Soloists who are looking for a new dimension for their games may want to look at kites. Kites go back a long way, and the best examples of kites helping win battles date back to ancient times. In some cases we are talking about men and girls flying using kites. Kites were invented by the ancient Chinese. The first kites many have been bamboo and silk designs starting as early as 1000 B.C. Later Chinese kites were made of another Chinese invention, paper. There are early and vague reports that during sieges of cities men were flown and dropped behind the enemy, but the better-documented stories are a bit later. In 200 B.C. a general Han Ksin used kites in psychological warfare. One night he had his men fly kites with noisemakers attached, over enemy lines. The shrieking and wailing overhead awoke the enemy. They became convinced that the sounds were their guardian angels warning them of danger, and they ran away. Another Chinese general was besieging a city and flew a kite over the walls. He used it to measure the distance he should tunnel to get inside the city. In a besieged city in 1232 A.D. the Chinese used kites to send a message to Chinese prisoners held by the Mongols. The prisoners were told to revolt and escape. The revolt was feeble and the Mongols were not impressed. In the early seventeenth century A.D. the Chinese are reported to have used kites to lift men so they could spy out the enemy. This is a use that will appear into the twentieth century. Buddhist monks carried kites to Japan in ancient times. There is a legend that Shogun Tametomo of the Genji clan and his son were exiled on an island. The father built a huge kite and his son rode it to the mainland. This daring escape is still commemorated by having Tametomo’s picture on a traditional kite design. Sometime in the 1600s a thief used a kite to get into a shogun’s castle. Shortly thereafter the shogun banned kite flying. The ban didn’t last. The Japanese still fly kites, some 60 feet wide. There is some indication that Marco Polo brought ideas about kites to Europe when he returned from China. Perhaps, but the better evidence of kites in Europe is a bit later. Even the colonists in North America flew kites. In 1752 Benjamin Franklin used a kite and key in a famous experiment about lightning and static electricity. In the nineteenth century there were many people experimenting with kites as people lifters for a variety of applications. In 1825, George Pocock sent his young daughter, Martha, aloft and in 1827 published a book about his experiments. In 1853, George Caley flew a kite that carried his coachman. In 1859, a Catholic priest, E.J. Cordner, designed a kite to lift a man off a wrecked ship and carry him to shore. It was never used. About 1890, Samuel Cody designed a box kite and suggested it could be used for military observation. By this time the British War Office was interested in military kites and had a kite and balloon factory at Farnborough. Among the experimenters was Captain B.S.F. Baden-Powell, brother of the founder of the Boy Scouts. In 1895, he demonstrated a kite that lifted him a hundred feet. Of course all this is building up to airplanes. Does it surprise you that the Wright brothers started with kites? But even after the airplane was invented, the kite still had its uses. In World War I, kites were used in a variety of ways. Balloons were put up for air defense. The cables to the ground were used to snare aircraft. Unfortunately balloons were unstable in wind, so kites were used to stabilize them. Merchant ships used kites to lift up lookouts, who could spot U-boats. Seems fair enough since the U-boats were also using kites to lift their observers seeking convoys. Even in World War II kites had a role. The U.S. Navy used kites as practice targets for anti-aircraft gunners. The kites could be maneuvered and then pulled in and hits scored. Pilots who ditched their planes had a kite in their survival equipment. It could be used to hoist the aerial of their emergency radio transmitter. German U-boats still used kites to lift up lookouts. Their kites had three freely rotating blades and a seat. The blades turned as the U-boat towed the kite along. These days kite flying is simply a peaceful hobby. It is taken seriously in China and Japan. In Southeast Asia kite fighting is both a sport and an art form. In conclusion, kites were part of Han Chinese armies. Japanese thieves flew using them. Kites have lifted scouts aloft in both ancient and modern times, on land and at sea. Kites were used in anti-aircraft defense in World War I. It’s all documented, and you can justify writing them into your rules. I’m sure you will find using kites in your wargames an uplifting experience. Bibliography Fowler, H.W. “Kites” Vol 13, p. 394, Encyclopedia Britannica (1969). Gomberg, David (ed.) Stunt Kites (1988). Hart, Clive. Kites: an Historical Survey (1967). Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #140 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com