History of military ballooning Medway, Kent. It moved to Stanhope Lines, Aldershot in 1890 when a balloon section and depot were formed as permanent units of the Royal Engineers establishment. Balloons were first deployed by the British Army during the expeditions to Bechuanaland and Suakin in 1885. They were also deployed during the Second Boer War (1899–1902), where they were used in artillery observation with the Kimberley column and during the Siege of Ladysmith. On October 5, 1907, Colonel John Capper (late Royal Engineers) and team flew the military airship "Nulli Secundus" from Farnborough around St. Paul's Cathedral in London and back with a
Mafeking Cadet Corps he was a cadet. The youngest cadets on the nominal roll were aged 11. At the end of the siege, 24 cadets were awarded the Defence of Mafeking bar to the Queen's South Africa Medal. Robert Baden-Powell was the British commander during the siege of Mafeking. He was impressed by the cadets and wrote of them in the opening pages of his 1908 book, "Scouting for Boys". Baden-Powell related the following conversation with one of the cadets: "I said to one of these boys on one occasion, when he came in through rather a heavy fire: 'You will get hit