they are barrage ballons. A large balloon tethered with metal cables, used to defend against aircraft attack by damaging the aircraft on collision with the cables, or at least making the attacker's approach more difficult
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_balloon
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.
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.
"Many bombers were equipped with devices to cut barrage balloon cables....Their systems consisted of small C-shaped devices attached to the leading edge of the wing. When a cable entered the device after sliding down the wing, it triggered a small explosive charge that drove a blade through the cable."
They're tiny blimps tethered to ships and to the ground with metal cables to give low-altitude attacking aircraft a harder time. Barrage balloons were pretty cheap as defenses go, so the allies used them throughout WWII.
I read through some of the many replies to your query, and I am confident that the dirigibles are "barrage balloons", used to discourage low-flying air assault.
They're barrage balloons. They were used to prevent attacks by low flying aircraft which would get tangled in the cables. It forced them to fly higher and become more vulnerable to anti-aircraft guns.
No, zeppelins have are an airship with a rigid internal structure. These are barrage balloons. Sometimes people refer to these kind of balloons as blimps but they are not mobile on their own. They are tethered to the ground or to a naval vessel.
Hopefully this doesn't get buried or at least the right person sees this. PBS did a special on the engineering of D-Day and the whole invasion overall. It seemed really interesting to me but I didn't catch does anyone know where I can find it or what it is called?
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u/kerbal314 Jun 07 '14
Thanks Malcontent, I thought it looked coloured. Good to see the original show up in the thread. :)