PSYOP LEAFLET
DISSEMINATION

Face-to-Face Dissemination

PSYOP soldier distributing reward leaflets during Operation Iraqi Freedom

The reader will wonder why we mention face-to-face in this time of sophisticated delivery systems. The fact is that this is the oldest and in some ways the most effective means of transmitting information. When I was a tactics instructor I always told my student soldiers that whenever a field manual (FM) or Army regulation (AR) mentioned "the best" or "the worst" way to do anything they should make a note if it. That was important information and sure to be on the test. I quote the following from a very old military Introduction to Psychological Operations text published by the J.F.K. Special Warfare Center and School:

Face-to-face communication is the oldest and most effective medium. This medium ranges from confrontation of two individuals in informal conversation to planned, persuasive communications among several individuals. The personal touch inherent in face-to-face communication plays an influential role in conveying the PSYOP message. 

We find this concept mentioned over and over in PSYOP texts. For instance, PSYOPS in Vietnam – Indications of Effectiveness. JUSPAO Planning Office, Saigon, Vietnam, May, 1967 mentions such a case as "Anecdote No. 36:

The success of the Chieu Hoi (Open Arms) program has been documented and is generally well know to most observers. There is a tendency, however, to think of the program in terms of mass appeals measured in terms of millions of leaflets and hours of loudspeaker mission that yield Hoi Chanh (ralliers to the Government of Vietnam). This approach is important, but direct face-to-face communication is for the most part the most effective and sure means of conveying an idea.

The Special Operations Research Office of the American University (SORO) published the classified A Short Guide to Psychological Operations in the Republic of Vietnam in 1965.  Authors Jeanne Mintz, Herbert Silverberg and James Trinnaman report that even the Viet Cong understood the value of this method:

The Viet Cong place great emphasis on face-to-face contact with the individual peasant, where this is possible. In less secure areas they use leaflets, but only as a last resort. Normally they attempt to infiltrate a five-man team into the village. The team stays overnight, circulating from house to house, holding mass meetings, and distributing printed matter. 

Sometimes the VC would just stop at a meeting place and give an impromptu lecture. An example of such a face-to-face encounter occurred in the Country Club of the An Loc Plantation on 5 May 1967. A classified intelligence document states that five Viet Cong found four Frenchmen and one Vietnamese when they entered the club. The VC leader who carried a Thompson submachine gun asked the Vietnamese guest to interpret. He said that he just stopped by to talk and that the United States would never win the war and Vietnam would soon be one free Communist nation. Having finished his brief lecture, the VC leader led his men out of the club.

The 1969 Vietnam PSYOP booklet entitled “Face to Face Communications” says:

The best way to convince a man that he should support the Government of Vietnam and oppose the communists is to discuss it with him face-to-face. This approach is vital in Vietnam, especially in remote areas where there are no newspapers, few radios and no television sets. It is in these very areas where the communists are working hardest to reach the people with their false promises and threats.

A 1967 Military Intelligence report on the political attitudes of the Vietnamese civilian indicates that the Viet Cong face-to-face propaganda is much more effective than the newspapers and television of the Allied forces:

A large percentage of the population, especially in Saigon, is almost totally indifferent to the war except in cases where it helps or hurts them financially. The average Vietnamese reads very little and is more inclined to believe what he hears by word-of-mouth than what he reads in the papers or sees on television. Since the Viet Cong word-of-mouth propaganda is much more effective than that of Free World Forces, a majority of the Vietnamese still thinks that the Viet Cong will eventually win and that the United States will finally get tired of the war and negotiate on Viet Cong terms.

An example of the power of personal communication is found in the “Studies of the Chieu Hoi Program” Viet Nam Interview by the Simulmatics Corporation coded CH-15. The interviewee is a 15-year old Viet Cong member who was a member of an Entertainment Group, singing patriotic songs to villagers. The young girl admitted hearing loudspeakers in her village and seeing leaflets but said that the message was not clear. It was only when a Hoi Chanh (rallier) came to her village and told her about the Chieu Hoi (Open Arms) program that she decided to come back to the Government.

Chewing Gum Cards

Russians Dump Propaganda in Poland
A Pre-WWII Chewing Gum Propaganda Card

A good example of the face-to-face dissemination of propaganda from one person to another is a card set issued by Gum Incorporated Company of Philadelphia War News Pictures starting in 1938. Conceived as a 240 card set about The Chinese-Japanese War, the Ethiopian War and the Spanish Civil War, the set proved so popular that an additional 48 cards were added about Germany and the beginning of World War II. The very valuable card shown above is card number 101 entitled “Russians dump Propaganda in Poland.” The cards were designed to bring the collector a brief view of the events leading up to World War II. Some have beautifully drawn artwork fronts; others have black and white photos of actual events.

