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Did this photoshoot earlier this year for Cross Movement Records in Indianapolis. Their album is going to release next month nationwide. Looking forward to hear it.
Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching 1,000 ft (300 m) above the valley floor. It is located on the Arizona-Utah state line near the Four Corners area. The valley lies within the range of the Navajo Nation Reservation and is accessible from U.S. Highway 163.
Monument Valley has been featured in many forms of media since the 1930s. Director John Ford used the location for a number of his best-known films. The area is part of the Colorado Plateau. The elevation of the valley floor ranges from 5,000 to 6,000 feet (1,500 to 1,800 m) above sea level.
The floor is largely siltstone of the Cutler Group, or sand derived from it, deposited by the meandering rivers that carved the valley. The valley's vivid red color comes from iron oxide exposed in the weathered siltstone. The darker, blue-gray rocks in the valley get their color from manganese oxide.
31/01/2022. Grimsby, United Kingdom. Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities takes a tour through Port of Grimsby operated by ABP ahead of the Levelling-Up White Paper. Picture by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street
This is my 200th upload on flickr. YESZ!!
The inset consists of my most interesting photos (at the time). Aside from that, I fixed it up, made it look pretty and all that.
Thanks to everyone who inspired and supported my in my journey thus far. Maybe the next 200 will get even better.
I love you.
❤❤Meli❤❤
*Leave a note on the picture(s) that you like - or on any of my roses!*
From a short walk in the recreation area at the eastern end of Holstebro Lake (Vandkraftsøen), Denmark - May 05, 2018.
The common crane (Grus grus), also known as the Eurasian crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes. A medium-sized species, it is the only crane commonly found in Europe besides the demoiselle crane (Grus virgo) and the Siberian crane (Leucogeranus leucogeranus) that only are regular in the far eastern part of the continent. Along with the sandhill crane (Antigone canadensis), demoiselle crane and the brolga (Antigone rubicunda), it is one of only four crane species not currently classified as threatened with extinction or conservation dependent on the species level. Despite the species' large numbers, local extinctions and extirpations have taken place in part of its range, and an ongoing reintroduction project is underway in the United Kingdom.
Taxonomy
The first formal description of the common crane was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Ardea grus. The current genus Grus was erected by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. Grus is the Latin word for a "crane".
Description
The common crane is a large, stately bird and a medium-sized crane. It is 100–130 cm (39–51 in) long with a 180–240 cm (71–94 in) wingspan. The body weight can range from 3 to 6.1 kg (6.6 to 13.4 lb), with the nominate subspecies averaging around 5.4 kg (12 lb) and the eastern subspecies (G. g. lilfordi) averaging 4.6 kg (10 lb). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 50.7–60.8 cm (20.0–23.9 in) long, the tarsus is 20.1–25.2 cm (7.9–9.9 in) and the exposed culmen is 9.5–11.6 cm (3.7–4.6 in).
Males are slightly heavier and larger than females, with weight showing the largest sexual size dimorphism, followed by wing, central toe, and head length in adults and juveniles.
This species is slate-grey overall. The forehead and lores are blackish with a bare red crown and a white streak extending from behind the eyes to the upper back. The overall colour is darkest on the back and rump and palest on the breast and wings. The primaries, the tips of secondaries, the alula, the tip of the tail, and the edges of upper tail coverts are all black and the greater coverts droop into explosive plumes. This combination of colouration ultimately distinguishes it from similar species in Asia, like the hooded (G. monacha) and black-necked cranes (G. nigricollis). The juvenile has yellowish-brown tips to its body feathers and lacks the drooping wing feathers and the bright neck pattern of the adult, and has a fully feathered crown. Every two years, before migration, the adult common crane undergoes a complete moult, remaining flightless for six weeks, until the new feathers grow.
It has a loud trumpeting call, given in flight and display. The call is piercing and can be heard from a considerable distance. It has a dancing display, leaping with wings uplifted, described in detail below.
