Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Searchlight Batteries - Royal Australian Enginers (RAE) / later Royal Ausralian Artillery (RAA)

Searchlight batteries were of two types;  Coastal Artillery Searchlights (CASL) and Anti Aircraft Searchlights (AASL).  They were initially raised, equipped, maintained, controlled and manned by Royal Australian Engineers Militia personnel.  Given they were in effect integral to the guns they supported (either Coastal (CA) or Anti-Aircraft (AA) Artillery), common sense prevailed and they were integrated with their supported unit, thus coming under the Royal Australian Artillery's Command and Control (C2) arrangements.

Fig 1.  A mobile Sperry 60 inch 1.5m searchlight, one of the major equipments operated by Searchlight Batteries.  Image AWM

For local administration and C2 they generally came under the umbrella of the 'Fortress Groups' around Australia's coastline near each of the major centres.  These groups commanded the Coastal Artillery, Anti Aircraft Artillery and Searchlight Batteries and Sections in their geogrpahic area of responsibility. See the lsiting for Fortress / Coastal Artillery HERE (/explore/units/3452),  Anti Aircraft Units HERE (/explore/units/3474) and 2nd AIF Anti Aircraft Units HERE (/explore/units/3165)

Fig 2 Three unidentified members of the 73rd Anti Aircraft Searchlight Battery, operating a radar controlled, 90 cm searchlight projector at their base at Scheyville, NSW. The unit was based at Scheyville between September and November 1942 when it relocated to Brisbane, Qld, on 8 November and then on to Townsville, Qld. On 29 December 1942 the unit embarked for New Guinea aboard the MV Duntroon, where they remained until returning to Australia on 13 July 1944. AWM POS147.001

As the war progressed beyond mid 1943, the threat of invasion and attack, particularly in the south, diminished and the demands on militia personnel drew them ever northward, so Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) and Australian Womens' Army Service (AWAS) personnel were increasingly 'superimposed' to operate the guns and the searchlight batteries until they were progressively closed down from mid-1944.

  Fig. 3. East Parklands, South Australia. 1944-09-15. SF64677 Bombardier R. Berridge (1), and SF113440 Gunner B.E. Johnson (2), members of the Australian Women's Army Service, clean lamps during maintenance of searchlights at the 58th searchlight battery. Photo:  AWM 080345  

Fig 4. A Recruiting poster for the Australian Womens' Army Service (AWAS) many of whom crewed anti-aircraft and search light batteries later in the war