Surrender or Perish Chewing Gum Card

This card number 116 is entitled “Surrender or Perish.” The card depicts Fascist aircraft dropping leaflets on fleeing Spaniards during their civil war. Some of the text on the back is:

As rebel planes carried on their terroristic bombing of Barcelona for the third consecutive day, on March 18. 1938, they accompanied their deadly missiles with demands for immediate surrender. One plane showered the city with leaflets which read: “Surrender or Perish.” Terrified citizens hurried to the mountains which close Barcelona in on the sea. Trusty mules helped the aged and families get away…  

Patrol (Covert) Dissemination

Operation Sauerkraut

This WWII sketch by German POW Willy Haseneier depicts German members of the American OSS-led Operation Sauerkraut team placing propaganda proclaimations on trees behind enemy lines.

Besides face-to-face, soldiers working behind enemy lines often place leaflets in areas where the enemy is known to pass or congregate. In WWII, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) sent German and Italian prisoners of war behind the lines to leave propaganda in those places frequented by enemy troops. These operations were named Sauerkraut and Ravioli.  In Vietnam both U.S. and enemy Viet Cong and North Vietnamese regular troops left countless leaflets along trails where they believed the enemy would move or camp. 

Examples of these actions are discussed in the military text Propaganda Dissemination, published by the J.F.K. Special Warfare Center and School:

A ground patrol is capable of delivering a limited amount of printed matter behind enemy lines. Posters, leaflets, pamphlets, kits and novelties may be placed or scattered by patrols and reconnaissance elements. Departing troops may distribute leaflets, posters, and other types of propaganda products by leaving them behind during retrograde movements. Infiltrators, line-crossers, sympathizers, and special agents can also disseminate printed propaganda material behind enemy lines.

The British also disseminated leaflets behind the lines during WWII. One British training document states that the Psychological Warfare Executive (PWE) had had distributed 220,000 leaflets behind the lines by patrols by 31 August 1943.

Operation Sauerkraut

In this Haseneier sketch a German officer is shocked to find an anti-Nazi OSS leaflet on a tree within his perimeter.

 

Automobile Tire Leaflet Dispenser

Top view of tire leaflet dispenser

Side view of tire leaflet dispenser

This is a method of dissemination that was first publicized in 2007. According to the source that offered this “tire dispenser” it was placed on an automobile tire and the leaflets were clandestinely released as the automobile drove through the target neighborhood. This dispenser and a number of other items were from the estate of former OSS member who served in the China Theater during WWII.

Apparently there is a renewed interest in this device, since in late 2007 I was contacted by a member of a NATO Psychological Operations Battalion who wanted to know where he could read more on the method of dissemination, when was it used and by whom, if it is still in use today or was it used in the past by US PSYOP forces, and do I know more details how that system works – How many leaflets in the dispenser, the extraction mechanism, etc. Perhaps the tire dispenser has not seen its final action.

The Clandestine distribution of Leaflets

There were several strange methods of leaflet dissemination tried from time to time that don’t easily fit into any categories. If a rogue government wants to distribute leaflets secretly, there are ways to do it quickly and quietly to protect the agents assigned the duty of dissemination. This was discovered in South Korea when North Korean leaflets were discovered in piles or stacks on the roofs of high-rise buildings in and around Seoul, South Korea, about the same time as the leaflets were found on the ground in nearby areas. It was determined that someone, very likely Communist agents, had slightly moistened the stack of leaflets along one edge. The stack was then frozen and placed on a high building. As the temperature slowly rose the ice holding the leaflets together along the frozen edge would thaw and there would be a fairly constant “dribble” of leaflets as the wind carried them away to the street. The freezing process could be speeded up by the use of dry ice. If they preferred the leaflets to disperse all at once instead of slowly, they put a piece of plastic on top of the leaflets and then a chunk of dry ice. As the dry ice sublimated (changed from solid to CO2 gas) the leaflets, now free of the weight, were carried away by the wind. If the operation was such that they didn’t have the time to thoroughly freeze the edges, they just dampened one edge and allowed the moisture to hold the leaflets together until they dried and blew away.

Paper and Plastic Bags as a Medium of Propaganda

The propagandist is always looking for a new method to place his PSYOP message in front of the public. One way that was tried on several occasions in Vietnam was placing the message on plastic or paper bags. In the first case it was the ammo wrapper of the M16 rifle. The bags were discarded after use so why not add a PSYOP slogan?

In other cases carrying bags and shopping bags were utilized. There is some question about the value of these bags. I have heard criticisms that most Vietnamese were not in the habit of carrying their items in bags so would tear them up and use the paper to wrap their purchases. I can’t say how successful the campaign was, but there are about a dozen items known, most of them with Chieu Hoi messages.

M16 Ammo Bag

The climate of Vietnam was hot and wet. M16 ammunition was sometimes packed in a plastic waterproof bag that was discarded after use. A Chieu Hoi message was placed on the bag so that it could be left along the trail for the VC to find and read. The text is:

Returning Chieu Hoi will help you to again see your parents and family in a peaceful and democratic South Vietnam.

