Not wanting to intrude on the thread, but it seemed the right category for this:
While looking for information and a picture for my book, I found information that was apparently found in the Canadian archives about using parachute bombs attached to Barrage balloons in England.
"The following document was located among military correspondence and files at the Directorate of History for the Department of National Defence, in Ottawa, Canada. The Directorate of History forms part of the National Archives of Canada, and is gratefully acknowledged for having supplied permission to reproduce these records. They were attached to correspondence pertaining to the defense of the Canadian Pacific Coast by proposed balloon barrages. The file location at the Directorate of History is 322.009(D657). Most of the files pertaining to balloons in WWII were declassified in the mid-to-late 1980s.
This is the first documentation that has surfaced for this researcher regarding "free" balloon barrages. The concept is similar to tethered barrage balloons, including the deployment of a parachute/bomb system which was actuated by an aircraft striking the trailing steel cable. Whereas only some tethered barrage balloon systems utilized a detaching cable parachute/bomb system, it seems that all balloons within the "free" barrage utilized such a bomb system."
MS1739 Operation ALBINO: Free balloon barrage
Michelle