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May 29, 1973

Dear Wanda, Jessica and Ted:

Histories of World War I tell us that both sides used aeroplanes from the beginning. At first the planes were unarmed and their mission was purely reconnaissance.  At once a race began, between the Germans and the allies, to improve and to arm aircraft. The Germans did most of the innovating and the allies then hurried to catch up. Let me try to describe the state of affairs early in 1918, when I entered aviation. To complete the aerial picture I should mention balloons.

The German dirigible balloons, called Zeppelins, had been active earlier but were no longer flying. How that had come about is an interesting story that I will not digress to relate. Both sides were however using stationary "sausage" balloons as observation posts. They were anchored two or three miles behind the front lines. Each side had a continuous strong of sausage balloons extending from the North Sea to the Swiss border. On a clear day an infantryman anywhere in the front-line trenches could see three or four balloons on his own side and as many of the enemy's. When visibility was poor the balloons stayed on the ground.

No on then had enough non-inflammable helium to fill even one balloon. They were all filled with hydrogen. One incendiary bullet was enough to ignite it, and a burning balloon made quite a blaze. Since the balloon was as big as a barn, you might think that they would have been easy prey for an enemy aeroplane. In fact, however, any plane pilot who attacked a balloon ran a considerable risk of getting shot down. Each balloon emplacement was guarded by a ring of heavy machine guns, whose crews kept a lookout for enemy aircraft.