We miss you

This paper shopping bag was issued by JUSPAO in May 1968 coded 2619. The bags were made by a private contractor and funded by the unit requesting them. The vignette depicts a Vietnamese father, wife and daughter. The text is:

CHIEU HOI

We miss you at the evening meal.

We miss you at every evening meal; your mother, your child and I are waiting for you.

Return to the Just Cause and be reunited with your family.

Friends with the Viet Cong

This paper shopping bag is coded 2620 and uses an image that is also found on a propaganda leaflet. It depicts a Vietnamese family longing for their son who has joined the Viet Cong. The bags were made by a private contractor and funded by the unit requesting them. Other paper bags were coded 2621 and 2622. The text is:

CHIEU HOI

Friends with the Viet Cong!

Return to your family!

They miss you and need you.

The House is our House

JUSPAO also produced waterproof plastic bags. The bags were made by a private contractor and funded by the unit requesting them. This first bag, coded 2679 was part of a “Patriotic School Kit.” It depicts the flag of Vietnam in the center at text at the bottom:

This house is our house, our fathers worked hard to establish it; their grandchildren continue to preserve it, long life to our homeland.

Chieu Hoi

The final plastic bag coded 2274 was produced out of the country by commercial contract for JUSPAO and as usual the cost was borne by the organization requesting them. A Chieu Hoi symbol was in the center and text below.

Please ask your relatives to return, so you can stop worrying about their lives.

Postal Dissemination

Artist rendering of P-38 from the 14th Fighter Group attacking German mail train

The use of sending propaganda leaflets through the mail goes back to WWII. Both the Axis and the Allies made great use of neutral countries to send their propaganda to the enemy. In one of the most interesting operations, a project called Operation Cornflakes, the mail was dropped on German mail trains after strafing and bombing by American fighter aircraft in the hope that the efficient Germans would police up the area and forward the mail to the addresses on the forged envelopes.

During the Vietnam War, the Military Assistance Command Vietnam - Studies and Observations Group (MACVSOG) was a highly classified multi-service U.S. Special Operations Unit which conducted covert unconventional warfare. The 1970 MACVSOG Documentation Study states that it had a printing Press that that could produce 500,000 leaflets per shift. In addition, a deception mail operation produced 200 fake letters per month of various types to be mailed into North Vietnam.

As the war progressed the black letter output went from 3,993 in 1965 to 6,000 in 1966 and 7,550 in 1967. The letters were mailed from Singapore, Paris, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Tokyo, allegedly from North Vietnamese living outside the country. There were nine general themes for the letters: Weakness in Communist ideology; Revision in North Vietnam; Chinese imperialism; North Vietnamese mismanagement; Peace; Free Enterprise; Free society; Resistance movements and the Chieu Hoi program. The letters were coded according to type:

Special: High level hard sell propaganda (400 letters per month).
Vulcan: High and medium level with a revisionist point of view. (50-60 letters per week).
Thor: A personal letter with soft sell and human interest. (15 letters a week)
Mars: To next-of-kin of battlefield casualties. (10 letters per week)
Luna: Exploitation of captured Viet Cong letters. (as available)

The black letter program was constantly being fine-tuned:

We plan to use notional leftist organizations abroad as originators of the letters, but are beginning with a true leftist Japanese  fishing organization. In line with this, we are soon going to use a Paris-based Vietnamese, pro-Hanoi student organization’s magazine to infiltrate subtle anti-Communist propaganda into North Vietnam by making slight changes in some of the articles… 

We will experiment in the printed media field, for example; calendars, fishing hints, and tide tables are presently being obtained. Varying paper stocks are now being used.

Signboard and Billboard

Korean billboard

The use of signboards and billboard to disseminate propaganda first became known to most people in June of 2004 when the governments of the People’s Republic of (North) Korea and the Republic of (South) Korea agreed to dismantle the electronic signboards and painted billboards on both sides of their contested mine-infested border, known as the Demilitarized Zone. Electronic and painted signboards and any other forms of propaganda will be removed along the 248-kilometer long border. South Korea has 100 propaganda billboards along the border and North Korea has 200.

The North posted signboards along the mountainous terrain, which read “Let's Reunify Under the People's Own Power,” “Yankee go Home,” “Come to the Socialist Paradise” and “Great General Kim Jong-il.”

The South's towering electronic billboards beamed daily news, including weather reports and current events, as well as signs reading “Peace, Reconciliation, Cooperation,” “Freedom, Richness, Happiness,” or “Free Democratic Society.”

After North and South Korea made a PSYOP peace in 2006, the signs were either turned off or changed to friendly messages. The International Herald Tribune says that the signs and billboards now say things like “Peace” and “Reconciliation.”

