Explore the Background of this artwork.
From March 1939, Coventry had been protected by barrage balloons; the city was an industrial target and contained aircraft factories on the outskirts. The balloons were filled with hydrogen and were either set in fixed sites, or adapted for mobile deployment. They were fixed by steel cables which forced bombers to fly at a higher altitude than they would have preferred. In this way the bombing was less accurate, and the aeroplanes more vulnerable to ground-based anti-aircraft fire. The protection was not infallible, and, on 14 November 1940 Coventry was the target of a German bombing raid when over 10,000 incendiary bombs were dropped on the city. From April 1941 women were used to operate the balloons, a crew of fourteen women replacing the ten men that did so previously.
incendiary bombs hydrogen barrage balloon Coventry bombing raid anti-aircraft