Speaker 1: lost its gas. These balloons were equipped with thin wires 495 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 1: on timed fuses, or with incendiary devices. These devices had 496 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:47,080 Speaker 1: various nicknames, including Beer, jelly, and socks. Beer used half 497 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:52,320 Speaker 1: pint glass bottles of incendiary materials, including white phosphorus. Jelly 498 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:57,360 Speaker 1: contained an incendiary jelly, and socks was a canvas tube 499 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 1: soaked in paraffin and filled with incendiary material and it 500 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:04,320 Speaker 1: looked kind of like two links of sausage. The hope 501 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:06,800 Speaker 1: was that the shape of the sock would cause it 502 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:10,680 Speaker 1: to snag in trees and set them on fire. Operation 503 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 1: Outward was approved in September of nineteen forty one, and 504 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:17,800 Speaker 1: the first balloon launches started the following March from Felixstow 505 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:21,560 Speaker 1: Ferry Golf Club. Women were once again a big part 506 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:25,400 Speaker 1: of this operation. The Women's Royal Naval Service or wrens, 507 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:29,680 Speaker 1: were already assisting with barrage balloons, and for Operation Outward 508 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:32,120 Speaker 1: they filled as many as one thousand balloons a day 509 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:37,360 Speaker 1: with hydrogen, which was inherently dangerous. They were given flashproof 510 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:39,800 Speaker 1: gear to wear and the balloons were sprayed with water 511 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:44,040 Speaker 1: during fillings, so that static electricity did not ignite the hydrogen, 512 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:49,240 Speaker 1: but there were still some accidental ignitions and burns. Nearly 513 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:53,760 Speaker 1: a hundred thousand balloons were deployed during Operation Outward, with 514 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:57,960 Speaker 1: slightly more of them equipped with incendiary devices than with wires. 515 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,600 Speaker 1: Over the course of this operation, Britain got reports of 516 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:05,840 Speaker 1: forest fires and of German aircraft being tasked with hunting 517 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:08,680 Speaker 1: down these balloons, so if nothing else, this was getting 518 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:11,320 Speaker 1: the German Army to use up some of its resources. 519 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:16,040 Speaker 1: On July twelfth, nineteen forty two, a balloon hit electrical 520 00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:19,479 Speaker 1: wires near a power station near Leipzig, and that caused 521 00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:23,640 Speaker 1: a fire and destroyed the station. That caused widespread power outages, 522 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:27,760 Speaker 1: but not all of the balloons struck their intended targets. 523 00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:31,800 Speaker 1: On September nineteenth, nineteen forty four, a balloon knocked out 524 00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:35,520 Speaker 1: power in Laholm, Sweden, which led to two trains colliding 525 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:38,640 Speaker 1: in the dark. As was the case with the tragedy 526 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:42,600 Speaker 1: in Oregon, which took place after Japan had stopped launching balloons, 527 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:47,560 Speaker 1: this collision happened after Operation Outward had ended. The last 528 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:51,680 Speaker 1: balloon launches had taken place on September fourth, nineteen forty four, 529 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:55,760 Speaker 1: so this was two weeks later. And of course, balloons 530 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:59,360 Speaker 1: have continued to be used for military purposes since World 531 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:03,640 Speaker 1: War Two, including for surveillance and to deploy weapons. This 532 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:07,959 Speaker 1: includes everything from attempts to develop incendiary balloons during the 533 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:13,960 Speaker 1: Cold War two, reports of Russia launching reflective balloons as decoys, 534 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,279 Speaker 1: and really recent months to try to distract or draw 535 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:20,920 Speaker 1: fire from Ukrainian troops. And then of course there's that 536 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:26,000 Speaker 1: Chinese spy balloon that made so many headlines in the US. 537 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:28,080 Speaker 1: I think we're going to have a fascinating talk on 538 00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:31,799 Speaker 1: Friday about these probably, so do you have listener mail 539 00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:35,240 Speaker 1: for today? Though I do. I have listener mail from Caitlyn. 540 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:39,520 Speaker 1: It's about the velveteen Rabbit, and Caitlyn wrote, Holly and Tracy, 541 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:41,600 Speaker 1: I'm sure I'm not going to be alone in this, 542 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:44,200 Speaker 1: but as soon as you mentioned scarlet fever, I thought 543 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:47,840 Speaker 1: they'd better be explaining why that poor boy's rabbit got burnt. 544 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:51,000 Speaker 1: I think I'm like Holly where my parents sheltered me 545 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:53,719 Speaker 1: from the book because I was aware of it, but 546 00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:56,200 Speaker 1: I realized i'd never actually read it until I was 547 00:34:56,280 --> 00:35:02,040 Speaker 1: reading it to my child. No. Yeah, my mother in 548 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:03,840 Speaker 1: law gave it to my son for Easter when he 549 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:06,040 Speaker 1: was maybe two, and went on and on about how 550 00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:08,880 Speaker 1: it's her favorite book and she bought a copy for 551 00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:11,759 Speaker 1: her house because she loves it so much, and I 552 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:14,080 Speaker 1: thought it was one I had forgotten. Nope, I would 553 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:17,760 Speaker 1: one hundred percent remember that bunny getting murdered. I remember 554 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:20,400 Speaker 1: reading it to my son at bedtime the first time, 555 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:22,920 Speaker 1: and as it went on, I started becoming more and 556 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:26,560 Speaker 1: more internally distraught. Once I put him down, I went 557 00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:28,360 Speaker 1: out to my husband and said, do you know the 558 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:30,759 Speaker 1: story in this book? Why does your mom think this 559 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:34,279 Speaker 1: is sweet? He didn't remember it at all. L O L. 560 00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:36,719 Speaker 1: It's been a long time since my son, who was 561 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:39,320 Speaker 1: now five, pulled it out. I'm hoping he doesn't rediscover 562 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:41,839 Speaker 1: it anytime soon because he is a sensitive kid who 563 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,440 Speaker 1: believes all the toys are real. Anyway, I had to 564 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:46,880 Speaker 1: get that off my chest after hearing your rants along 565 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:49,440 Speaker 1: the same lines. Thanks for reminding me that I shouldn't 566 00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:52,480 Speaker 1: track down our copy and hide it. Happy Friday, Caitlin. 