Stencil Propaganda

The use of a stencil to place crude propaganda on a wall quickly has a long history among Third World nations and Guerilla movements. They often do not have the time or expertise to produce professional-quality illustrated leaflets or posters, or the money to buy paper or pay for a means of dissemination. The stencil is an easy answer to the problem of mass communication at almost no expense. The stencil can be cut anywhere in the form of a text or illustration. It takes just seconds for a single person to hold it against the wall, spray it quickly with a small easily hidden can of spray paint, and move on. This has not been an American tradition in the past, but according to the Year in Special Operations 2006 Edition, Faircount LLC, Tampa FL, 2006, American PSYOP teams are using the method in Iraq. One photograph depicts Sergeant Bill Whitaker of the 361st PSYOP Company stenciling “anti-terrorist propaganda” on the wall of a building in Mosul with a stencil and spray paint. Stenciled propaganda, like graffiti, cannot be easily removed from a wall and it would require someone to actually paint over the stencil.

We find references to previous stencil use in declassified OSS files from WWII. One such reference states:

These have been especially designed for clandestine work and are small enough to be concealed in shirt or coat pockets…A special paint brush combination is designed for use with the stencils also small enough to be carried in the pocket. No special paint container is necessary…Any paint can be used, old or fresh…it is necessary to carry a rag with which to wipe the back of the stencil…

OSS Parole Heimat stencil

Little risk is involved in the use of stencils, and a sign can be painted in 7 seconds, with implements concealed immediately. This method of spreading propaganda has a special appeal to the young who can have little other part in the action against the enemy.

In the case of the OSS stencil Parole Heimat, (Password Homeland) we know that it was approved on 7 July 1944. 300 stencils were delivered on 9 August 1944. It is unknown who they were sent to behind German lines and if they were used by Partisans.

As long as we are talking about paint on the wall, we should mention that the Canadian 2004 Joint Doctrine Manual B-GJ-005-313/FP-001 Psychological Operations Mentions Graffiti as a form of propaganda dissemination:

Graffiti is a unique visual medium for PSYOP purposes with its own dissemination methods. The most effective use of graffiti is in military operations other than war. Graffiti is suitable for only short themes, messages, or symbols and is most commonly used by individuals who lack other means to express themselves. It may proclaim support for existing policies, conditions, or pending events or express dissatisfaction with current events, policies, or perceived injustice. Graffiti is often used by opposing factions or adversaries to claim territory or control in specific areas. It is also used by groups opposed to established forces or agencies as a propaganda tool to emphasize popular support. Its advantage lies with the perception that it is an “act of the people.” Another use of graffiti is to disseminate symbols associated with PSYOP themes in specific areas, implying support of or agreement with the theme. In selected areas, it can reinforce other visual media effectively. PSYOP personnel should avoid the use of graffiti where it is considered vandalism. Obvious places to put graffiti include fences, sides of buildings, and opponent visual media. PSYOP personnel should discourage graffiti on historic, religious, or private structures.

Graffiti requires no planning beyond that of any other visual media. Some common ways to disseminate graffiti are with paint, large felt-tip markers, or any other permanent marking method. PSYOP personnel who support graffiti operations can easily provide the necessary items to indigenous personnel. They can also encourage these who disseminate graffiti that supports existing, ongoing PSYOP.

Another way to eliminate graffiti is to cover it with Coalition PSYOP flyers

Leaflet Balloon Dissemination

WWII - Preparing leaflets for balloon launch

One of the first mention of leaflets from balloons occurred in 1794 with the formation of the Compagnie d'Aerosters in France. Among their tenets was the suggestion that unmanned balloons should be used to disseminate leaflets.

In 1870 the French were dropping leaflets over the Germans from manned balloons. Cassell's History of the Wars Between France and Germany (1870-1871) says:

The balloons were for the most part, made of strong calico, covered with two or three coatings of linseed oil and oxide of lead, and inflated with ordinary gas. Some were manufactured at the Northern, others at the Orleans railway station and at the former the pieces were sewn together by machinery.

Mr. Tissondier started from Paris, and arrived at Tours on 1 October 1870. When passing over Versailles he observed a camp of Prussians, and dropped amongst them great numbers of government proclamations, which had been printed in German for that purpose.

"Paris defies the enemy. The whole of France rallies. Death to the invaders. Foolish people, shall we always throttle one another for the pleasure and proudness of Kings? Glory and conquest are crimes; defeat brings hate and desire for vengeance. Only one war is just and holy; that of independence."

Is this a case where leaflets were disseminated from tethered observation balloons? The following comment is open for interpretation. Edward J. Erickson says in Defeat in Detail: the Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912-1913, Praeger Publishers, Westport CT, 2003:

At the beginning of hostilities, Bulgaria did not consider the use of aircraft as a serious deterrent in combat. Bulgaria used balloons and aircraft to some effect, for aerial observation, bombing and leaflet dropping, during the Balkans Wars.

Does the author imply that leaflets were thrown from observation balloons or aircraft? It is unclear, but something to consider.

