Site of Second World War floodlight, South of the A414, Woodham Mortimer (EHER 20296)

Now destroyed. The site of a Second World War floodlight. The floodlight was probably constructed between 1936 and 1940 as part of an experiment to light up the night sky with a grid of large, fixed 'floodlights', as a defence against German bombers. The experiment, termed 'Silhouette', failed as the network of floodlights acted as a navigational aid for the enemy aircraft, and it was subsequently terminated in March 1940. When visited in 1999, nothing of the floodlight remained; it had probably been demolished by 1960.

1999. World War Two Defences in Maldon survey: site visit and desktop research. During the late 1930s/early 1940s (probably 1936-1940), an experiment was conducted to light up the night sky with a grid of large, fixed 'floodlights', as a defence against German bombers. Each installation consisted of a steel enclosure, 50 feet across, in which the floodlight was mounted, surrounded by twelve large mirrors angled towards the sky. Information on the experiment is still scarce; an enquiry to the Imperial War Museum has been unsuccessful. Enquiries by Mr F. Plume at the Public Record Office (PRO) in 1992/1993 have resolved some of the questions. <1> <2> The floodlight at Woodham Mortimer stood in a field to the south of the A414, just west of Maldon. An aerial photograph taken in 1946 clearly shows the extant site, the steelwork of which is recalled locally as having been painted grey. <3> <4> An aerial photograph taken in 1960 shows no sign of the enclosure and it had clearly been demolished by that date. The path of the A414 has since been altered and the site, now an open field, lies 100 yards south-east of a sharp bend in the now-disused former route. <5> A map drawn by Mr Plume in 1999, from his earlier investigations, shows 50 sites in Essex, located in an area from Little Leighs in the North to Eastwick in the South. It is not known whether this was the complete grid (although one floodlight is known to have been sited at Dovercourt, EHER 10715) or whether the experiment overlapped to other counties. The experiment was not a success - it is said that the light reflecting from the clouds lit up the countryside as a perfect navigational aid for the bombers, and the work was terminated in March 1940. <6> <7> The project was termed 'Silhouette'. <8> See EHER 20565 for details of the only known remaining example of a Second World War floodlight from this experiment in Essex.