Lieutenant Sydney George Shead

1882–1918

Sydney George Shead was born in Camberwell in 1882 and named after his father’s birthplace in Australia.

In 1917, at the age of 35, Sidney George Shead joined the Royal Flying Corps, the forerunner of the Royal Air Force. He had over 12 years’ experience as a manager and organiser in both motor and aeroplane factories and, with these skills, he was designated as a Kite Balloon Officer.

Balloon squadrons played a vital but largely forgotten role in World War One. Tethered to the ground by a steel cable and shaped like a bomb, kite balloons would be filled with hydrogen gas and would rise up into the air. They provided a birds’ eye view from which observers could watch and photograph enemy troops, map their movements, and plot their artillery. They were also used to provide weather reports. Observers had telephones by which they could communicate with the ground crew and warn them of imminent attack. As a result the phrase “the balloon is going up!” became an expression for impending battle.

One of the two main training bases was in Roehampton and now forms part of the University campus. Sydney’s military records detail that on joining the service he was sent on a rigging course. A contemporary of Sydney’s describes how “after two weeks of intensive training of rope and wire splicing – sewing by hand and electric machines and general Balloon manufacture we were passed out as Balloon riggers….”.

The balloons were large, long, and filled with flammable gas. As such they became targets for attacks both by ground artillery and enemy planes. Usually two officers went up in the balloon’s baskets with their maps, cameras and phone and it is estimated that each officer used their parachute at least once to escape a balloon which had been hit and was on fire.

Unlike many of his colleagues Sydney survived the war but died only two weeks’ after it had ended of natural causes. His family had lived in Fulham since the 1890s and he left behind a widow and five young children.