Balloons were used to carry propaganda again in WWI. In fact, when the Germans threatened the death penalty for British flyers dropping leaflets from aircraft during the First World War, the British used balloons almost exclusively for a time afterwards. They have been used in numerous wars since then, and even in the (first) Persian Gulf War were used to drop leaflets on the occupying Iraqi troops in Kuwait during the defensive buildup known as "Desert Shield." Both sides used them during the cold war period, and balloons were regularly sent back and forth between the East and the West all along the Iron Curtain.

Some of the early WWI balloon dissemination methods were mentioned in a 12 March 1918 report entitled “Aerial Propaganda methods of Distribution,” by Captain P. Chamlers Mitchell. According to Lee Richards of Psywar.org the report says in part:

For some time experiments have been made with balloon distribution as other methods were considered impracticable on the Western Front…So as to give a weekly output of 1,200 for the Western Front. These balloons carry a load of 2 pounds of propaganda and are useful for distribution up to a range of about 20 miles from the liberation point. Experiments with balloons to carry a larger load for the same range of distribution are in progress, but in practice paper balloons are so fragile to fill and discharge that it is expected that the limit of useful capacity will not be much more than three or four pounds.

The type now being made and used with success is made of sections of doped white paper pasted at the edges and with a short tubular mouthpiece of oiled silk…The balloons are circular in section in the horizontal plane and the height is about one and a half times the diameter. The circumference at the centre is 20 feet and the height ten feet.

The “Release” consists of a board 9 inches long by 4½ wide to which the fuse is attached. The fuse is a piece of orange-colored tinder similar to that used in pipe-lighters and burns at the rate of one inch in five minutes as attached to the board and in the open air. The propaganda is attached to the central or terminal part of the fuse in 8 bundles of four ounces each. The attachment is by threads which pass through the fuse and through holes in the board. The threads are half an inch apart so that the bundles are released successively at intervals of 2½ minutes.

As the object of the paper balloon distribution is to reach a definite area and then to drop the propaganda within it, it has been found useful both by us and by the Germans, to fold the sheets in a particular fashion. Each sheet should have the length to the width in the proportion of five to four; and suspended in bundles by a thread passed through a punched hole. Heavier folded matter can also be attached in the same way…Hydrogen is used for inflating the balloons…The balloon is inflated to about two-thirds of its cubical capacity during which time it gradually rises and has to be steadied by the supporting strings…As the balloon rises it expands and becomes quite taut; if filled too full it would burst soon after ascending.

Early leaflet balloons were small. They carried a very limited load and the leaflets were attached by a fuse placed inside a small hole punched in a corner of the paper. As the fuse slowly burned, it released the leaflets over the enemy.

 

German soldier preparing "Wanted for Murder" Churchill leaflets for balloon launch

 

 

Churchill "Wanted for Murder" leaflet

 

Modern long-range balloons have a floating altitude of 80,000 feet and an approximate range of 6,000 miles with a 400-pound payload. They are always at the mercy of prevailing winds, so it is important to be mobile and have the ability to quickly go where the wind is blowing in the right direction. They are especially useful in unconventional warfare situations. Since guerrillas seldom have the ability to drop leaflets from aircraft, the balloon serves as a viable alternative.

 

A British WWII Ministry of Home Security booklet entitled Air Raid Precautions Training Bulletin No. 4 mentions German leaflet balloons and parachutes.

A section entitled "Pamphlet-dropping Balloons" describes a leaflet carton with a clockwork mechanism. The leaflets are placed on all four sides of the mechanism. At a predetermined time a small bag of flash powder releases the leaflets.

A similar British booklet entitled Objects dropped from the Air mentions two types of German leaflet carrying balloons; one khaki, one silver. A leaflet carrying box is slung underneath. The box is the same as the cardboard carton mentioned above.

Air Force Major Norman D. Vaughn discussed the use of balloons for leaflet operations in My Life of Adventure, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 1995.

Psychological warfare and leafleting were under the same command. We had a mobile printing press that we pulled with a trailer, printing thousand of leaflets right in the field. For a year and a half, I worked with different kinds of balloons. Because of their size and shape, we referred to them as pillow balloons.  We loaded them with leaflets, perhaps a thousand sheets of paper, and then added the helium. The pillow balloons, like all the balloons we used, were open at the bottom. When the balloon reached one thousand feet, the gas would expel from the opening. This helped it drop to a lower altitude. Then it would rip open and dispense its leaflets. The more we helium-filled the balloons and lightened the loads, the further they would go. Our average target was ten to fifteen miles away to reach enemy soldiers on their way to the front and to educate village people everywhere we could.

During that same time, a specially chosen group from our squadron went to France to launch pillow balloons for Radio Free Europe.

There are several publications on the subject of leaflet balloons. One is entitled Handbook of Leaflet Dispersion via Balloons. It is undated, but there are "Leaflet Computation Form Sheets" in the book dated in the early 1960s so I assume that it was in use during the Vietnam War. It's chapters are; Characteristics of Leaflet Descent and Dispersion Tables, the J-100 Balloon Delivery System, the 170F Balloon Delivery System, and the J-9-10-300 Balloon Delivery System.