Distribution
The common crane breeds in Europe and across the Palearctic to Siberia. By far the largest breeding populations can be found in Russia, Finland and Sweden. It is a rare breeder in southern and western Europe, with larger numbers breeding in the central and eastern parts of the continent. It has reappeared in several western European countries where it had been extirpated as a breeding bird decades or even centuries ago, including the United Kingdom and, since 2021, the Republic of Ireland. In Russia, it breeds as far east at the Chukchi Peninsula. In Asia, the breeding range of the common crane extends as far south as northern China, Turkey and the Caucasus region.
The species is a migrant and common cranes that breed in Europe predominantly winter in Portugal, Spain and northern Africa. Autumn migration is from August to October in the breeding areas, but from late October to early December at the wintering sites. Spring migration starts in February at wintering sites up to early March, but from March through May at the breeding areas. Migration phenology of common cranes is changing due to climate change. Important staging areas occur anywhere from Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany to China (with a large one around the Caspian Sea) and many thousand cranes can be seen in one day in the Autumn. Some birds winter elsewhere in southern Europe, including Portugal and France. During mild winters, some may stay near their breeding locations year-round, even in northwestern Europe. Common cranes that breed in far eastern Europe, including European Russia, winter in the river valleys of Sudan, Ethiopia, Tunisia and Eritrea with smaller numbers in Turkey, northern Israel, Iraq and parts of Iran. The third major wintering region, primarily used by those breeding in central Russia, is in the northern half of the Indian subcontinent, including Pakistan. Minimal wintering also occurs in Burma, Vietnam and Thailand. Lastly, the easternmost breeders winter in eastern China, where they are often the most common crane. Migrating flocks fly in a "V" formation.
It is a rare visitor to Japan and Korea, mostly blown over from the Chinese wintering population, and is a rare vagrant to western North America, where birds are occasionally seen with flocks of migrating sandhill cranes.
Habitat
In Europe, the common crane predominantly breeds in boreal and taiga forest and mixed forests, from an elevation of sea-level to 2,200 m (7,200 ft). In northern climes, it breeds in treeless moors, on bogs, or on dwarf heather habitats, usually where small lakes or pools are also found. In Sweden, breeders are usually found in small, swampy openings amongst pine forests, while in Germany, marshy wetlands are used. Breeding habitat used in Russia are similar, though they can be found nesting in less likely habitat such as steppe and even semi-desert, so long as water is near. Primarily, the largest number of common cranes are found breeding in wooded swamps, bogs and wetlands and seem to require quiet, peaceful environs with minimal human interference. They occur at low density as breeders even where common, typically ranging from 1 to 5 pairs per 100 km2 (39 sq mi).
In winter, this species moves to flooded areas, shallow sheltered bays, and swampy meadows. During the flightless moulting period there is a need for shallow waters or high reed cover for concealment. Later, after the migration period, the birds winter regularly in open country, often on cultivated lands and sometimes also in savanna-like areas, for example on the Iberian Peninsula.
Behaviour
Diet
The common crane is omnivorous, as are all cranes. It largely eats plant matter, including roots, rhizomes, tubers, stems, leaves, fruits and seeds. They also commonly eat, when available, pond-weeds, heath berries, peas, potatoes, olives, acorns, cedar nuts and pods of peanuts. Notably amongst the berries consumed, the cranberry, is possibly named after the species.
Animal foods become more important during the summer breeding season and may be the primary food source at that time of year, especially while regurgitating to young. Their animal foods are insects, especially dragonflies, and also snails, earthworms, crabs, spiders, millipedes, woodlice, amphibians, rodents, and small birds.
Common cranes may either forage on land or in shallow water, probing around with their bills for any edible organism. Although crops may locally be damaged by the species, they mostly consume waste grain in winter from previously harvested fields and so actually benefit farmers by cleaning fields for use in the following year. As with other cranes, all foraging (as well as drinking and roosting) is done in small groups, which may variously consist of pairs, family groups or winter flocks.
Breeding
This species usually lays eggs in May, though seldom will do so earlier or later. Like most cranes, this species displays indefinite monogamous pair bonds. If one mate dies, a crane may attempt to court a new mate the following year. Although a pair may be together for many years, the courtship rituals of the species are enacted by every pair each spring. The dancing of common cranes has complex, social meanings and may occur at almost any time of year. Dancing may include bobs, bows, pirouettes, and stops, as in various crane species. Aggressive displays may include ruffled wing feathers, throwing vegetation in the air and pointing the bare red patch on their heads at each other. Courtship displays begin with a male following the female in a stately, march-like walk. The unison call, consists of the female holding her head up and gradually lowering down as she calls out. The female calls out a high note and then the male follows with a longer scream in a similar posture. Copulation consists of a similar, dramatic display.
