| Although the best known military searchlights were
the anti-aircraft searchlights used during the Second World War by
the Royal Artillery, military searchlights were developed by the Corps
of Royal Engineers before the end of the 19th century, and are still
a Royal Engineers responsibility today. |
The first military searchlights were carbon arc lamps
mounted on horse-drawn carts and with their electrical power generated
by steam engine driven dynamos. They were deployed largely for coastal
defence. Similar lights were used during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902),
their role being the same then as it is today battlefield illumination.
By 1907, Electrical Engineer units were equipped with searchlights
mounted on motor vehicles. |
Vehicle mounted Searchlight c1910 |
|
In 1915 the Royal Engineers provided the first
anti-aircraft searchlights which kept Zeppelins and enemy aircraft
from the skies over London. By 1918 there were twenty-six Royal
Engineer Searchlight Companies.
|
Carbon arc searchlight was introduced
in 1938 and was the standard searchlight used by British forces
in Second World War. Its main use was to search for aircraft,
but it was also used to provide 'Artificial Moonlight' by
directing the beam at low-level cloud.
|
Between the Wars the Royal Engineers developed the
robust and efficient carbon arc searchlight. These anti-aircraft searchlights
were manned by specially trained Territorial Army Searchlight Companies
Royal Engineers of which there were twenty seven battalions by 1939.
One of those battalions was formed from the 8th Battalion City of
London Regiment (Post Office Rifles) that had in turn been raised
from the 24 Middlesex Rifle Volunteers; the same regiment that had
given rise to the formation of Royal Engineers (Telegraph Reserve)
and (Postal Section) before the First World War.
In 1941 since the Royal Engineer searchlight companies were
employed so closely with the anti-aircraft artillery, they were
rebadged as Royal Artillery searchlight batteries. Towards the
end of the Second World War, some of these searchlight units
were employed in Europe in the original role of providing ground
illumination.This mode of operation became known as Movement
Light-providing light for troop and vehicle movement on the
ground at night. As radar became the prime means of locating
enemy aircraft, the sole use for military searchlights again
became ground illumination. |
The connection between searchlights and ground
artillery being past, the remaining searchlight units returned
to the Corps of Royal Engineers in 1961.
In the 1980's the capability of the Corps to provide battlefield illumination
in British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) lay with a unique TA unit, 873
Movement Light Squadron RE (V). It was equipped with Xenon arc searchlights
which can provide light at a range of up to 10 miles. |
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Source: - The Royal Engineers
(Institution of Royal Engineers, 1987)
Links to further reading:
- Corps History Part 8 - Corps amalgamation and Coastal Defence
- Corps History Part 11 - Militia, Volunteers and Territorials
- Specialist Engineering - Submarine
Mining
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