permitted at the various patrol stations, having passed a balloon
course and undergone a rudimentary training at various places.

To conclude, the greatest of all difficulties was the shortage of
money voted for airship development, and this was a disadvantage
under which airships laboured even until the conclusion of
hostilities.

We have seen previously how the other difficulties were
surmounted and how our airships were evolved, type by type, and
the measure of success which attended them. It is interesting to
recall that five years ago we only possessed three ships capable
of flying, and that during the war we built upwards of two
hundred, of which no fewer than 103 were actually in commission
on the date of the signing of the Armistice.

The work carried out by our airships during the war falls under
three main headings:

1. Operations with the fleet or with various units.

2. Anti-submarine patrol and searching for mines.

3. Escort of shipping and examination duties.

With regard to the first heading it is only permissible at
present to say very little; certain manoeuvres were carried out
in connection with the fleet, but the slow development of our
rigid airships prohibited anything on a large scale being
attempted. The Germans, on the other hand, made the fullest use