The nesting territory of common cranes is variable and is based on the local habitat. It can range in size from variously 2 to 500 ha (4.9 to 1,235.5 acres). In common with sandhill cranes (and no other crane species), common cranes "paint" their bodies with mud or decaying vegetation, apparently in order to blend into their nesting environment. The nest is either in or very near shallow water, often with dense shore vegetation nearby, and may be used over several years. The size and placement of the nest varies considerably over the range, with Arctic birds building relatively small nests. In Sweden, an average nest is around 90 cm (35 in) across.
The clutch of the common crane usually contains two eggs, with seldom one laid and, even more rarely, 3 or 4. If a clutch is lost early in incubation, the cranes may be able to lay another one within a couple of weeks. The incubation period is around 30 days and is done primarily by the female but occasionally by both sexes. If humans approach the nest both parents may engage in a distraction display but known ground predators (including domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)) are physically attacked almost immediately.
New hatchlings are generally quite helpless but are able to crawl away from danger within a few hours, can swim soon after hatching and can run with their parents at 24 hours old. Chicks respond to danger by freezing, using their camouflaged brownish down to defend them beyond their fierce parents. Young chicks use their wings to stabilise them while running, while by 9 weeks of age they can fly short distances. The adult birds go through their postbreeding moult while caring for their young, rendering them flightless for about 5 to 6 weeks around the time the young also can't fly yet. According to figures of cranes wintering in Spain, around 48% birds have surviving young by the time they winter and around 18% are leading two young by winter. By the next breeding season, the previous years young often flock together. The age of sexual maturity in wild birds has been estimated at variously from 3 to 6 years of age.
Longevity
This species could live up to 30 or 40 years of age. But the data on longevity (43 years) and life expectancy (12 years, N=7 cranes) were published with captive cranes. Common cranes living in the wild must show shorter lives. Successful breeders, the best subjects in the population, are guessed to live on average 12 years. Unsuccessful breeding cranes, therefore, may have shorter lives. Elementary survival analysis with the Euring database reports a life expectancy at birth (LEB) of c. 5 years. This LEB of 5 years was similar to that estimated for other crane species, as for example the Florida sandhill cranes (G. canadensis) (LEB = 7 years). Reports of tagged common cranes have increased rapidly in the last decades. Therefore, longevity and life expectancy at birth of wild common cranes will be updated.
Sociality
The common crane is a fairly social bird while not breeding. Flocks of up to 400 birds may be seen flying together during migration. Staging sites, where migrating birds gather to rest and feed in the middle of their migration, may witness thousands of cranes gathering at once. However, the flocks of the species are not stable social units but rather groups that ensure greater safety in numbers and collectively draw each other's attention to ideal foraging and roosting sites. Possibly due to a longer molt, younger and non-breeding cranes are usually the earliest fall migrants and may band together at that time of year. During these migratory flights, common cranes have been known to fly at altitudes of up to 33,000 ft (10,000 m), one of the highest of any species of bird, second only to the Ruppell's Griffin Vulture.
Cranes use a kleptoparasitic strategy to recover from temporary reductions in feeding rate, particularly when the rate is below the threshold of intake necessary for survival. Accumulated intake of common cranes during daytime at a site of stopover and wintering shows a typical anti-sigmoid shape, with greatest increases of intake after dawn and before dusk.
