I've always wondered if the Canal Defense Lights (CDLs) really worked or was it one more wacky wartime invention?

From what I can make out they weren't really given much of a chance to prove themselves, one way or the other. Most things I've found have said that the separate battalions that were supposed to use them were converted back to regular tank battalions when they were more badly needed that way. I have seen some accounts of them being used at the Rhine crossing, but to dazzle the defenders, not to illuminate them.

There's more on the history of the CDL here:

CDL

It's my impression that it was more suited to large set-piece attacks (a la Second Alamein) than proper mobile warfare, so it was something of a white elephant by the time it entered service.

Douglas Sutherland has a few amusing anecdotes about the CDL training at Penrith in his autobiography Sutherland's War including the moment a CDL switched on in time to illuminate Winston Churchill doing some 'watering'

Churchill and Churchills


David

As far as I've read (David Fletcher, either "The Great Tank Scandal" or "Vanguard of Victory") the original purpose of the CDL concept was to dazzle the defenders of, say, a pillbox at night by means of a very strong strobe light, allowing attackers to more easily take the strong point. In trials the concept worked well, and then it didn't: The occupants of the pillbox *were* dazzled, but to those occupying other pillboxes the CDL tank was clearly silhouetted against the darkness, presenting a great target. As German pillboxes were usually part of a mutually defending system the original CDL concept was found to be flawed.

Thanks for the info guys. I appreciate the tidbits.

That's a great story, and sketch, of a Churchill lighting up Churhill. :-)