d-day invasion

[dannyday5821]

hmm...i dont understand! ive noticed in photos of the d-day landings, after weve landed and the troops and trucks are coming in, why are there blips around the area? are they blips? i read on WIKI they were used to apparently stop dive bombers...im sorry, but this just seems totally unrealistic to me...i cant picture it...can someone explain the logists of how these things stop the dive bombers!

[sddsddean]

I think you mean barrage balloons. Probably not so much to stop dive bombers, but definately to stop low level strafing (machine gunning) of troops, which was best done from 2-300 feet. If you were exposed on the beach, you would have been glad they were there!

[kempie]

Blips ???

I presume that you mean barrage balloons...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_balloon

[jackthehat]

blimps..........the word is blimps.........

[colin6789]

I think you meen 'blimps' the American term for derigidable airships. The things used on d-Day were more accuratly called Barrage balloons, I do not know is the americans had a different word for them. If you put 'Barrage balloon' into Wikipedia and you should get an explanation.
In short, a large hydrogen filled balloon fixed to the ground by some thich steel cables with other steel cables hanging from it . this would stop a plane from flying near it as the cables would slice into a wing or knock the plane into other cables, the ground or a balloon filled with imflamable gas.
When if a dive bomber could dive between the balloons it could not pull up out of the dive to climb steep enough to avoid the cables.
Both the British and the Germans used these balloons to protect land targets as well as at sea. Special cable cutting aircraft were developed by both sides to cut the cables by having sharp hardened steel blades in front of the wings and propellers, or as well having small explosive charges along the blades to explode on contact with the cables.
The balloons sometimes escaped and caused some problems by damaging electricity and telephone cables, fences and buildings as well as interferance or Radar.

[dannyday5821]

hehe thanks people, that cleared that up for me! now i understand why they were used, it just looked a bit of an odd sight on the beaches! i knew theyd be there for a decent reason! lol :P thanks again! :)