ts; the forward segment is filled with gas, the rear segment
is kept full of air through a circular entrance attached, facing the
wind, to the under surface of the balloon. But the steadying of the
balloon is mainly achieved by the air-rudder, which is another inflated
sausage, curved round the under side of the rear end of the balloon, and
automatically filled with air through a valve at its forward end. The
kite balloon is the ugliest thing that man has ever seen when he looks
up at the sky, but it serves its purpose.

Before the war, kite balloons, often called 'Drachen' balloons, had been
a German secret. The French and Belgians had obtained drawings of them,
and at the outbreak of war had some few ready for use. Moreover, the
French were at work on their 'Cacquot' balloon, an improvement on the
'Drachen' in that it made use of a new and more convenient stabilizing
device. Where the 'Drachen' had used a long and clumsy string of
parachute streamers attached to the tail, the 'Cacquot' achieved the
same result by means of stabilizing fins attached to the balloon itself.

In October 1914 Wing Commander Maitland was sent to Belgium in command
of a captive balloon detachment, to carry out aerial spotting for the
guns of monitors working off the coast between Nieuport and Coxyde. His
two balloons, which were spherical, proved to be useless in a strong
wind. In January 1915 he made acquaintance with a 'Drachen' balloon
which the Belgians were using in the neighbourhood of Alveringheim. He
was allowed to inspect this balloon and to take measurements and
photographs. In January and February he sent home reasoned reports to
the Air Department of the Admiralty, urging that kite-balloon sections
should be formed in the British air service. He also sent Flight
Commander J. D. Mackworth to Chalais-Meudon, the French kite-balloon
centre, and in the second and fuller of his reports he embodied the
technical information which had been gathered from the French.

These reports were acted on at once. Wing Commander Maitland was
recalled from Belgium, and a centre was established at Roehampton, to
train kite-balloon sections for active service. In March 1915 two kite
balloons, an old type of winch, and a length of cable were received from
the French, who also lent competent instructors and a generous supply of
accessories.

Just at this time General Birdwood, who had been sent by Lord Kitchener
to the Dardanelles to report on the pos