Phosphorus Bombs vs Balloons

[Spoonfrog]

On 25 June 1916 Albert Ball scored his only balloon kill. He took off in a Nieuport 16 and fired Le Prieur rockets at a balloon, only for them to miss. Later the same day he took another Nieuport 16, this time armed with phosphorus bombs, which he dropped on a balloon and set it alight (source: The Friendless Sky).

In fact there was a very large-scale attack on the German balloon line on 25 June 1916, apparently involving a lot of air-dropped phosphorus bombs with little success (source: ww1balloondiaries.org)

Francis Cave (4 sqn RFC) also dropped phosphorus bombs on a balloon from a BE2c (source: Somme Success: The Royal Flying Corps and the Battle of The Somme 1916 - also mentioned in Flight Vol 72, Oct 1957)

The wikipedia /!\ article on the Battle of Thiepval Ridge mentions balloons being attacked using phosphorus bombs. Their invention is credited to a Lt Bourdillon of the RFC. The war in the air; being the story of the part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force has this to say about them:

Designed by Lieutenant R. B. Bourdillon in co-operation with Captain P. H. Linthune and Major B. Hopkinson. The first deliveries (85 bombs complete with special carriers) arrived in France on the 16th of June 1916. The bomb contained converted phosphorus, the invention of Messrs. Allbright and Wilsons, of Birmingham.

From what I have read it seems that the RFC were actively using three methods of attacking balloons in 1916:

• Le Prieur rockets
• Phosphorus bombs
• Incendiary bullets

It is interesting that quite a lot has been written about Le Prieur rockets and incendiary bullets, but phosphorus bombs don't seem to get much mention, despite their use by Albert Ball... Their use, like the rockets, appears to have been short-lived as they were soon abandoned in favour of incendiary bullets.

I think it could be interesting to work them in to balloon scenarios.

[CrashCraig]

Interesting post Dom. Hadn't heard of phosphorous balloon bombing.

[flash]

...It is interesting that quite a lot has been written about Le Prieur rockets and incendiary bullets, but phosphorus bombs don't seem to get much mention, despite their use by Albert Ball...

Not surprising, though, if the result of 'a very large-scale attack involving a lot of air-dropped phosphorus bombs had little success'.
If the real chaps were as good at bombing as most of our players are, I'm not surprised they'd prefer to shoot incendiaries at them !