About Barrage Balloons
At the given co-ordinates, you will see three large concrete blocks. Just round the corner, heading towards Banner Lane, is a fourth. These concrete blocks were used during World War II as an anchor for barrage balloons. You can still see many of the hooks on the blocks that would have been used as the anchor points for the cables. Some are still complete; others have broken off, although if you look carefully you can still see where they would have been.
The Barrage Balloon was used to help protect the skies around major industrial and cities, as it would prevent bombers from low-flying approaches and dive bombing, reducing their accuracy and hopefully protecting their target. Balloons would either be deployed from fixed sites (like this one), or from mobile sites on the backs of special lorries.
The top half of the barrage balloon would be filled with hydrogen. The bottom half was left empty, and would fill with air when it reached the necessary height. The maximum height was about 5000 feet, and they would be deployed at varying heights for better protection of the area.
Hydrogen is highly flammable, so should an aircraft hit it, the balloon would explode. Even more deadly than the balloon was the cable – these were designed to cut the wings of the aircraft that hit it. To counter this, German bombers were fitted with cable cutters on their wings. In response to that, barrage balloons were fitted with explosive devices at both ends of the cable, designed to break free on collision with the aircraft, deploy parachutes at both ends of the cable so that the combined drag and weight would bring the aircraft down.
Unfortunately, barrage balloons were just as much threat to allied aircraft. For example, on the 25th May, 1940, a Handley Page Hampden was on night training when it collided with a balloon over Wythall in Birmingham, and crashed on the Coventry & North Warwickshire Cricket Ground on Binley Road in Coventry, killing all three crewmen.
On the night of Germany’s Operation Moonlight Sonata, on the 14th November 1940 (better known to residents of Coventry as “The Blitz”), there were 56 barrage balloons deployed around the city. Some visual accounts of residents state that these were not wholly effective.
However, barrage balloons did have their place, and did manage to hamper and destroy many enemy aircraft. The destruction of 231 V1 “Doodlebug” flying bombs are credited to barrage balloons.
Today in Coventry, there are very few of these concrete reminders left. Other than this, I only know about the ones in the War Memorial Park, which is at one of the waypoints of the multi cache http://coord.info/GC3JZ07. If anyone knows of any others, then please let me know!
If you wish to learn more about barrage balloons, go to the Wikipedia entry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_balloon). You might also find this first hand account of working with barrage balloons of interest (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/83/a4551383.shtml). For more information about defending Coventry during the Blitz, have a look here (http://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/blitz/defend-cov.php)
About the Cache
To find the cache, you will need to answer a few simple questions; the answers to all these may be found at the given co-ordinates
- Imagine that these anchor points are very large dice, with the hooks (or what’s left of the hook) on each of the faces represent spots. Go to the block furthest to the east. What number is on the uppermost face? Answer = A
- There is a sign next to the blocks with a serial number on the pole. Take the last two letters of the serial number and convert them into the number equivalents (where A is 1, B is 2, C is 3, etc), and take the smaller number from the larger number. Answer =B
- Just below the serial number is a shape. What shape is it? Triangle (3); Diamond (4); Circle (5). Answer = C
- Below the shape is a telephone fault line 0800 032490x. What’s the missing digit? Answer =D
N 52° 24.(A-5)(B-C-4)(D-7) W 1° 35.(A)(C-2)(D)
The cache is located in the nearby Plants Hill Woods, with footpath access all the way up to the cache; there is no need to stray from the path. The woods are usually quiet, although it is sometimes used as a cut-through by parents taking their kids to and from the nearby schools, so you might wish to time your visit accordingly. The paths in the woods can get muddy after rain, but if there has been a dry period the paths to the cache should support buggies that have been designed for the more rugged terrain.
This cache is suitable for children, but do be aware that you will need to cross and walk by a busy road.
Parking and Amenities
See waypoints for free parking, but please give consideration to local residents. There is also a pay and display car park on Station Road. At the crossroads there are a number of shops, a petrol station, and a take away chippie.
The Pillbox Series - This is a series of caches set next to Pill boxes, gun emplacements and other historic military defences. If you wish to add to the series please contact the Somerset Smurfs for a number here; just fill out the request form and Somerset Smurfs will do the rest.
This will keep track of the Pillbox numbers and names to avoid duplication.
The Pillbox Study Group website is full of information click here.
On the Pillbox Study Group site click links and downloads for a Google Earth Overlay of the Extended Defence of Britain Database which shows every location on Google Earth.
There is also a Bookmark list.
