Lanterns

[Ubique]

One of my (too many) interests is antique hurricane lanterns. I had a stroke of luck recently when I got a call from the local charity shop letting me know that two English lanterns had just arrived. I purchased them 15 minutes later and was thrilled to see that they are British Army lanterns by Chalwyn, a model called Tropic and also stamped with the broad arrow, catalogue number (J.A.12159) and year of manufacture (1952 and 1955-Mk2). I wish I could have asked the person who donated them about their history. Although grubby they seem to have cleaned up quite well. A little linseed oil seems to bring up the paint. Still fully functional over 60 years later!








If anyone has any military fuel-type lanterns then I would love to see them. I am also on the hunt for any in the Melbourne area.

Oz.

[Roger M]

Here are a few from my garage.

Chalwyn Tropics one is Air Ministry


Gremlins



A matching pair of Dietz
Made in USA no military markings but both dated November 1939.


Vapalux 1942 dated with an arrow.

[Ubique]

Awesome collection Roger! Nice to see the AM variant. Do you know what HCCL stands for?
What is the tallest one in the second photo? Chalwyn Far East?
And do the Dietz have a model name stamped on the base?

I have attached a pic of my other Chalwyn's and Gremlin, but not military.

Cheers,
Oz.

[M1910]

The 1952 model is very common in the UK. A large number of unissued ones seem to have been released at some stage.

It would be good to see a british war-time dated example.

[Watchdog]

Interesting topic here!

I think this is another one of those "side interests" that afflicts many militaria collectors, I know I have more such afflictions than I care to admit. Probably a secondary symptom of the main "disease"

I recall the hurricane lamps from my own service and they were brand new, never leaving the stores because they were bloody dangerous in the field! If you dropped a lit one it would almost certainly break, burn and cause a fire.

We also had the other type shown above, the High Pressure Paraffin Lamp (HPP Lamp).
They gave much more light (and heat which is a boon in winter) and safer because if dropped they would just go out and not generally burn unless really smashed open (unlikely) but these tended not to get used either because to be honest not many people could actually light them!
I was one of the few who could do it first time every time (simple if you bother to read the instructions, which most Toms wouldn't be seen dead doing ) so I always had a couple in my vehicle.

Along with "vapouriser" type cookers they could make life a lot more comfortable if you bothered to master them.

I still have a couple of the Vapalux / Bialaddin 315 which I love to tinker about with in the Summer so I will dig them out and get one going in the twilight to get a couple of pics to post here.

I hope others will contribute to this "off the beaten track" thread. Variety is the spice as they say and it's great to read about something a little different.

Thanks for bringing this up.

Regards

Mark

[Roger M]

Awesome collection Roger! Nice to see the AM variant. Do you know what HCCL stands for?
What is the tallest one in the second photo? Chalwyn Far East?
And do the Dietz have a model name stamped on the base?

I have attached a pic of my other Chalwyn's and Gremlin, but not military.

Cheers,
Oz.

Your collection looks to be finely fettled Oz. Mine are all in need of some TLC !
Somehow the pictures have got mixed up, the tall one is a Gremlin with some remains of brown paint on and no military markings. HCCL possibly may be a reference for Hudswell Clarke & Co Ltd. who did some work on our first Nuclear weapons in the 50's. but maybe they made some lamps for Gremlin under contract ?

"During the Second World War the company diversified into armaments, as did so many other engineering companies. In the post-war period Hudswell, Clarke and Co Ltd was closely involved in various secret programmes, including the British nuclear weapon programme. The airframe for the first British nuclear bomb, Blue Danube was manufactured by Hudswell Clarke at its Roundhay Road, Leeds, plant. The airframe for Red Beard, the second generation tactical nuclear bomb, followed with that for Violet Club, the Interim Megaton Weapon; and there were many other projects. All the bombs detonated at the Christmas Island H-bomb tests were contained in airframes designed and built by Hudswell Clarke. The company were also major contributors to other military projects, e.g. the Centurion main battle tank conversion into an armoured bridgelayer, that served with the British Army for many years. The contraction of defence manufacturing in the mid-1960s contributed to the sale and demise of the company."

The Dietz are both Monarchs.

[Ubique]

Thank you Roger.

I can relate to what you are saying Mark. The pressure lanterns and Coleman stoves usually stayed back in the Q store in preference for the right-angle Fulton's and Hexamine (or a camping-type gas stove if you were in HQ). I still have a Fulton in my bedside drawer.

Oz.

[Watchdog]

Ah yes Hexamine!

I love the smell of Hexamine in the morning, It smells like.......

With apologies to "Apocalypse Now"

Mark

[timothy]

Nice ones at that. timothy

[Ubique]

Could not resist adding this charcoal drawing photo that I took at the Australian War Memorial recently. It shows part of "Night Patrol Returning to Base" by Roy Hodgkinson at Milne Bay, New Guinea in 1942. The lantern could be an Australian Lanora which were produced in Adelaide from 1941.



Oz.