Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum > Records

Begbie Signal Lamp

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Siemens Bros & Co London

1910

Overview

The lamp consists of a Steel black box containing a powerful lens that is visible from the front. The lens is surrounded externally by a circular steel ring that is black on the outside and white on the inside next to the lens. The lamp has a brown wooden handle with black steel fixings and there is a black metal cowl that is attached t the top of the box with a chain. Openings in the body covered by gauze act as ventilators. There are 4 "feet" at the bottom of the box, one at each corner. There is a black knob on the left-hand side rear of the box which works the shutter fixed inside the lamp. The left-hand side of the box opens with a metal ring pull and shows the kerosene tank and burner covered by a felt jacket. The box also contains a metal chimney and a wooden fork that are stored on the inside of the door. The top of the box shows a small oblong brass badge attached by 4 brass rivets identifying the lamp.

Historical information

Lamp Signalling "B", also called a Begbie Lamp, were used from about 1885 until the First World War. It was used to signal at night by means of a kerosene oil lamp, a set of shutters and a focusing lens. The operator used the lamp to send morse code to a distant station using the plunger located on the top to activate the shutters. It could be used on its own or in conjunction with a tripod. The lamp was carried in a wooden box along with a metal container for kerosene and a wooden box to hold spare glass globes and spare wicks. The lamp had a range of 5 to 8 miles and was used in conjunction, for daylight signalling, with the heliograph and semaphore. One of its problems was its noisy operations noise, light that escaped and according to some signallers its 'smell'. It was replaced from 1915.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-12-2011.3.1

Item type

Objects

Themes

Buildings > Military
Communication
War and Conflict > World War 1

Material