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Setting up searchlight in Vosges sector.

Publication Year :
1919

Abstract

"For many miles the Vosges ... Mountains mark the boundary line between France and Germany. Along their wooded slopes many desperate encounters occurred early in the war, and throughout the entire period of hostilities their ravines and water courses were alive with alert guards, here French, there German. In this constant watch the searchlight was an invaluable aid. It revealed what was going on in the thickets, for when its rays were concentrated upon a single spot they showed individual men a mile away. It prevented surprise attacks under cover of the night. Sunk in a pit or in a trench such as we see, its beam of light projected into a sloping mirror, it could not be reached by direct fire and its location was difficult to discover. These men are erecting a portable searchlight on the slope of the mountain. We see its base, the rod upon which it is to be fixed, the insulating wire to connect it with the motor, and the light itself in its metal box. Searchlights were used in all sections of the field of war. Large ones were loaded upon wagons which carried a dynamo driven by a gasoline engine and were quickly carried to wherever they were needed. Some of these wagons had collapsible towers which could be run up in a few minutes. A searchlight upon the top of one of those towers gave a much clearer picture than one placed on the ground because it shortened the shadows case by trees and rocks. In London, during the war, great searchlights projected their beams into the sky every night, carefully and thoroughly combing the edges of the clouds for any indications of the dreaded Zeppelins."--Taken from back of resource

Details

Database :
OAIster
Notes :
Keystone View Company.
Accession number :
edsoai.on1028064897