The Moonlight Batteries were Searchlight units of Britain's Royal Artillery that specialised in providing 'artificial moonlight', otherwise known as 'movement light' or 'Monty's moonlight', for ground operations during the latter stages of World War II.
Navies were the first military forces to adopt the newly developed electric Arc lamp Searchlights (S/Ls) in the later 19th Century, to illuminate potential targets at night. Before the Bombardment of Alexandria in 1882, the Royal Navy force employed its searchlights to prove that Ahmed ‘Urabi's troops were strengthening the fortifications at night in defiance of the British ultimatum. [1] Similarly, searchlights were also used to defend Ports against incursions by warships at night: in Britain this role became the responsibility of the fortress engineers and electrical engineers of the Royal Engineers (RE). [2]
Early in the Second Boer War, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell improvised searchlights to deter night attacks on his lines during the Siege of Mafeking. Soon afterward Major Rookes Crompton led a detachment of the Electrical Engineers Volunteers to South Africa where they operated electric arc lamp S/Ls of his own design, the first use of such equipment by the RE on campaign. They provided a primitive 'artificial moonlight' by reflecting the searchlight beams from clouds. [3] [4] [5] After the onset of trench warfare in World War I, the Tyne Electrical Engineers provided detachments to operate oxy-acetylene S/Ls in forward areas to assist in night defence, but these proved a failure. [6]
World War I saw massive expansion of searchlight use in Anti-Aircraft (AA) defence to illuminate Zeppelins and bomber aircraft at night so that they could be engaged by AA guns and fighter aircraft. [7] [8] This became the predominant military use for searchlights between the World Wars, and in the 1930s the threat from Luftwaffe bombers in the event of war with Germany led to rapid expansion in the number of AA S/L units in Britain's part-time Territorial Army. These were frequently converted infantry battalions transferred to the RE or the RA. They formed part of Anti-Aircraft Command in Air Defence of Great Britain, but some units were also sent overseas after the outbreak of war to supplement the small number of Regular Army S/L units in defending ports, bases, airfields and other vital points. [9]
All the Army's AA S/L units were transferred to the Royal Artillery during 1940. Their primary role was to illuminate enemy aircraft for AA guns or night fighters to engage, although providing directional beacons for friendly aircraft was a valuable secondary role. Searchlight units scored occasional successes by dazzling enemy pilots, [10] but attempts to set up dazzle barrages (eg a 'Cardiff–Newport Dazzle Area') [11] were not particularly successful. Other uses for S/Ls were slower to emerge.
At the time of Battle of Alamein, Eighth Army had two Troops of 27th (London Electrical Engineers) S/L Rgt under command for area AA protection, but five of these lights were used to assist assaulting troops in direction-keeping during the night attack that launched the battle (Operation Lightfoot). No attempt was made to illuminate the sky (the battle was fought in full moonlight, though this was much obscured by dust). [4] [12] [13]
Battlefield illumination was also used in the campaigns in Sicily and Italy up to and including the Gothic line. It was used to illuminate the battlefield for not only infantry attack but also, because of the ridge nature of the terrain, catching out German Artillery in the full glare of light on the opposite slopes. Careful reconnoitring of the area and individual placement achieved excellent results. The 1st Canadian Group had with them 422nd S/L Battery who undertook this task successfully. [14]
By the time of Operation Overlord and the Normandy campaign in the summer of 1944 the Luftwaffe was greatly weakened, and the use of radar by AA guns and night-fighters was widespread, so the S/L units in 21st Army Group were under-employed. [5] Some lights from 474th S/L Battery were given a subsidiary coast defence role to protect the anchorages from E-Boat attacks. [15] By late August, as 21st Army Group broke out of the beachhead, enemy night air raids were rare and 557th S/L Bty was used to provide floodlighting for round-the-clock bridge-building by the Royal Engineers; this soon became a routine task for S/L units. [16] As the advance across France gathered momentum, newly arrived batteries of 41st and 42nd S/L Rgts found themselves providing security lighting for Prisoner of war (PoW) camps. [17]
