Home Page - Introduction

If you were a member of 873 Movement Light Squadron, RE, or its predecessor unit, 873 Movement Light Battery, RA, or are just interested in searchlights used by the British Army either for battlefield ground lighting, military tattoos on for civil assistance, then this is the site for you. You will also find some passing references to another searchlight role, "ack-ack" or anti-aircraft, but that aspect is dealt with in great depth in other sites.

The site is not an "official" one, merely a collection of photos and memories contributed by a number of ex-searchlight operators at 873 during the 1960s, 70s, 80s and early 90s (see Contributors page)

This page begins with some non-873 stuff to set the scene and provide a historical connection, and it also has a few details of army searchlights after 873s demise, but the majority of this and the other pages is about the personnel and searchlights of 873 Movement Light Squadron, and much has not been published previously.

If you can add to or correct any information, or have any photos or memories to share, please e-mail.

I'm Peter Cox, ex-L/Cpl in 873, 1967-69. I spent just two years of my 24 years in the "Terriers" in 873 Movement Light Squadron during that time, two of the most exciting years in service.

In 2012, twenty eight years on from my last TA pay-day, I launched this unofficial website to share photos, images, memories and news (past & present) with anyone that knew me or who served in the same unit.

Searchlights in the British Army

The French army apparently experiented with searchlights, said to be carbon-arcs, in the middle of the 19th century and were employing them certainly by the 1880s.(1) The Royal Navy had also used some by then(2), and the Russians and Americans were also early users.(1) However, it was only in the last few years of that century that searchlights were introduced into the British Army when the Corps of Royal Engineers developed their own carbon-arc light.(3)

The principal was quite simple. A flame, or arc, is produced by electricity jumping between the tips of two carbon rods acting as electrodes, one positively charged, the other negative. The gap between the tips needs to be set to produce a steady and intense arc and as the rods burn away they have to be moved to keep the gap constant. Later, the racks holding the rods were motorised to provide automatic adjustment but some manual attention was sometimes needed, a skill all operators of carbon-arcs have needed to master.

The light produced was intensified by a reflector, just as with a torch, and searchlights are designated by the diameter of the reflector (in metric, except in the USA) - 90cm was the first size the British Army used and remained the most common until carbon-arcs were replaced by smaller high-tech bulb lights. Many lights are adjustable to provide a narrow beam or a wide flood of light.

Clicking bracketed note numbers above and below will take you to the list of information sources

1899 to 1936
S/lights were operated by Royal Engineers

1899	The army first used searchlights during the the Boer War (1899-1902), for coastal defence and "artificial moonlight" for battlefield illumination by directing the beams at low level clouds.(2) The earliest lights were mounted on horse-drawn waggons, and electrical power came from dynamos driven by steam engines.(3)
1907	Petrol-engined motor trucks were in use(3), but I don't know what powered the generators
1915	During the First World War, the Royal Engineers deployed searchlights for the first time in an "anti-aircraft" role, illuminating the skies over London to deter bombing attacks by German airships (Zeppelins) and aeroplanes.(3).
1918	By the end of the war there were twenty-six RE Searchlight Companies (3), equipped with 622 searchlights, a mixture of 90cm and 120cm lights.(2)
1920s-30s	The Royal Engineers developed more robust and more efficient lights and they were manned by TA Companies.(3)
1936	The photo on the right is said to be in Palestine about 1936.(anon, flickr) That would have been during the Arab Revolt of 1936-39. Painted on the rear tailboards is "1st AA Bn. RE"

1938 to 1941
S/Ls operated by RE's and Royal Artillery

There's an enormous amount about RA use during this period elsewhere on the web and it's pointless repeating it here.

1938	New version of 90cm carbon-arc light introduced, known as "Projectors", for anti-aircraft use, fited with automatic carbon feed, and issued to newly formed RA searchlight units.(2) They were fitted with 4 small crawler tracks for easy manoeuvring on ground as were earlier versions, or they could be truck-mounted.
1939	Now twenty-seven RE TA battalions with searchlights.(3) New 150cm light with narrow beam and attached sound projector introduced specifically for Anti-Aircraft use, mounted on a 4-wheel low-deck trailer (see left). These were mixed-in with the 90cm ones(2). Various generators were tried, but the Lister JP4 (110 volt, 24kVA) trailer-mounted diesel-engined became the standard.(4)
1941	The RE searchlight companies were so closely deployed with Royal Artillery anti-aircraft units, that it seemed sensible to transfer them to the RA (who already had some searchlight units, see 1938 above) and they re-badged in 1941(3) or Aug 1940.(2) In the latter part of WW2 some searchlight units were moved to mainland Europe to once again provide ground illumination.(3) That was known as "movement light" because it enabled troops and vehicles to move around at night without using their own lights.

1941-1946
S/Ls operated by Royal Artillery

1942-1945	The introduction of radar resulted in less need for AA searchlights and the numbers of lights and units reduced each year.(2)
1945	The sole the use of searchlights had now become ground illumination.

1947-1960
873 formed as Royal Artillery TA

1947	873 Movement Light Battery, RA formed on post-war re-organisation of the TA. Based at Staines, it had a war establishment of BHQ, three troops each with 8 lights, & REME workshops, total of 286 all-ranks.(15)
1957-60	searchlights were in use in Cyprus from June 57 to May 60, operated by a battery of 29 Fd Regt, RA. The regt provided "gunner support for the Middle East Reserve, the so-called 'Fire Brigade' - and a fully operational Internal Security Unit".The Regt left after cessation of conflict with EOKA.(5)
1958	873 Movement Light Battery, RA, moved to Twickenham, into hutted accommodation.(15)
1960	As the sole war-time use of searchlights in the army was ground illumination, which was not an artillery role, the two remaining RA searchlight batteries were disbanded and control passed back to the REs.