The J-100 balloon cardboard carrier partially loaded with leaflets

This booklet explains that the J-100 balloon is a short-range system designed for targets less than 250 miles away. As it passes through regions of successively lower air density, the gas in the balloon expands and stretches the balloon film. Finally, the film stretches to the point of rupture and releases the payload to drift down separately and disperse over the ground. The maximum load for the J-100 balloon is about six pounds.

The "pillow" balloon has a mid-range capability of 250-650 miles. The J-9-10-300 balloon is the big brother of the J-100. It can fly higher and has a range of from 250-400 miles. It carries a payload of up to 10 pounds.

The 170F system – Four containers holding 22 pounds of leaflets each

The 170 and 180 balloons are long-range systems designed to distribute leaflets up to 1500 miles away. The 170 balloon was designed to carry a payload of 88 pounds of leaflets and distribute them in any one of selected patterns.

A Chinese psywarrior from Taiwan who was involved with the preparation of the CIA - American University study that later became the handbook of Leaflet Dispersion via Balloons stated that they had dropped leaflets from balloons at 50,000 feet. Because of the extreme altitudes involved, the study took place over the American plains states.

The second book is entitled Balloon Leaflets. This is a 1958 handbook of technical aspects of balloon leaflet operations to Eastern Europe carried out by the Free Europe Committee during the Cold War. This committee delivered leaflets and booklets behind the Iron Curtain using as justification the fact that there was a lack of free exchange of information between the East and the West. From spring of 1954 to November 1956, Free Europe Press sent aloft 590,415 balloons, which carried over three hundred million anti-Communist leaflets. As a result, official protests were made by Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland.

The Free Europe Press (FEP) printed millions of leaflets and used different types and sizes of helium filled balloons from round to pillow shaped. Pillow balloons used dry ice. Cartons filled with leaflets were attached to the bottom of the hydrogen-filled balloons. The loosely-covered cartons were held upright through the use of envelopes containing dry ice. As the dry ice evaporated, the cartons tipped over, thus dropping the leaflets. Three major launching sites were constructed in Bavaria to launch the balloons in round-the-clock operations in good weather.

Radio Free Europe (RFE) Czech banknote

PROSPERO was the code name for the RFE balloon program in the summer 1953, when in four days, 6,500 balloons with over 12,000,000 RFE leaflets were launched into Czechoslovakia. The balloon launching started approximately at midnight on 13 July in the Bavarian town of Tirschenreuth. This was the first time balloons were launched in conjunction with specific radio programs. RFE attacked the regime's new currency reforms and dropped a leaflet in the form of a banknote and an aluminum replica of a newly-introduced Czechoslovak coin bearing the Freedom Bell and the inscription, "All Czechs and Slovaks for Freedom--all the Free World for Czechs and Slovaks." The propaganda banknote text is:

MEN CALL THIS THE HUNGER CROWN - GIFT OF THE SOVIET UNION. It is a symbol of regime desperation, of five year failure. It is a challenge to fight, to meet weakness with strength to resist, as you know best. The other captive peoples are uniting and will join you in your struggle. The free world is with you. All power to the people!

The text at the upper left on the back of the note is:

CZECHOSLKOVAKS, KNOW THIS! Power lies with the people and the people stand opposed. With unity and courage, organize your strength! Down with the collective! Insist on workers' rights! Demand concessions today; freedom tomorrow!

Balloons were also launched from South Korea to North Korea and from Taiwan against the Chinese mainland during the Cold War. At one point the South Koreans operated four launch sites employing 109 men (which included the overall control group). They operated for about six months. During that period they put up 3,000 pounds of leaflets. To give an example of the difference between balloons and aircraft, that is what was dropped on the very first American C-47 leaflet mission. Later, the American C-130 Hercules aircraft dropped 20,000 pounds of leaflets per flight. In Korea, the hydrogen cylinders were loaded, trucked to the ship, on to Pangyong Island, offloaded, delivered to the launch site, filled less than three J-100 weather balloons, and returned for refill. A thousand cubic feet of air weighs about 81 pounds. A thousand cubic feet of hydrogen weights about five pounds and provides 76 pounds of lift. A thousand cubic feet of helium weights eleven pounds and provides 70 pounds of lift. The cylinders are heavy and bulky and require a minimum of two men to handle one. The Chinese on Taiwan had one launch site that was supplied with Waste hydrogen that is normally burnt as it is produced. That operation was relatively cheap and efficient because there was no need to move large cylinders in and out of the site.

