Operation 'Outward'- the British fire balloon program.

The Japanese attempt to set forest fires in America and Canada late in WW2, employing fire balloons (Fu-Go), is fairly well known. All in all the program was not a success (one of these balloons was recently found in British Columbia!) However the lesser known British program (Operation 'Outward') began earlier in the war and was much more successful. Nearly 100,000 surplus weather balloons trailing either steel cables to short out electrical transmission lines or incendiary devices were released between March 1942 and September 1944. The initial launch site was at Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club with another site opening at Oldstairs Bay,another golf course, near Dover. Records show that the devices met with a good deal of success,(fires and electrical shorts) so much so that the Luftwaffe made attempts to shoot the balloons down! I have marked the initial site and both sites are in the 1945 view, although there is little to see.

Operation Outward- the British fire balloon....kmz (1.36 KB)





en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Outward

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_balloon