Old pics that may be of interest,that were sent to me

Those "airships" were Barrage Balloons, also known as "Blimps". Apart from the steel cable to tether the balloon they had other free-hanging cables and were used as a defence from enemy aerial attack. The cables acted as an obstacle to the plane's flight by damaging the wings.

They were used in large numbers over London during WWll and elsewhere. They were filled with hydrogen.

We actually had some 'military surplus' from Britain and used them at Woomera in the 1950's as targets for missiles. At all times whilst they were inflated and aloft, we had an armed aircraft on standby in case a balloon broke loose and became a hazard to air traffic.

Wikipedia has more information here.

They would be unmanned tethered 'barrage balloons'. They were used to deter low flying aircraft and often had wires hanging from them as a further deterrent.

Good find, really interesting going back and forth between the old and new, and they are so perfectly aligned!

Gday
How good is that Allan.....

These have been doing the rounds on Email with in the past week

Found the email. 70th anniversary of D Day landings where almost 200,000 Allied troops aboard 7,000 ships and 3000 aircraft took part. 156,000 troops landed on 50 miles of French coastline (24,000 by air) meeting stiff resistance from the well entrenched Germans.

Photos by Peter Macdiarmid and Chris Helgin (Reuters) using archival photos and tracked down locations for a 'then and now' presentation.

Great stuff.

The one with the guy directing traffic could be an Indian the exhaust pipes look right as does the gas tank cap.

Muz I think the small bike being unloaded from the landing craft is a Welbike Paratrooper Special.