Disbanded on Feb 5th 1945, Balloon Command had been in operation for 5½ years the Air Minister, Sir Archibald Sinclair, said farewell at a massed parade (Above) at Stanmore, Middlesex. Air Vice-Marshal W. C. C. Gell, D.S.O., M.C., (Below) its A.O.C., was the first Auxiliary Air Force Officer to reach the rank of Air Vice-Marshal and be given a command. Balloons were still being flown, but under other R.A.F. commands, the original personnel were employed in other ways. One thousand balloon crews from over 40 barrages were concentrated in S.E. England to operate a curtain of nearly 2.000 balloons between the V-bomb sites and London. They stopped a total of 278 flying bombs up to being disbanded. Air Vice-Marshal W. C. C. Gell, D.S.O., M.C
