Naval balloons were common, if unreliable, craft during the First World War.

A newspaper account, loaned to Borehamwood and Elstree's Museum, documents what happened to a balloon which ran out of hot air while passing Elstree in 1916.

A scoutmaster from the 1st Elstree Troop, Mr Poncia, was enjoying a walk on a foggy Sunday morning with his friend Mr Turner, when he saw a stranded balloon in a field near Radnor Hall.

They offered to help the balloon's crew, a commander and five officers.

The commander asked them to bring ballast, so they could leave the balloon and take a train back to London.

With help from Mrs Maclellan, the owner of Radnor Hall, the scoutmaster and his friend filled ten bags with ballast, and the embarrassed aviators left the balloon behind, and made their way to Elstree and Borehamwood railway station.

Mr Poncia and his friend were walking back to Elstree village for refreshments, when they were stunned to see another balloon, flying low over the Manor House, now the Allum Lane Community Centre.

One of the distressed balloonists spotted the men and shouted: "What is the name of this place?", before disappearing in the fog, and landing in Theobald Street.

The two sets of balloonists caught the same train back to London, and were the gossip in Elstree for months to come.

The modern Royal Air Force was formed in 1918, and by the end of the First World War the force had 22,171 aircraft, 291,652 serving personnel and 263 squadrons.

October 24, 2001 10:32