This is a runway light from Beaulieu Airfield which has been fully restored by a talented friend of mine, and is now connected to power. This Christmas I decided to connect it to the mains, lit up with a red bulb… meaning it was quite possibly the first time it had been operational in 80 or so years.
This WW2 airfield runway light fitting and others like it, helped guide airmen of all nationalities back home when on night operations. Here’s how it would have worked.
“It’s the base for a cast iron perimeter electric light. These were round (elongated on the runway). They were colour coded so the pilot knew where he was; for example on the runway, perimeter track, dispersal area, direction, exit and so on.”
Hundreds like this, would have been embedded in to the ground around RAF Beaulieu’s runway and hardstand dispersal areas, with electric lights set into the concrete socket.
It’s one of my prized possessions…
