British Balloon Bombs in the Balkans, Summer 1943?

I've seen several German reports of balloon bombs being found on the ground, unexploded, in Yugoslavia, Romania, and Bulgaria during May, June, July, August, and September 1943. Every report states the balloon and explosives package were unmarked and the Germans did not know their source or intent. It's possible the balloons were found before and/or after that period, but I've not checked those records.

Very roughly speaking, it appears possible these balloon bombs might have been intended for Danube mining or river ship/installations destruction, although some balloon bombs were found as far east as the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria (the Danube also flowed through these areas so the Danube "target" idea may still be valid).

Koch, in his German-language book Flak, states these were RAF bombs, but provides no references or details other than claiming the British sent "balloon bombs." I wonder whether these could have come from Soviet sources, either launched from the Soviet Union or possibly by Soviet-supported partizan groups in Yugoslavia or elsewhere in the Balkans. I believe the generally prevailing winds in that area of the world are SW to NE or W to E, but of course wind direction varies considerably based on various conditions. This might argue for a central Balkans launch point. I can't imagine the balloons surviving launch from aircraft, although the SOE was flying regular supply missions into the general area.

Do you know anything about these balloon bombs? Who sent them? From what launch locations? What was the target or target category? Technical details?

TIA

Ol' Mac

II recently came across some details of a balloon bombing campaign against Germany from Britain between 1942 and 1944.

THAT is fascinating--I've never heard of this program before, either. The purpose of the balloon bombs described at the link is consistent with the fact that Hungary, Romania, and to a lesser extent Bulgaria provided considerable foodstuffs and other field/forest products to the Reich. Causing random fires at extremely low costs was probably an idea the Brits jumped on, particularly SOE (speculation, of course).

The German reports do not give enough information to confirm whether the bombs described at the link are the same, but who else would have been doing this? The Soviets? I think the prevailing winds would have precluded launches from Soviet territory.

Still hoping somebody can provide info on whether these were in fact the same type balloons as in the linked article, and who launched them (the Royal Navy seems unlikely), and from where.

I should have titled this thread SOE/OSS Balloon Bombs in the Balkans during the summer of 1943?

Found some of my Romanian police contact reports but haven't yet laid my hands on the other countries' reports. Confirmed Romanian balloon "find" reports were between 5 Jun 43 and 7 Jul 43 (there are more, but of course I've misplaced them...).

One of the reports states they found a "cylindrical" object with the downed balloon marked "USA" on the "warhead." Many Romanian reports are not clearly written, so not sure whether they actually found some sort of explosive or incendiary device, but they called it a "warhead." If the report on the markings was accurate, it's possible OSS teams in Yugoslavia were launching balloon bombs, but I've never heard of any such thing. British balloon bombs are confirmed 1942-1944, but not yet confirmed as used in the Balkans.

Should have added I found 7 police reports about downed balloons during this period, but they're may have been more since I did not check police reports from every jurisdiction in Romania or the other countries. Also, the date the downed balloon only approximates the date it could have been launched since each balloon would have been airborne from hours to days before alighting on Terra Firma. Finally, these seven finds were spread from just inside Romania on the same latitude as Belgrade to as far east as Pitesti (about halfway between the east and west national borders of Romania). One sighting was very far east, almost to the Danube where it cuts north, but this was identified as a weather balloon that could have been of German or Allied origin (not specified in the report).