When one studies declassified documents of the Vietnam War we find constant requests for the use of balloons against North Vietnam, and in almost every case this is denied. For instance, there are numerous comment in the 1970 MACVSOG Documentation Study. We quote some pertinent comments found in the 178-page report:

Balloon delivery of leaflets into North Vietnam from both Laos and from PTF’s in the Gulf of Tonkin should be tested…

The problem of penetrating the heavily populated areas of North Vietnam with PSYOP material is a major obstacle to a successful psychological campaign today. Restrictions of cargo aircraft reduce the population which cane be reached with this delivery system to about 20%, among which very few key-opinion formers are included. The use of high performance aircraft does not appear cost effective nor is this means of delivery a credible system for use by a dissident group. In attempting to resolve this problem, SOG recommends the launch of low cost, short range balloons, with PSYOP material from naval vessels operating close to the red River Delta coastline. Alternatively, ground launch sites in Laos were recommended…

At present, only wind drift techniques with leaflets and air drop-water float methods with floatable items are possible. Even these methods  (by cargo aircraft) are restricted to areas which are not protected by anti-aircraft fire. The net result is the denial of all of the principal population centers to SSPL penetration. Balloon delivery is the most promising system yet uncovered to solve this and presently we are awaiting CINCPAC approval of balloon operations against the North…

During the Spanish Civil War the Communists often used balloons to disperse propaganda leaflets over Franco's fascist forces. The balloons were bound with a lighted wick so that when the "spark reaches a knot which holds the leaflets, this breaks and releases them."

A November 1941 WWII circular to the Danish Chief Constables describes the British balloons. It points out that the leaflets are batched and held by cords beneath the balloon. A burning fuse cuts the cords and the leaflets are released over a period of time. Some selected comments are:

The propaganda balloon consists of envelope, carrying strings, carrying plate with shield and percussion tube with fuse. When fully inflated the balloon envelope is bell shaped with a diameter of about 3 meters. Filled with pure hydrogen it can carry a weight of about 9 kilos. The fire from the fuse will burn through one cord after another, thus releasing bunch after bunch of leaflets.

Modern leaflet balloon

The Nationalist soldiers on Taiwan and Quemoy often send gifts of clothing and sweets by balloon to mainland China. Over 200 million leaflets were sent by balloon in 1971. By 1974 the number was 1.6 billion leaflets.

In 1976 the Nationalists sent balloons bearing humanitarian aid of rice, medicine, sugar, powdered milk, noodles and propaganda leaflets to the earthquake-devastated area of Tangshan. The Chinese balloons can carry up to 400 pounds. They fly at altitudes of 40,000 to 90,000 feet. There were reports of Chinese MiGs trying to shoot down the humanitarian balloons.

At the height of their propaganda war, the North Koreans had 11 balloon launch sites and launched 500,000 balloons a year southward in an attempt to disrupt South Korean society, show the godlike stature of the leader, and stress various anti-American themes. A typical leaflet might show photographs of Kim Jung-Il on the front and back in full color and bear text such as:

A great leader, General Kim Jung-il who is the sun of our nation and who will unify the nation.

Park Sang Hak

North and South Korea made what amounts to a PSYOP peace in 2006, promising to stop attempting to propagandize each other. However, that has not stopped some private parties from continuing the war. The International Herald Tribune mentions that Park Sang Hak and his fellow North Koreans who live in the South regularly travel to the border of North Korea where they release balloons carrying 10,000 “freedom dove” leaflets that soar to 8,000 feet and say:

Kim Jong Il is a greedy womanizing despot with a protruding belly.

Two Anti-Communist Balloons soar Skyward

On 10 October 2008, Park Sang Hak, and members of the Fighters for Free North Korea launch huge helium balloons containing leaflets condemning North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during an anti-North Korea campaign on a boat in water near Yeongjong Island, South Korea. The letters on the balloons read:

Down with the dictator Kim Jong-il!

Fighters for Free North Korea

 

Noth Korean defectors prepare leaflet balloons for release

Propaganda balloons were still used on the Korean peninsula as late as 2008. Although the propaganda war between North and South Korea has cooled since a historic inter-Korean summit in 2000, a group of North Korean defectors sent helium balloons carrying some 60,000 leaflets condemning North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to their homeland in April of 2008. The message attacked the policy of Songun, or “military-first.” The balloons were launched from Ganghwa Island on the west coast of Korea and also contained Bible verses and $1 bills. Two million leaflets have been sent by the defectors to the North via balloons since 2005. It is unknown if this action is sponsored by the government or a private undertaking. Some of the text on the leaflets is:

Freedom is not free. Let us topple Kim Jong Il's 'songun' dictatorship and liberate North Koreans…

According to North Korea In & Out, Issue 5, a newsletter issued by the Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, in late 2008 the North Korean authorities spread a rumor saying that the leaflets sent from South Korea by the defectors were radioactive and would make people go blind.

Curiously, about the same time I was approached to help the organization that sent the anti Kim Jong Il leaflets with tactics and strategy:

I believe their projects would benefit from the advice of seasoned PSYOP professional, especially one with knowledge of and or the capability to get information on successful tactics for balloon and water-borne leaflet and radio operations in Korea.

FM 33-1-1 Psychological Operations Techniques and Procedures says about the use of balloons:

In addition to leaflets, balloons can drop food, toys, household goods, and daily commodities to the selected target audience. Drops for harassment can include national flags and passport-like safe conduct passes that permit would-be defectors to cross over opposing lines. This type of pass was sent by balloon From the Republic of China to the People's Republic of China and aided in the defection of former Communist airmen, journalists, and red Guards.

