HC Deb 13 March 1919 vol 113 c1475
97. Major LANE-FOX

asked the Under-Secretary of State to the Air Ministry if he can state with whom the idea of suspending entanglements for hostile air craft originated; what reward, if any, has been paid to him; and whether he is aware that a suggestion of this invention was received by the Air Board in 1914, and was rejected as being useless?

The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for AIR (Major-General Seely)

The method of suspending entanglements from balloons which was adopted in 1917 was taken from designs used in the defence of Venice, and the credit for the inception is due to the Italian Government. A proposal for the use of entanglements hung from balloons was first patented in 1913, and several hundreds of proposals of a similar nature were received during the War. It is not considered that any reward was due to the originators as the value of the proposals depended entirely on the methods devised for carrying them into practical effect. The Air Board did not come into existence until May, 1916, and it is not possible to identify the particular proposal referred to in the last part of the question.

Major LANE-FOX

Is he aware of the statement made in the Press and elsewhere that it was a distinguished officer in the Air Service, and can that now be definitely contradicted, in view of the dissatisfaction caused to a great many Gentlemen?

Major-General SEELY

I presume all this happened while I was away from this country. I will make inquiries, and will make some such statement if facts are as stated.