Berry Head
Note: This map only shows the position of Berry Head within the UK. I wonder if today there is anybody still around who could provide a more exact location?
BERRY HEAD: Kite Balloon Base
NOTES: It appears that one ‘kite’ balloon was ‘detached’ from MERIFIELD (Tor Point) to BERRY HEAD by the RAF in 1918. BERRY HEAD is on the end of the small peninsular that juts out east of Brixham.
What fascinates me is trying to imagine the life lead by those few servicemen posted to such a location. Living endless periods ‘on guard’ with NOTHING ever happening? But of course, perhaps they were, considering what had been happening in the previous four years, delighted to be posted to such a cushy posting?
Chris Macauly
This comment was written on: 2018-04-18 21:51:29A booklet published by Brixham Museum states that the balloon was sited in the old Napoleonic fort at the end of Berry Head. Observers were looking for enemy submarines and mine laying craft and could summon RN ships from nearby Dartmouth if any were spotted. (Over 30 Brixham trawlers were sunk by German U-boats during the later part of WWI - by gunfire or expolsive charges - as part of the German blockade plan). Ref: "Brixham in the Great War" - Brixham Heritage Museum, 2014.
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