Second World War floodlight base, Lower Marine Parade, Dovercourt, Harwich (EHER 10715)

Partially destroyed. The site of a Second World War floodlight and generator building, of which only the concrete floodlight base remains. 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 2011, nothing of the generator building remained, but the concrete floodlight base remained and embedded in the concrete was the remains of the steelwork which held the main structure. This floodlight sat outside the main network and is one of five concrete bases to survive. It is thought to be one of just three in Harwich.

1996. Site Assessment: Around a rose bed in public gardens on the north side of Lower Marine Parade is the concrete base of a 'floodlight' - an early fixed searchlight structure. It is 12-sided with an outer diameter of approximately 50 feet. <1> One photo. <2> February 2011. World War Two Defences in Tendring 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. It is thought that the intention was to create a solid band of light across the county through which the enemy planes would have to fly, making them vulnerable to anti-aircraft and night fighter fire. At the time of writing this update, 41 floodlight sites have been surveyed, 40 of them in a thick swathe, four deep, stretching from Eastwick in the south to Little Leighs in the north of the county. Of these, just one survives, at Kits Hill, Fambridge Road, Cold Norton (EHER 20565), although five of the concrete annular bases still remain. This base, around a rosebed in public gardens north of Lower Marine Parade, is one of those five. It was originally thought that this example at Dovercourt, outside the 40-site swathe, was perhaps an early prototype but 1946 aerial photographs have now revealed two more around Harwich (EHER 21385), one at the extreme north end in the Navyard and another at Parkeston (EHER 21388), the three forming an equilateral triangle around the town. These were, it appears, intended to cast an 'umbrella' of light across the town. <3> It is known from wartime residents that the grid was tested, at night time, several times. A newspaper item dated October 1939 states, 'MAKING LIGHT OF BLACK OUT. A South-East Coast town was brilliantly lit up at 11.15 on Sunday night. The lights lit up the coast for miles around while 'planes circled overhead.' The article went on to conjecture that a barrage balloon may have caught fire. As this was a Clacton newspaper it appears very probable that this was, in fact, a test of the Harwich system, the only coastal town known to have floodlights. <4> On 22nd February 1941, Mr. Albert 'Bert' Kennell noted in his diary, 'Strange doings over Harwich this past two weekends. Last week three balloons were lit up, and tonight there was a big glare in Harwich direction, that lit up the whole sky.' <5> In the event, 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 apparently terminated in March 1940. <3> An oblique, low level, aerial photograph taken in July 1941 shows that one year after the abandonment of the project the steel structure of this 'floodlight' still stood. Five years later, in May 1946, only the circular concrete base survived, as it does now. <6> <7> The project was termed 'Silhouette'. <8> When visited in February 2011, the base still survives, unchanged since 1996. Embedded in the concrete is the remains of the steelwork which held the main structure. The entrance to the enclosure is seen as a concrete apron on the east face. The parchmark of the small stand-by generator house which stood a few yards from the entrance to the north-east of the enclosure, can be seen in the grass. <3> Note: Despite the assertion made by <3> above, this monument is one of six floodlights from the original 50 where the concrete base is known to survive. See also EHER 20661, EHER 20858, EHER 20875, EHER 20978 and EHER 20999.