London, Sept. 6.
Simultaneously with the departure of the Home Fleet for North Sea meneuvres, Sir Kingsley Wood, Air Secretary, today made his first inspection of one squadron of London's anti-aircraft behoof barrage at Kidbrooke, south-east of London "where the No. 1 "Balloon Centre" has been established.
After watching auxiliary airmen being instructed in knelting and splicing and working the mechanism which inflates the balloons, Sir Kingsley saw a kite balloon taken from a hangar, fixed to a winch mounted on a motor (truck and hoisted to maximum height The maximum height is a military secret.
Ten similar squadrons eventually will surround London, each having undisclosed number of similar kite balloons with 20,000 cubic feet capacity. Each balloon is attached te a winch truck accompanied by a trailer carrying iron hydrogen containers.
Because of official secrecy regarding ithe anti-aircraft defence mechanism, however, neither Sir Kingsley nor the crowds which surrounded the depot saw the steel curtains which will be suspended between the balloons in the event of air attacks.
The purpose of the balloon barrage is to force the enemy planes to such a height that they will be unable to aim their bombs accurately.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.