Two light sources sit idle side-by-side. In appearance they are dissimilar, in utility they had different functions, and in origin, produced in separate countries. What they share in common is the dust that covers them and the conflict in which they saw use, the Second World War. One, a lantern, lit the way for Germany’s soldiers marching across Europe. The other, a lamp, protected British civilians from the onslaught of aerial bombing.
This post is part of an ongoing series called ‘Workplace discoveries’, which documents interesting Second World War related artifacts that I discover at work. My regular job is to manage an estate sale company. Artifacts documented in this series are not necessarily in my possession, and may been saved by the homeowner or sold to another customer. Any item I do buy has first been made available to the general public.
Lighting the way for German troops
Short and stout, at a height of 18 cm, from base to its dome, is the Feuerhand Atom 75 lantern. It was the product of German engineering, manufactured in the 1930s by the still functioning Feuerhand company. The design and utility has proved to be timeless. In the present day the Atom 75 has become highly prized by homesteaders and antique lantern collectors alike. Several variants of the lamp exist but most historically significant of all, at least in my opinion, is the one found at our sale.
Ours was the Marschsickerungslaterne type- German for marching lantern. Setting itself apart from civilian variants was its metal cover, painted olive drab, fitted behind the body of the lantern. The cover also features a clip allowing the lantern to be worn on a belt, coat, or pack. While on a march a military formation would use four with one at each corner. Two in the front would use clear glass globes while two in the back used red globes.
The Atom 75 marching lantern found considerable use in the Second World War. Uniquely, pre-war and wartime examples feature ‘made in Germany’ in English. After the war the Feuerhand company stamped their products ‘made in W. [West] Germany’.
Protection against enemy bombers during the Blitz
Taller and slimmer than the Atom 75 is a British miner’s flame safety lamp. Manufactured before the war by Ackroyd & Best, the Hailwood Improved Lamp was a common sight in the coal mines of early twentieth century Britain. At a height of 25.5 cm, and with a narrow body, the lamp featured a patented porcelain burner- lit by an electric relighter. The relighter required a special station fitted with storage batteries and induction coil. Both lamp and its lighting station were leased to mining companies and not sold outright.
Leasing their products was a financial liability for the renamed Hailwood & Best company. This became apparent in 1937 when new mining regulations compelled the use of lamps with a higher candle power. The company was left with a significant surplus but as fortune would have it, not for long. At that time the fear of aerial warfare gripped European nations as war loomed on the horizon. Tests carried out in the United Kingdom by the Home Office discovered that aircraft flying at 2,000 feet could not spot dim blue lights. Seeing a lucrative opportunity, Hailwood & Best refitted their lamps with blue glass and rebranded them for air raids:1
They have worked safely in gassy mines and will be safe near burst gas mains, petrol tanks or for use in marking off road wreckage or guiding ambulances, fire engines, or pedestrians.
Advertisement for the Hailwood miner’s flame safety lamp, 1937
The refitted lamp was available to the general public for 7 shillings and 3 pence, delivered, in June 1940.2 Although Hailwood & Best advertised that it had some 100,000 surplus lamps in 1937, how many units actually underwent transformation is unknown.
Sources
- Norman William Hammer, A Catechism of Air Raid Precautions (London: J. Bale, Sons & Curnow, Ltd., 1937), p.8. Available for snippet view on Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=TbRJAAAAIAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=ackroyd (accessed 12 November 2022).
- An advertisement for the Hailwood & Ackroyd miner’s safety lamp appeared under the air raid precautions section in the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 20 June 1940, p.4. Retrieved from the British Newspaper Archive (subscription required): https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19400620/141/0004 (accessed 12 November 2022).