2-691-904 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Raising of an observation balloon, Somme, northern France, 1916. French artillerymen watch as a captured German Parseval-Siegsfeld balloon is re-inflated and sent skywards, on the Somme Front in 1916. This type of German balloon encouraged the French to construct their first modern dirigible, the Caquot type. The rear tail fills with air automatically through an opening facing the wind. Photograph from a series of glass plate stereoview images depicting scenes from World War I (1914-1918).