WWII Searchlight Emplacements

Wasn't the searchlight 'pointing' homing system codenamed SANDRA?

That's the area in question, there appears to be some bits in the wooded area, I'll have a look in the area probably next Saturday (I'm advised by the resident weather forecaster in the conservatory that next weekend's forecast is snow). The article does not mention "Sandra", it appears that the operators had no idea what they were actually doing, they were only following orders.

It was quite spooky actually. I had been looking at the remains of the Goldsitch Moss coalfield with a friend earlier that day (it's very obscure, at the back of the Roaches), went into Brierlow Bar bookshop, spotted the book (£6.99 - £10 cheaper than Amazon) and there was a picture of a JU88 crashed on Goldsitch Moss, and then started reading it, to discover a section on Edale when I remembered the query on here about MamTor!

They were almost certainly built using Imperial Units of measurement but the modern day report has used Metric but, in my opinion, has rounded up or down the conversions.

That said, measuring an earth 'bank' bund or traverse built 70 odd years ago with any accuracy is impossible. Or have I missed your point Paul?

Curiously, even the USA military used metric to describe the mean diameter of a searchlight projector, e.g 90cm, 120cm but then so did the British Military in an era when Imperial Units ruled! Must have been a Continental import!

Thanks very much for providing this extremely interesting and useful info. Oh and by the way you have reminded me its time I visited Brierlow Bar again - an excellent bookshop!

I am not sure which tread this image best fits. It is filed under:

Aircraft Navigation and Guidance: MPs visiting No 554 Anti Aircraft Battery near Harwich watching a demonstration of a searchlight with radar equipment known as ELSIE - 90 cm Searchlight Control Radar (SLC) No 2 Mk VI - which entered service in 1942 and was of immense assistance to anti-aircraft when used against the flying bomb attacks of 1944.



Courtesy of Imperial War Museum IWMH28386.

As we are into pictures of searchlights, two coastal searchlight units at Blyth (NE) with the front doors now bricked up, and a memorial to the "Skylighters".

The mention in Dark Peak Aircraft Wrecks (Vol.1) was about Blenheim Z5870 which crashed somewhere above Lee Farm on the southern side of Kinder. The wreck was discovered by one of the personnel from the searchlight unit.

Does anyone have any idea which Battery was responsible for the site in July 1941? Ron Collier never put that in DPAW.

Visited Today, very hazy day, The site makes more sense when you actually go to look.

These three pictures are of the mounds in the Parent Searchlight site:

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I guess these rectangular mounds along the fence line are the accommodation huts. The site was obviously drained with a decent ditch all around.

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I was told by a local chap that this "hill" was where the beacon lights, and generator were.

Nothing remains up there, I did investigate a square patch that was visible on Google Earth, only to find a family eating off the picnic table.

The hills are known locally as Barber Booth Tips, and are actually the excavation waste that was dumped from the construction of Cowburn Tunnel.

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There are two interpretation boards in the area, sadly neither mentions the searchlight unit.

Hi,

This thread came up on a search and I'm hoping you might be able to help! I'm looking for information on a searchlight emplacement in Burnopfield, near Gateshead (the Natinoal Trust property that owns the land are trying to build their own database of what's on it as currently there's nothing). I've had a look on the database mentioned but couldn't find it. Any thoughts on anywhere else to look? Thanks.