Interspecies interactions
There are few natural predators of adult cranes, although white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), Bonelli's eagles (Aquila fasciata), eastern imperial eagles (Aquila heliaca} and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) are a potential predatory threat to common cranes of all ages. The crane has been known to counterattack eagles both on the land and in mid-flight, using their bill as a weapon and kicking with their feet. Common cranes were additionally recorded as prey for Eurasian eagle-owls (Bubo bubo) in the Ukok Plateau of Russia. Mammals such as wild boar (Sus scrofa), wolverine (Gulo gulo) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are attacked at the nest, as they are potential predators. When facing off against mammals, cranes jab with their bill, hit with their wings and kick with their feet. The cranes nimbly avoid strikes against themselves by jumping into the air. It is probable that they are threatened by a wider range of large mammalian predators as is the black-necked crane but these have not yet been recorded. Herbivorous mammals such as red deer (Cervus elaphus) may also be attacked at the nest, indicating the high aggressiveness of the birds while nesting. The determined attack of a parent crane often assures safety from predators, but occasional losses to predation are inevitable. The carrion crow (Corvus corone) is locally a successful predator of common cranes' eggs, trickily using distraction displays to steal them. Other species of Corvus may also cause some loss of eggs, with common ravens (Corvus corax) also taking some small chicks. Common cranes may loosely associate with any other crane in the genus Grus in migration or winter as well as greater white-fronted geese and bean geese.
Population and conservation
In 2015, the global population was estimated to be about 500,000 individuals. The vast majority of pairs nest in Russia, Finland (30-40,000 pairs in 2009) and Sweden (c. 30,000 pairs in 2012). On the fringes of its range, it has often become rare or even been extirpated, but in several European countries this trend has been reversed and overall the European population is increasing.
In the early 20th century, it was considered rare in Poland, but gradually began to increase and this has accelerated since the 1980s. In 2010-2012, the Polish population was estimated to number 20-22,000 pairs. Norway had 3-5,000 pairs in 2015 and Estonia had 5,800 pairs in 1999, with both increasing. The German breeding population increased from 700 pairs in 1978 to more than 10,000 pairs in 2017, which is still a fraction of the size of the numbers that once bred in the country. After having disappeared as a breeding bird decades earlier, the species began breeding again in France in 2000 and in 2017 there were more than 20 pairs. In Denmark, the common crane returned as a breeder in 1953, about a century after it had disappeared. Numbers remained extremely low, less than 5 pairs, until the 1990s when a rapid increase began; in 2022 there were at least 750 pairs in Denmark. In the Netherlands, the species disappeared as a breeding bird centuries ago, but it returned in 2001 and by 2020 there were about 40 pairs in the country. The common crane returned to the Czech Republic as a breeder in 1981 and by 2004 it had increased to 35 pairs. In 2009, the species again began to breed in Slovakia, and in Austria it returned as a breeding bird in 2018 after having disappeared in 1885. Although large numbers winter in Spain, the last breeding in the country had been in 1954. In 2017, a pair that had been released after being rehabilitated bred in Spain. It was extirpated as a breeder from Italy around 1920 and Hungary by 1952, and it also used to breed in the Balkans; significant numbers still pass through these countries during migration.
In the United Kingdom, the common crane became extirpated in the 17th century, but a small and increasing population now breeds again in the Norfolk Broads and a reintroduction began in 2010 in the Somerset levels. A total of 93 birds were released between 2010 and 2014 as part of the reintroduction effort, and there are now 180 resident birds in the UK. In 2016, a wild crane was born in Wales for the first time in over 400 years. In 2021, the British population had increased to 72 pairs. In the Republic of Ireland, several visiting flocks were observed in the 2000s and in 2021 a pair managed to breed for the first time on the island in 300 years.
The main threat to the species and the primary reason for its decline comes from habitat loss and degradation, as a result of dam construction, urbanisation, agricultural expansion, and drainage of wetlands. Although it has adapted to human settlement in many areas, nest disturbance, continuing changes in land use, and collision with utility lines are still potential problems. Further threats may include persecution due to crop damage, pesticide poisoning, egg collection, and hunting. The common crane is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
Culture
In 1870 Józef Chełmoński painted a picture: "Departure of Cranes" (National Museum in Cracow)
In Ireland, despite being extinct for over 200 years, the common crane plays a very important part in Irish culture and folklore and so thus recent efforts to encourage it back to Ireland are received with much enthusiasm.
The Kranich Museum in Hessenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, is dedicated to art and folklore related to the common crane.
The common crane is the sacred bird of the god Hephaestus, and it features heavily in the god's iconography. In Indian states of Rajsthan and Gujarat this crane is described in lots of folk songs. For example: a newly married woman (whose husband has gone to a far away place for earning) will sing a song to crane to take a message to her husband and request to tell him to come home early.
