pressure, to the actual scene of operations. The method proved a
great success, and in this way it was found possible to inflate a
military balloon in the short space of 20 minutes, whereas, under
the conditions of making gas upon the spot, a period of four
hours or more was necessary, owing to the fact that the
manufacturing process is relatively slow and intricate. The
practicability of the British idea and its perfection served to
establish the captive balloon as a military unit.

The British military ballooning department has always ranked as
the foremost of its type among the Powers, although its work has
been carried out so unostentatiously that the outside world has
gleaned very little information concerning its operations.
Captain Templer was an indefatigable worker and he brought the
ballooning section to a high degree of efficiency from the
military point of view.

But the British Government was peculiarly favoured, if such a
term may be used. Our little wars in various parts of the world
contributed valuable information and experience which was fully
turned to account. Captive balloons for reconnoitring purposes
were used by the British army for the first time at Suakim in
1885, and the section established its value very convincingly.
The French military balloon department gained its first
experience in this field in the previous year, a balloon
detachment having been dispatched to Tonkin in 1884. In both the
Tonkin and Soudan campaigns, invaluable work was accomplished by
the balloon sections, with the result that this aerial vehicle
has come to be regarded as an indispensable military adjunct.
Indeed the activity of the German military ballooning section was