Balloon mail


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Note: Historically, balloons were used to transport mail from Paris during the Siege of Paris of 1870–71. About 66 unguided mail balloons were released from Paris to communicate with the outside world, of which the great majority succeeded in delivering their cargo. As the Prussian forces surrounded the city, telegraph lines were cut and messengers were captured, shot or turned back. Two services were proposed, by ballon monté (manned balloon) and ballon non-monté (unmanned). In practice only manned flights were used. After the siege, Anglo-French scientist Dr Pierre Wesby travelled to Burton-on-Trent, where in 1873 he started a business to transport mail across the Irish Sea to Dublin, from England. It is not known how this venture turned out; the records of Wesby´s company were lost in 1916, when a bomb from the Zeppelin L 19 destroyed them.

[Last update: 2023/08/26]