10 03 2026
Cork Society, Second Level Challenge, MTU
Images by Gerard McCarthy 087 8537228
For more info contact Susanne Dillon susanne.dillon@charteredaccountants.ie
Just before dawn looking out from Glastonbury with the boggy Somerset levels on your left. Managed to capture this with the frost, before the big black cloud covered up all the light for the rest of the morning.
The footpath and private access crossing at Achnashellach Station, which has recently had a new surface laid with walkways marked out.
Gail (Tan PKF Vanilla): "I know you said "snow," ami, but mon Dieu!"
Zephyr: (PKF Cony): "It's not as bad as it was. Look. Actual ground!"
Note: Gail is a storm deva from New Orleans. "Ami" is "friend" and "mon Dieu!" is "my God."
This is right by the driveway and as close as I could get to ground level without sinking in mud. We had a LOT of snow this winter.
Unmanned Level Crossing on the Wirral. I think unmanned since about 1972. These place's arnt to be messed about with so i got my pic and got off the tracks fast as i could
the gates
flickr.com/photos/4737carlin/1412405041
my web site
Manulla Junction to Ballina Railway Line - MP Dublin 146 3/4.
Level Crossing (XX1) on the N5 at Manulla, Mayo 18th March 2012.
Schwebebahn arriving at Wuppertal Vohwinkel
Minolta X300 with MD 50/1.7
on Kentmere 400 in TMAX developer
Desert View Watchtower Level 2 murals before the start of conservation work, July 23, 2015. NPS Photo by Michael Quinn
Grand Canyon National Park is working with area tribes and art experts to restore the Fred Kabotie murals and the rock art images, painted by Fred Geary, which have been damaged by water. The first phase of the project is being funded through a grant from American Express obtained by Grand Canyon Association.This grant will help with the evaluation, documentation and testing process that is a critical component of all historic preservation projects. The park intends to preserve the murals while remaining true to Mary Colter’s design. Over the next year, a conservation specialist will analyze and restore the murals with the help of students participating in an intern training program.
On January 1, 2015, the Watchtower was purchased from the concessionaire managing it and designated a National Park Service building. NPS plans to return the Watchtower to its intended purpose, as a tribute to the Native American tribes who have cultural ties to Grand Canyon. The park is moving forward with plans to restore the tower to reflect Mary Colter’s original vision for the building.Visitors first enter through the large, open Kiva Room. Until recently, this room was filled to capacity with a large gift shop. The gift shop has since been removed from the rotunda and reduced to a much smaller footprint. The new Grand Canyon Association Park Store fits into the original space Colter envisioned for a gift shop: a corner off to the side of the rotunda. All the proceeds support the park.
Originally the Watchtower was designed as a space where visitors could see Native American craft demonstrations by weavers and basket makers. The park will bring Native American artists back into the space to share tribal traditions, dances, songs, skills, art and oral histories with the public. The park is also considering turning the old Desert View visitor center into a Native American cultural center.The transformation of the Watchtower back to its original intent is already proving to be a dramatic experience for visitors and park staff.
an ima jus randomly title ppl there sharingans. xD
edit: there! mwahahaha! I chose from powerfulest/shortest/whatever the hell fit. xD
Siding and Front Porch are in progress on this Oceanfront One Level featuring fantastic front-row views.
Mallow to Tralee Railway Line - MP Killarney Junction 46 3/4.
Level Crossing (XT121) in Ballybrack Station, Kerry 4th April 2013.
Level corssing on Geoff William's model of Aylesbury, now in the care of the Princess Risborough model railway club.
Hilton level crossing across Egginton Road between Hilton and Egginton. 11:46, Friday 6th May 1988
(1/125, F8/11)
Hilton Crossing Ground Frame is a Torton Nomad portable building located by the Down Stoke line equipped with a 1 lever London & North Western Railway SK80 frame and an individual function switch which was opened as a non block post by British Railways on 20th November 1977, replacing a mid 1930s London & North Western Railway hut located on the opposite side of the level crossing. The lever was moved from the outside the previous hut and is electrically released by Egginton Junction signal box. The individual function switch controls emergency replacement switch for Egginton Junction signal box 10 and 12 signals
Ref no 08371
An unidentified Class 47/4 heads a down mixed freight, comprising of verious coal wagons/hoppers and some engineers stock, across the Bleadon Level, in Somerset, Photo taken from the overbridge carrying Accommodation Road near Purn Hill sometime during late July-early August 1981. The large brick overbridge above the Class 47 carries Bleadon Hill road over the railway, just north if the site of Bleadon and Uphill station.