The major new use for S/L units in this campaign was to reflect light off the cloudbase to provide 'artificial moonlight' or 'movement light' (also known as 'Monty's moonlight' after 21st Army Group's commander, General Sir Bernard Montgomery) in support of night operations. 344th, 356th and 474th Independent S/L Batteries pioneered this technique using their mobile 90 cm searchlights. [18] On 9 July, 474 Bty sent six S/L detachments to provide artificial moonlight in the forward area for 43rd (Wessex) Division, which was moving up to its starting positions for Operation Jupiter. Three days later, the battery repeated the process for 53rd (Welsh) Division. [19] [20]
The technique was next used operationally to assist the assembly of troops for Operation Greenline on the night of 14/15 July, when the drivers of 15th (Scottish) Division 'found the light a great help to them in finding their way up the pot-holed track through the blinding dust'. [21] The S/L positions were subjected to light retaliatory shelling and mortar fire and to low-level air attack, suffering some casualties. However, during the fighting the following night, a jammed column of troops and vehicles was dangerously silhouetted in the movement light, while elsewhere a smoke cloud blotted it out. [22] Nevertheless, from then on the S/L batteries were regularly called upon to send detachments to provide movement light to support British and Canadian formations as the Battle for Caen progressed [19] This innovation in 21st Army Group narrowly preceded similar experiments by Eighth Army on the Italian front. [18]
On 7/8 August, 344th S/L Bty provided lighting for II Canadian Corps' night attack south of Caen (Operation Totalize); officers of the newly arrived 557th S/L Bty attended to gain experience in this new technique. [16] [18] [23]
After 21st Army Group broke out of its Normandy beachhead, 557th S/L Bty went to Le Havre where it provided artificial moonlight for the attack by I Corps on the night of 10/11 September (Operation Astonia). Here the technique proved particularly valuable for ensuring safe passage through gaps cut in the minefields. The battery then went on to provide lighting for the continued fighting in the town and docks. [16] [24] [25]
In October, 557th S/L Bty joined II Canadian Corps in the Battle of the Scheldt (Operation Switchback), providing 'moonlight' for the attack on South Beveland and AA defence for the Canadian gun lines. [26] Afterwards, it joined 344th, 356th, and 474th Btys in providing light for bridge and airfield construction, and AA defence for the bridges at Grave, Mook and Nijmegen that had been captured during Operation Market Garden. At Nijmegen the two vital bridges were under regular attack from the air and from frogmen with explosive charges, so that searchlights had to sweep the river as well as the sky. [16] [19] [27] [28]
On 4 November C Troop of 356 S/L Bty was detached to 51st (Highland) Division for its first experience with artificial moonlight. This was for an assault crossing of the Afwateringkanal and River Maas and subsequent bridgelaying. The troop stayed on to illuminate bridge repairs on the second night. After a difficult move, with several vehicles ditched, the troop was repositioned to join 474 S/L Bty in supporting a night move by 154 Bde into Nederweert on 9 November, during which the troop suffered minor damage from enemy shellfire. After a few nights providing movement light over canal and river bridges, XXX Corps sent C Troop to assist 84th US Division in its attack on Geilenkirchen as part of Operation Clipper. During the preparation period the S/Ls were exposed each night 'to fox the Boche' with 'stooge' beams in different directions. The attack went in at 04.00 on 18 November and the troop provided artificial moonlight until 07.00 to help the Flail tanks and engineers to breach the defences. The following night the troop assisted 43rd (Wessex) Division in the continuing attacks on the Geilenkirchen salient, receiving a retaliatory air raid that caused no damage. Heavy rain fell from 20 November onwards, and finding suitable S/L positions in the mud and minefields was difficult. Eventually the Troop deployed on a Hitler Youth campsite and at the railway station. As 84th Division's operation continued with the capture of Tripsrath, the lights attracted increasing amounts of enemy shellfire, causing minor casualties and damage. On 23 November the S/Ls were doused for a while to allow stretcher bearers to bring in the wounded. On 24 November a US S/L unit arrived to be briefed on the artificial moonlight technique, and the following day C Troop left 84th US Division and rejoined 43rd (Wessex) to resume routine movement light duties. [29]
