I lived in Abbey Road Erdington and well remember the barrage balloon situated on the allotments by Brookvale Park. One night we had the usual air raid which was over by about 3 am. We went back to bed and dropping off to sleep and suddenly heard a most unusual swishing noise. I was scared stiff and dashed into my parents room. We then saw the sky was lit up with a searchlight and looking out of the bedroom window saw this barage balloon that had broken loose coming towards our house with all it's wires trailing. We don't know where it finished up but next morning found the hauser wire which held it in place was now lying the full length of Abbey Road draped over all the tops of the trees which lined our road. No knowing what damage it would have caused had it landed on top of all the houses.