Desert View Watchtower Level 2 murals before the start of conservation work, July 23, 2015. NPS Photo by Michael Quinn
Grand Canyon National Park is working with area tribes and art experts to restore the Fred Kabotie murals and the rock art images, painted by Fred Geary, which have been damaged by water. The first phase of the project is being funded through a grant from American Express obtained by Grand Canyon Association.This grant will help with the evaluation, documentation and testing process that is a critical component of all historic preservation projects. The park intends to preserve the murals while remaining true to Mary Colter’s design. Over the next year, a conservation specialist will analyze and restore the murals with the help of students participating in an intern training program.
On January 1, 2015, the Watchtower was purchased from the concessionaire managing it and designated a National Park Service building. NPS plans to return the Watchtower to its intended purpose, as a tribute to the Native American tribes who have cultural ties to Grand Canyon. The park is moving forward with plans to restore the tower to reflect Mary Colter’s original vision for the building.Visitors first enter through the large, open Kiva Room. Until recently, this room was filled to capacity with a large gift shop. The gift shop has since been removed from the rotunda and reduced to a much smaller footprint. The new Grand Canyon Association Park Store fits into the original space Colter envisioned for a gift shop: a corner off to the side of the rotunda. All the proceeds support the park.
Originally the Watchtower was designed as a space where visitors could see Native American craft demonstrations by weavers and basket makers. The park will bring Native American artists back into the space to share tribal traditions, dances, songs, skills, art and oral histories with the public. The park is also considering turning the old Desert View visitor center into a Native American cultural center.The transformation of the Watchtower back to its original intent is already proving to be a dramatic experience for visitors and park staff.
1st December 2014 - OECD High-Level Policy Forum on Migration 2014. Family photo. OECD, Paris, France.
For more information, visit: www.oecd.org/migration-forum/
Photo: OECD/Julien Daniel
The display reads:
AAA Searchlight Battalion
Searchlights became the third level of American Air Defense in World War I and were a significant factor in US anti-aircraft successes of the Great War. By the outbreak of World War II, the standard searchlights in service were Sperry and General Electric 60” carbon arc 800 million candlepower lights.
Searchlight battalions were usually teamed with AAA gun battalions, since the two systems worked exceptionally well together against nighttime air attack.
In the late 1930s, searchlight target acquisition relied on huge sound locators to detect the engine noise of an incoming aircraft. These were simply large funnels focused toward the sky that an operator would strap into and listen for the drone of propellers for hours on end. However, with the adoption of radar, the searchlight battery now had a far more precise method of acquiring and tracking a target with significant increase in the time between initial acquisition and visual confirmation.
This interval would allow searchlight units to bring their lights on target without switching them on. Once a targeted aircraft was within range, the light operators would simply turn their lights on, blinding the enemy pilot and signaling to the 90mm gun battery to commence firing.
At the outset of the war, three radar sets were available to the US Army, the SCR-268, SCR-270, and SCR-271. The SCR-270 was a portable radar and was made famous on 7 December 1941 when the SCR-270 at Opana Point, Hawaii detected the Japanese air armada headed to Pearl Harbor less than an hour before the attack began. The SCR-271 was similar to the -270, but was a fixed-position radar. Of the three, only the -268 was specifically designed as a gun or searchlight-laying radar.
Searchlight units also were tasked with coordinating with friendly Night Fighter units in-theater. In August 1944, while providing searchlight defense for the port of Cherbourg, B Battery of the 225th AAA Searchlight Battalion was attached directly to the 442nd Night Fighter Squadron in order to assist with both nighttime interception of German attack aircraft and successful guidance of friendly P-61 Night Fighters back to base.