Early in 1945, in preparation for the forthcoming attack in the Klever Reichswald (Operation Veritable), 31st (North Midland) Anti-Aircraft Brigade HQ in Belgium carried out experiments to optimise artificial moonlight techniques to provide lighting for night movement of ground troops, for floodlighting their objectives and for dazzling the defenders. [30]
At the end of January 1945, 557th S/L Bty under First Canadian Army command began experiments to put a searchlight onto a Canadian Ram tank with its turret removed, with the electrical generator carried in a second accompanying tank. (The obsolete Rams were also being used as turretless armoured personnel carriers known as Kangaroos.) A section of 557 S/L Bty based at Nijmegen began operating these vehicles in February in support of 15th (Scottish) Division. [31]
The units involved were apparently unaware of the existence of the Canal Defence Lights (CDLs), which had been designed earlier in the war to equip night fighting tank battalions both to illuminate and to dazzle the enemy. The CDL consisted of a powerful searchlight fitted to a Matilda tank, replacing the turret and main armament. Later the Matilda CDLs were replaced by Grant tank CDLs, which retained the 75 mm main gun in its sponson. These weapons had been developed under great secrecy and by January 1942 a whole tank brigade had begun training on CDLs, later joining 79th Armoured Division, which concentrated all the specialised armour units training for Operation Overlord. [32] [33] [34] In the end only one of the CDL units, 49th Royal Tank Regiment, went to Normandy, and it landed too late for Operation Totalize. The regiment was later converted into an Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment (49 APCR) equipped with Kangaroos, and the CDLs were returned to store. [32] [33] [35] 557th Battery's experiments were not continued, and CDLs were brought back out of storage for the assault crossing of the Rhine (Operation Plunder).
When Operation Veritable opened on 9 February, 356th, 474th and 557th Btys provided 'moonlight' for XXX Corps, VIII Corps and II Canadian Corps respectively. Four of 557th Bty's lights were mounted on steel towers specially erected by the RE. For the attacks on the Siegfried line (Westwall) bunkers, which took place on the night of D/D +1, part of the Klever Reichswald was floodlit, and some S/L positions were sited with the intention of dazzling the defenders while lighting up the obstacles. [30] [36] [37]
During the battle, 557th Bty's lights were called upon to illuminate roads to help a Canadian brigade in danger from floods – presaging their later peacetime use in civil defence. [27] [31]
After their success in Veritable, three of the S/L batteries providing movement light were officially redesignated 'Moonlight' (M/L) batteries, and two further batteries (581st and 582nd) were formed. Each was assigned to an army corps. [38] 356th Moonlight Battery continued with XXX Corps, whose commander, Lt-Gen Brian Horrocks, had highly commended the battery for its work in Veritable. However, in mid-March, while the battery was preparing for the Rhine crossing (Operation Plunder) it was ordered to revert to AA duties and transfer to 107th AA Bde under First Canadian Army. The whole battery, together with Horrocks and his Corps Commander Royal Artillery, resisted the transfer, and 356th M/L Bty continued planning for Plunder 'as if nothing had happened', while taking the precaution of refitting its lights with AA radar. [30] [37]
Trials of various S/L arrangements were carried out on the River Maas, and the plan decided on for the Rhine was for four banks of lights, one behind the assembly areas, two interspersed among them, and one well forward, close to the west bank of the river, a total of 33 S/L projectors per corps. [37] The necessary build-up of material for Operation Plunder involved much night movement, and the deployment of lights included deception sites. The lights were used for several nights before the actual assault to 'accustom the Germans to their use'. [39] [40] For the assault crossing, 49 APCR formed 'B' Independent Squadron equipped with Grant CDLs, assigning a half squadron to each of the attacking corps, XII and XXX. During the assault on Rees by 51st (Highland) Division the Grants both illuminated the crossing and engaged the enemy on the far bank with their 75mm guns. [32] [33] [40] [41] The lighting was so intense that many of the troops crossing in the 'Buffalo' amphibious vehicles felt that they were dangerously silhouetted against the water. [42]
After the Rhine had been crossed, 21st Army Group had to execute two further assault river crossings as it advanced across Germany: the Weser, where 581st M/L Bty supported XII Corps, and the Elbe (Operation Enterprise), with 581st M/L Bty in support of VIII Corps. [43] [44]
