Civil defence
Balloons in the sky
The skies over Britain were defended in a number of ways by the
home front. Active defense measures were employed such as
fighter aircraft, searchlights, anti-aircraft guns, barrage
balloons and radar; these were all operated by the
military. Looking to the sky trying to catch German
attacks early and sound the sirens in time.
Barrage balloons
Large silver ballons floating in the skies were moored to a wagon
or the ground by a steel cable and were used to ward off low flying
aircraft. The cables were strong enough to withstand a
collision with an aircraft; in fact the aircraft was likely to come
off worse. Barrage balloons were a common sight in the
air over Southampton to discourage aircraft from
dive-bombing. There was a factory producing these
balloons in large numbers, the factory had previously
been the Pilkington glass works in Millbrook Road but
during the war it made the fins and the tails of the
balloons.
Anti-aircraft guns
In Southampton one of the anti-aircraft guns was a
Hotchkiss machine gun, it was mounted on catchcold tower in 1940
and manned by R.N. H.M.S “Safeguard”. These posts were also
frequently manned by women.
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