On the St. Quentin front in 1917 we were relieved by the French
Artillery. We watched with rather critical eyes their guns going in,
and, best of all, their observation balloon going up.
The ascent of this balloon was, to say the least, spasmodic. First it
went up about a hundred feet, then came down, then a little higher and
down again.
This was repeated several times, until at last the car was brought
to the ground and the observer got out. He was handed a packet, then
hastily returned, and up the balloon went for good. Then I heard a
Cockney voice beside me in explanatory tones: "There! I noo wot it was
all the time. 'E'd forgotten his vin blong!"--_Ernest E. Homewood (late
1st London Heavy Battery), 13 Park Avenue, Willesden Green, N.W.2._