15th (Scottish) Division's experience of the Elbe crossing was described thus:
After VE Day the moonlight batteries carried out various occupation duties in Germany until their turn for demobilisation came round. Often this involved security lighting on important rivers, and for PoW camps. [46]
By the end of the war in Europe, there were five independent Moonlight Batteries operating in 21st Army Group: [38]
In addition the following independent AA S/L Bty also operated in the M/L role on occasions, without change of designation:
The last RA S/L battery formed during World War II, 571 (Independent) S/L Bty raised on 1 April 1945, [50] was redesignated 339 Movement Light Bty in the Regular Army on 1 April 1947. It was reduced to 4 Movement Light Troop on 14 October 1948, and disbanded on 1 February 1949. [52]
When the Territorial Army was reconstituted in 1947, it included a number of Movement Light batteries:
During the East Coast Floods in February 1953, Q ('Quebec') Battery of 529 LAA/SL Rgt, stationed at Louth, deployed its gun towing vehicles to evacuate civilians from Sutton-on-Sea. It then employed the artificial moonlight technique with its S/Ls to allow round-the-clock working to repair the damaged sea defences, calling in additional lights from TA units across the North and Midlands. This commitment lasted for six weeks. [62]
There were organisational changes in 1955, when 871st Bty was disbanded, but a new battery was formed:
856th and 858th M/L Btys were transferred from the RA to the RE in 1956, with 858th being merged into 108 Field Engineer Rgt. [53] [55] [65] The last RA M/L batteries were also converted to RE in 1961, becoming 863rd (County of Lincoln) Independent Movement Light Squadron and 873rd (Middlesex) Movement Light Squadron respectively. [5] [59] [60] [64]
873 Mov Lt Sqn provided lighting during the construction of the Medway bridges for the M2 motorway in 1962, but its offer to light the rescue efforts after the Aberfan disaster in 1966 was rejected. When the TA was converted into the smaller TAVR in 1967, 873 Sqn was reduced to Battery HQ and one Troop – the only dedicated searchlight unit remaining, not only in the British Army but the whole of NATO. It was finally disbanded in 1999. [5] [60]
The London Electrical Engineers was a Volunteer unit of the British Army's Royal Engineers founded in 1897. It pioneered the use of searchlights (S/Ls) for port defence before World War I and for anti-aircraft (AA) defence during the war. In the interwar period it formed the two senior searchlight regiments of the Territorial Army, which defended Southern England during The Blitz. Detachments later served in the Battle of Crete and Siege of Tobruk.
The 28th (Essex) Searchlight Regiment was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1935 until 1961, at first as part of the Royal Engineers, later in the Royal Artillery. During the Second World War it defended the approaches to London in The Blitz and Operation Diver before becoming a garrison unit in the liberation of Norway.
30th (Surrey) Searchlight Regiment was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army from 1924 until 1961. During World War II it served in The Blitz and later in the Tunisian and Italian Campaigns, while detachments from the regiment served in the Far East and were captured at the Fall of Singapore.
The 38th Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army formed just before the Second World War, which protected London and Southern England during the Blitz and later converted into an infantry formation for the liberation of Europe.
The 31st Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army from 1936 until 1948. During the Second World War it defended West Yorkshire and later participated in the North West Europe campaign.
58th (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) raised just before World War II. It defended the East Midlands of England during The Blitz, and later served as infantry in North West Europe at the end of the war, converting to the anti-aircraft (AA) artillery role postwar.
The 40th Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Anti-Aircraft Command in the British Territorial Army (TA) formed shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. Its initial role was to defend Royal Air Force (RAF) airfields in East Anglia. Later it commanded part of the searchlight belt protecting The Midlands. In 1944 the brigade was moved south to protect the embarkation ports for Operation Overlord and to defend against V-1 flying bombs in Operation Diver. It was briefly reformed in the postwar TA.