Psyop units supporting deception operations can use balloons to drop equipment such as parachutes or other evidence, such as food and ammunition, behind opponent lines to indicate the presence of strike or reconnaissance forces. Balloons may be made of paper, rubber, or polyethylene.

U.S. PSYOP current doctrine concerning balloons states:

Balloon delivery systems have not been used by the United States in recent years. Balloons can drop leaflets, novelties, gifts, and deception equipment such as parachutes and other indicators of presence. Their use requires detailed climatological information that is essentially a leaflet drop in reverse. Their range is out to 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles) with a payload up to approximately 10 kilograms (about 20 pounds). Balloons are made of paper, rubber, or polyethylene. The weather, wind, air currents, and gas pressure determine flight patterns. This method is used extensively by German and South Korean allied PSYOP forces.

 

Leaflet Kites

One of the earliest known uses of leaflets was 549 A.D. when a besieged Chinese city sent out messages of distress by means of kites.

As early as the Napoleonic Wars, the British experimented with propaganda kites. British Admiral Thomas Cochrane was ordered to distribute propaganda leaflets along the French coast. This was very dangerous for the seamen asked to row ashore. The captain of the Pallas had no intention of risking his crew. He ordered that the leaflets be brought on deck, split into small bundles and tied with string. The string was then attached to kites. When the wind was blowing in the right direction, slow matches were attached to the retaining string and set alight. The kites drifted toward France, releasing their leaflets as the string slowly burned away.

Admiral Cochrane used kites again between 1808 and 1814 to establish contact with a besieged city in Spain.

British Intelligence published a 1918 WWI report on the experimental use of kites for propaganda. The method of use is different than what one might think. The leaflets were not attached to the kite as it was flown. Instead, the kite reached a certain height and then a "conveyor" carried the leaflet up the cable to the kite where they were released. Some selected comments from the long report are:

The general idea of the method is to carry quantities of propaganda to a sufficient height in the air, in suitable winds, and to release them so that the wind may carry them over the enemy lines. The method has great practical possibilities. From a height of less than 5000 feet, in wind so light that there was great difficulty in getting the kite into the air, a distribution of propaganda leaflets ten miles from the kite was obtained. The propaganda is sent up in loose sheets attached by a simple clip. Loads of 5 pounds, which is to say between 500 and 600 leaflets, were sent up successfully in the experiments.

Mitchell also discusses the use of Kites in his WWII report. He warns that kites present a danger because their lines can interfere with aircraft flying over the battlefield:

The method requires box kites weighing from 7 to 10 pounds each. These can be sent up in a light to strong wind by two men where there is a stretch of from 20 to 100 yards free ground available. The kites are attached to a wire cable paid off a winch. Light power winches with suitable brakes such as are used by the Naval Meteorological Department are required. The kite can be used for liberating propaganda as soon as it has reached a sufficient height, which in the experiments was found to be from 3,000 feet upwards, nearly 10,000 being attained. The propaganda is sent up by Gamage’s Automatic Kite Conveyer, a hinged framework of canvas with spread of about fourteen square feet. This is mounted on a runner which passes up the cable leading to the kite on grooved wheels. The runner has a trigger device and when the Conveyer has been taken by the wind up to a stop fixed on the cable near the kite, the trigger comes into action, releases the propaganda sheets and folds down the wings of the messenger. In light winds, loads of five to seven lbs. were found quite easy to take up. The messenger takes several minutes to attain an elevation of 4,000 feet and rather less to come down. In a very moderate wind, propaganda sheets liberated at a height of about 4,000 feet were picked up on the ground ten miles away.

During the Cold War the Red Chinese sent propaganda leaflets to the Nationalist island of Quemoy using paper kites.

Kite Experiments at Ft. Bragg

Some independent experiments at using a kite to disseminate leaflets went on at Ft. Bragg. The use of a pulley to carry leaflets up to a small civilian commercial kite where they could be released was first tested. The pulley system was found to work. Tests verified that that a pulley system and a long loop line could alternately haul up a dump bag full of leaflets to the kite. A simple trigger made from wire would cause the dump bag to release its load. A second dump bag could be filled and the trigger set and the line would be reversed hauling the full dump bag up and the empty one down. Once it was determined that the system was viable, a larger kite with more lift was needed to increase the leaflet load.

The next tests used ram-air parachute systems. Some individuals had experimentally used them as kites in the past. The ram-air chutes were rigged so that they would fly more level (ram-airs are normally canted with a downward (negative) attack angle). The kites have a tremendous lifting power so they were tied to trees for testing. The system was found to work, but it was never used operationally in combat. Another concept was to use a GPS system to guide a ram-air system which would allow leaflets to be safely dropped very precisely on a target. The technology is still available and awaiting the call to arms.