ME 109 over Cranbrook attacking barrage balloons

[Tee Emm]

I recall quite vividly watching a couple of barrage balloons being shot down by a lone Me109 in 1940 in the close vicinity of Cranbrook in Kent. In later years I wondered why barrage balloons would have been hoisted in that area. There was no doubt that at the time there were British army trucks hidden in Angley Woods, Cranbrook because I saw them. But I would have thought barrage balloons would have attracted enemy aircraft to the area which is rather counter-productive.