The Cornwall Fortress Royal Engineers, was a volunteer unit of Britain's Royal Engineers formed in 1908. It helped to defend the coastal towns of Cornwall and sent engineer units to work on the Western Front. Converted to an air defence role before World War I, it served as a searchlight unit during the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, then, as a light anti-aircraft gun unit, it served in the most heavily attacked part of the South Coast of England throughout 1942–44, including the V-1 flying bomb campaign.
The 344th Moonlight Battery, Royal Artillery was a searchlight unit of the British Army that provided artificial illumination, or 'Monty's Moonlight', for night operations by 21st Army Group during the campaign in North West Europe in 1944–45. Previously, it had served on anti-aircraft (AA) duties during The Blitz.
The 356th Moonlight Battery, Royal Artillery was a searchlight unit of the British Army that provided artificial illumination, or 'Monty's Moonlight', for night operations by 21st Army Group during the campaign in North West Europe in 1944–45. Previously, it had served on anti-aircraft (AA) duties during The Blitz.
474th Searchlight Battery, Royal Artillery was a unit of the British Army during World War II. Originally raised as an anti-aircraft (AA) battery, in which role it served during the Battle of Britain and Blitz, it also provided artificial illumination, or 'Monty's Moonlight', for night operations by 21st Army Group during the campaign in North West Europe in 1944–45.
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The 557th Independent Moonlight Battery, Royal Artillery was a Searchlight (S/L) unit of the British Army that provided artificial illumination, or 'Monty's Moonlight', for night operations by 21st Army Group during the campaign in North West Europe in 1944–45. Previously, it had served on anti-aircraft (AA) duties in the United Kingdom and Normandy.
The 133rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, was an air defence unit of Britain's Royal Artillery during World War II. It saw action during the campaign in North West Europe, defending the vital port of Antwerp against V-1 flying bombs and supporting the advance into Germany.
The 76th Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was a British Army air defence unit during World War II. It was engaged during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz, defending Royal Air Force airfields and the towns of southern England.
The 1st Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of the British Army from 1920 until 1954. Originally formed in the Royal Engineers (RE), it was transferred to the Royal Artillery (RA) at the start of World War II. It fought with distinction in the defence of Calais during the Battle of France, in which it was virtually destroyed. Reformed, it helped to protect the cities of South Wales from the Luftwaffe during The Blitz, and later defended the South Coast of England against Fighter bomber and V-1 flying bomb attacks. It went to North West Europe to defend Antwerp during the final stages of the war, and served in the Gibraltar garrison postwar.
3rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade was a Supplementary Reserve air defence formation of the British Army formed in Northern Ireland in 1938. On the outbreak of the Second World War it saw active service with the British Expeditionary Force during the Battle of France and Operation Aerial. It then returned to Northern Ireland and defended the Province for the next two years. Postwar, it was reformed in the Territorial Army and served until the disbandment of Anti-Aircraft Command in 1955.
The Carmarthenshire Fortress Royal Engineers (CFRE) was a coast defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army formed after World War I. In World War II, it provided an anti-aircraft searchlight unit that served during the early part of The Blitz, and then during the Siege of Malta.
The 92nd Searchlight Regiment was an air defence unit of Britain's Royal Artillery during World War II. The regiment was formed in May 1941 as part of the rapid expansion of Anti-Aircraft (AA) defences during The Blitz. It served in AA Command until disbandment in 1943.
The 2nd Searchlight Regiment, was an air defence unit of Britain's Royal Artillery formed just before World War II. Deploying to France with the British Expeditionary Force and RAF Advanced Air Striking Force in 1940, it found itself caught up in ground fighting during the Battle of France, including actions at Arras, Boulogne, Calais, and Hondeghem. After the evacuation from Dunkirk it served in home defence in Anti-Aircraft Command until 1944, when it deployed to Europe again, seeing action in the defence of Antwerp and the Scheldt, then the river crossings as 21st Army Group advanced into Germany at the end of the war. It was disbanded in 1948.