es.

The British authorities were confronted with many searching problems.
One of the earliest and greatest difficulties encountered was in
connection with the gas for inflation. Coal gas was not always readily
available, so that hydrogen had to be depended upon for the most part.
But then another difficulty arose. This was the manufacture of the
requisite gas. Various methods were tested, such as the electrolytic
decomposition of water, the decomposition of sulphuric acid by means of
iron, the reaction between slaked lime and zinc, and so forth.

But the drawbacks to every process, especially upon the field of battle,
when operations have to be conducted under extreme difficulties and
at high pressure, were speedily recognised. While other
nations concentrated their energies upon the simplification of
hydrogen-manufacturing apparatus for use upon the battle-field, Great
Britain abandoned all such processes in toto. Our military organisation
preferred to carry out the production of the necessary gas at a
convenient manufacturing centre and to transport it, stored in steel
cylinders under 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