We must now examine the Draken, or Drachen, which means “kite”, but more completely it means “Dragon”. The Draken were German observation balloons flying 1,000 to 4,000 feet above the ground and just behind the German lines. The Draken was a very steady observation platform where a truck could be watched from fifteen miles away, men from five or six miles, and artillery fire from thirty or forty miles away by muzzle flash at night. Pre-planned artillery fires covered every inch of the ground in front of the Draken. Such an important set of eyes was protected very well indeed, as you would expect.
The following is taken from the historian Dr. David Payne:
The sausage shaped balloon of both sides on the Western Front was around 200 feet (60m) in length, 50 feet (15m) feet in diameter, and contained about 30,000 cubic feet of inflammable hydrogen gas. Some of the larger balloons were filled with coal gas, also then known as illumination gas.
Most observation balloons had an external envelope made of sheets of rubberized (gutta percha = latex rubber + naphtha) diagonal cotton cloth, sewn together as gores and segments. The rubberized cloth was then vulcanized. Inside the envelope so formed, were located cylindrical hydrogen gas-bag(s) and a ballonet, which was filled with a constant supply of air from the wind further tautening and stabilizing the envelope.
A valve attached to a fixed chain inside the balloon would be activated when the balloon expanded an was in danger over-inflating as it ascended, or warmed in the sun, releasing gas so the balloon would not burst under its own pressure.
Due to paucity of suitable dyes, the balloons were usually colored yellow or grey with chrome or aniline dyes.
Helium, an inert gas, and, therefore, potentially a much safer balloon inflation agent, was not available in large quantities until just before the Armistice and was never put into operational use on the Western Front in the Great War.
The shape of the stabilizer at the rear end of the balloon often gave the nickname to the balloon. A typical example of the sausage-type was the not very successful German balloon designed by Major John Parseval and Hauptman von Siegsfeld almost thirty years before the Great War. It had a single stabilizer (or ballonet) that was tube-like, located low and centrally and curved over the tail of the balloon. It was officially called the Drachen – German for Dragon or, also, a Kite (more confusion!) - and unofficially as the Nulle or the ‘Testicle’ due to the suggestive shape of the air-filled steering bag. The size of this balloon was 65 feet long and 27 feet in diameter (20m x 8m).
One end of the 15mm (5/8th’s of an inch) diameter cable that tethered of all types of observation balloon was attached to the under-belly of the balloon by multiple branch ropes with attachment points to a ‘girdle’. This went all the way round the long axis of the balloon. It provided a bracing effect, and enhanced rigidity and stability. The other end of the cable was wound onto a winch that was bolted to the back of a 3-ton lorry and powered by a petrol engine. This winch would be used to pay out the balloon cable as the balloon rose in the air – nominally at about 10 metres per second - and to reel it in when the observation missions were accomplished. Later models were provided with express speed winches so that when danger threatened – as it frequently did – the winch could within seconds, rather than minutes, reel in the balloon and its occupant(s).
The balloon crew also had access to a valve in the nose of the balloon that could release gas and expedite the descent of the balloon. Another device, self-explanatorily called the ‘ripper panel’, could be opened by the balloon crew in even greater extremis; it would cause the balloon to descend even more precipitately.
The anticipated ‘life’ of an observation balloon in an active sector of the Western Front was about two weeks. By 1918, due to the activities of the air aces called ‘balloon-busters’ the ‘life’ of a balloon could be as little as half a day. These aces called the men who manned the balloons, ‘balloonatics’.
When fighter aircraft became sophisticated and could carry out the aerobatics required to safely target the observation balloon many attempts were made to shoot the observation balloons down. It was not until the special incendiary machine gun bullets – the so-called Buckingham bullets, fired from special .45 caliber machine guns - became available that any degree of success was achieved.
Of course, every attempt was made to protect the balloons by supportive action from the ground and the air. Every balloon site was surrounded by anti-aircraft artillery and high-powered machine-guns, and had a shield of fighter planes. (Draken were protected by seventy or eighty well manned 8mm water-cooled machineguns, explosive incendiary autocannon, and a battery of 77 mm anti-aircraft artillery.) Chains and cables were suspended from the balloon to make further hazards for the enemy fighter aircraft and, where the balloons were gathered in a group, a sort of chain mail was linked between them. The Germans skilled use of a spectacular incendiary anti-aircraft shell was said to deter all but the most ardent of the Allied fighter pilots.
Paradoxically, the closer a balloon was winched down to the ground, the safer it became, as most pilots would not attack below 1,000 feet altitude for fear of anti-aircraft and small arms fire.At the time of planned infantry offensives, the fighter aircraft squadrons of the side launching the offensive were specifically instructed to target the enemy’s observation balloons, so as to blind the enemy field commanders to the movements and dispositions of the attacking troops.
Eagle Squadron’s job were the drachen. One of their Spad XIII’s two machineguns was changed over to a special .45 caliber machinegun firing Buckingham red phosphorous incendiary ammunition and tactics were practiced. (Luke for sure killed his first Draken without the Buckingham incendiaries. At some unknown later date he used the Buckingham equipment.)
Some folks have said that Frank Luke just went out and killed Draken for his own personal reasons. This is completely untrue. Luke became famous in seventeen days at St. Mihiel. On the first day Frank Luke was despised by his squadron mates and called a boastful liar. Two weeks and three days later the other pilots looked on Frank Luke with awe and amazement.
Instead of scorn for "that boastful liar Luke" his squadron mates would say with deep pride and humility "I flew with Frank Luke."
His example inspired the Eagle Squadron, the 1st Pursuit Group, the Army Air Service, and the Army Air Corps. Frank Luke inspires the United States Air Force to this day.
We will continue his story tomorrow.