By the end of World War II, eighty-seven AAA searchlight battalions had been fielded and they saw service defending US and Allied positions in all theaters of war.
Like their gun battalion brethren, AAA searchlight battalions had a significant amount of support equipment needed to maintain operational capability. A multitude of trucks, trailers and generators were all integral to the searchlight battery’s success.
Prior to the introduction of gun-laying radars in 1942, the primary method of acquiring incoming airborne targets was by acoustic location. Sound locators like the M2 could detect approaching aircraft and bring both guns and searchlights to bear with surprising effectiveness, but were obsolete by the beginning of WWII.
The searchlight control station was operated by three men and was used to aim searchlight by hard-wired remote control. One operator would maintain visual contact with the target and adjust the searchlight’s aim, while the other two would keep the control station on azimuth by adjusting the hand wheels. The control station was placed several hundred feet away from a searchlight so that the controllers could see the illuminated aircraft.
The SCR-268 radar was the Army’s first gun-laying radar system. It has been designed to work in concert with both heavy guns and searchlights. As the newer SCR-584 gun radar came into use, -268 radars continued to serve with AAA searchlight battalions and performed admirably in the searchlight direction role.
With the lessons learned from World War I and the advances in gun and searchlight directors, the US entered World War II with some of the most advanced anti-aircraft techniques in the world. With the addition of new radar acquisition and tracking, searchlight battalions would have the azimuth and range to their targets almost instantly, requiring them simply to turn on their lights once enemy aircraft were in range so that the 90mm gun portion of the team could bring the enemy airplane down.
Citation:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to First Lieutenant (Coast Artillery Corps) William J. Rodgers (ASN: 0-1048550), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with Battery B, 222nd Anti-Aircraft Battalion (Searchlight), in action against enemy forces in the Southwest Pacific Area, on 18 June 1945. When heavy crossfire from enemy machine guns, mortars, and automatic rifles on dominating terrain pinned down Lieutenant Rodgers’ platoon near Mount Blit, Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippine Islands, the platoon was ordered to withdraw. Electing to provide covering fire for his men, Lieutenant Rodgers manned a .30 caliber machine gun and, despite the hail of enemy fire, delivered a devastating concentration against the hostile force. A mortar shell burst seven feet from his position and knocked him away from the gun but he crawled back and resumed his telling fire while his platoon continued to withdraw. With bullets strking all about him, some hitting the machine gun while he operated it and one passing through the canteen on his belt, he remained until he saw that his men had safely evacuated and then dismantled the gun and carried it with him to the rear, stopping from time to time to fire at the enemy. Through his inspiring actions at the risk of his life, Lieutenant Rodgers enabled the complete, orderly withdrawal of his men and upheld the finest traditions of the military service.
Citation:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918 takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Sergeant Robert L. Miller (ASN: 17068190), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Battery B, 222nd Anti-Aircraft Battalion (Searchlight), in the Southwest Pacific Area, on 18 June 1945. During military operation which culminated in the clearing of Japanese forces from Mindanao, Philippine Islands, friendly troops were advancing on an enemy-held objective when devastating fire emanating from a machine gun nest located on a hill dominating the approach halted the attack. Sergeant Miller volunteered to lead a squad in a diversionary action on the flank of the enemy position in order to facilitate the withdrawal of forces which were pinned to the ground by hostile resistance. He had maneuvered his squad to a position within 50 yards of the stronghold when the enemy opened fire with such intensity that further progress became impossible. Armed with only a carbine, Sergeant Miller, completely disregarding his own safety, crept through the brush and cogon grass to within 20 yards of the emplacement. Leaping to his feet in full view of the enemy, he charged the position, deliberately exposing himself to draw the enemy’s fire so that his squad could assault the objective. He was struck immediately and mortally wounded, but, still attempting to advance, fell to the ground within a few yards of the stronghold. His heroic action distracted the enemy long enough for his squad to eliminate the machine gun nest, thus relieving hostile pressure and enabling a withdrawal to a more favorable location from which to resume the attack. Through his indomitable fighting spirit and unremitting determination in the face of overwhelming odds, Sergeant Miller made possible the successful completion of an important mission and his brilliant performance of duty was in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.
Taken December 11th, 2013.
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