Description: Water color, gouache painting. titled, "The Visitors" from R.N.A.S. Capel Le Ferne, Beth,IIE. Parserval. I. Lydd, Nov 1915 No, 3 Balloon School, Lydd. Signed by the artist, M. Page.

History: The School of Ballooning was a training and test centre for British Army experiments with balloons and airships. It was established at Chatham in Kent in 1888. The School moved to Stanhope Lines, Aldershot in 1890 when a balloon section and depot were formed as permanent units of the Royal Engineers establishment. The School was sometimes known as the Balloon Factory.In 1862 two Royal Engineers officers, who had seen balloons being used in the American Civil War, drew the attention of the War Office to the potential use of balloons for observation. These officers demonstrated balloons to the army, but it was only in 1878 that the War Office directed Captain James Templer, an army reservist and experienced balloonist, to set up a small unit of Royal Engineers which became known as the School of Ballooning.

Provenance: N/A

Dimensions: Weight (Pounds & Ounces) = 4.375 | Height(in) = 15.5 | Width(in) = 17.5 | Depth(in) = 1

Size of Artwork(in): 8.5 x 10" Sight

Artist Name: M Page

Medium: Paper, paint

Circa: 1915

Acid free mat. Some light discoloration in legend area.