567 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:54,840 Speaker 1: I love this email. I did too, By the way, Caitlin, 568 00:35:55,000 --> 00:36:00,400 Speaker 1: all the toys are real, just definite. Yeah. I remember 569 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:02,879 Speaker 1: if I said this already, because you were out last 570 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:05,360 Speaker 1: week we took we had a break from recording. We 571 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:10,120 Speaker 1: got more traffic on our Scarlet Fever post on Facebook 572 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:12,799 Speaker 1: than anything we have done in years. And there were 573 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:17,279 Speaker 1: some arguments about people's interpretations of The Velveteen Rabbit and 574 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:19,880 Speaker 1: where whether they thought it was a sweet book or not. 575 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:24,200 Speaker 1: There were some very vigorous Velveteen Rabbit defenders in the comments, 576 00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:26,759 Speaker 1: and then also some people who were like, I was traumatized. 577 00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:33,200 Speaker 1: This email, though, reminded me of on maybe like a 578 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:36,520 Speaker 1: fourth or fifth birthday of some folks I used to know. 579 00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:42,720 Speaker 1: I bought their kid a collection of the Babar books 580 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:46,799 Speaker 1: because I remembered loving them as a child. I did 581 00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:50,920 Speaker 1: not recognize such things as colonialism in there when I 582 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:57,080 Speaker 1: was a child. And I also didn't remember that that 583 00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:02,200 Speaker 1: whole collection starts with Babar's parents being killed by hunters. 584 00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:05,080 Speaker 1: Like I had no memory of this at all. And 585 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:07,640 Speaker 1: so you know, I've bought this child this, you know, 586 00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:13,000 Speaker 1: pretty hardcover collected volume of these stories. And she was like, 587 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:14,359 Speaker 1: will you read it to me? And I was like, oh, 588 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:18,000 Speaker 1: of course. And as I'm reading, like my eyes on 589 00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:20,680 Speaker 1: the page are seeing the words killed by hunters, and 590 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:24,279 Speaker 1: I was like, oh, no, I don't know. I don't know, 591 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:27,640 Speaker 1: like and if there have been any conversations about death 592 00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:30,759 Speaker 1: with this child at all, Like I have no idea. 593 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:34,959 Speaker 1: And so I was like Babar and his parents got 594 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:40,120 Speaker 1: separated and she went separated. I was like, yes, he 595 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:42,719 Speaker 1: was lost and he could not find them. And that 596 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:47,040 Speaker 1: was how I tried to fix in the moment my 597 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:51,239 Speaker 1: error having bought this book without rereading it. You have 598 00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:54,080 Speaker 1: just described one of the many reasons I'm not comfortable 599 00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:57,360 Speaker 1: around kids. Yeah, because I don't know what their parents 600 00:37:57,360 --> 00:37:59,799 Speaker 1: are cool with, and there's no way to have a conversation. 601 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:02,719 Speaker 1: Ticks through all the possible things that might come up 602 00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:05,839 Speaker 1: in a conversation. Sure, and then I'm like, I don't know, 603 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:08,400 Speaker 1: do they And I'll end up, like you know, telling 604 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:11,840 Speaker 1: them something that kids are not ready to hear. Yeah, 605 00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:15,239 Speaker 1: it's very stressful for me. I do now make it 606 00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:18,160 Speaker 1: a point to read the children's book I mean for 607 00:38:18,239 --> 00:38:20,439 Speaker 1: little kid books, not something that like a very long 608 00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:22,719 Speaker 1: chapter book, as that would be a little different, but 609 00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:24,640 Speaker 1: like when it comes to things like picture books and 610 00:38:24,719 --> 00:38:26,920 Speaker 1: storybooks for little kids, like I do make it a 611 00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:30,239 Speaker 1: point to read things before I give it to them, 612 00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:32,000 Speaker 1: just because I want to make sure I'm not about 613 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:35,760 Speaker 1: to accidentally do something traumatizing. So anyway, thank you so much, Caitlin. 614 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:39,040 Speaker 1: Thank you to everybody who was so vigorously excited in 615 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:41,000 Speaker 1: one way or the other about the velveteen rabbit on 616 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:44,000 Speaker 1: our Facebook page. I did have to shut down a 617 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:47,560 Speaker 1: few threads because there were some hostilities that happened and 618 00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:50,680 Speaker 1: I was like, we don't need that today, but it 619 00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:54,759 Speaker 1: was great to generally see the like the more lively 620 00:38:56,400 --> 00:39:01,080 Speaker 1: but not jerkish conversation that happened. If you would like 621 00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:03,400 Speaker 1: to send us a note about this or any other podcast, 622 00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:06,719 Speaker 1: great history podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com and we're all 623 00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:08,839 Speaker 1: over social media at missed in History. That's where you'll 624 00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:12,120 Speaker 1: find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, and you can 625 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:15,520 Speaker 1: subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio app or wherever 626 00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:22,880 Speaker 1: you like to get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in 627 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:26,640 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts 628 00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:30,760 Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 629 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:32,360 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.