Monument record 4142/0/0 - Searchlight Batteries for Liverpool

A number of Anti-Aircraft searchlight batteries that covered a large area of Cheshire. They were a part of the layout of searchlight batteries for Liverpool and many more batteries existed than those recorded under this number.
These positions were documented on 6th January 1940 when 352 Company of 38 (The King's Regiment) AA Battalion RE took them over from 350 Company. This was a time when searchlight batteries carpeted wide areas rather than concentrating on major targets, just before a series of re-organizations starting at the time of the Blitz.

Early in the Second World War Anti-Aircraft searchlight Batteries came under the control of the Royal Artillery, with the Royal Engineers relinquishing control. The batteries themselves were under the control of Anti-Aircraft Brigades who also controlled the guns in the areas. The Brigades would contain Searchlight Regiments that would normally control four Searchlight Batteries each.

The sites were normally simple, with the lights being surrounded by a small ring-ditch, and with a trench or shelter for defence during air-raids. Some of the sites were provided with standard hutting and a few had Lewis Guns for local air defence.

As the ring ditch is the most common surviving feature it is important to know where these sites are as they can be mistaken for prehistoric features, with the clustered site looking similar to barrow cemeteries. (1)

From aerial photos and (2) it has become obvious that many of the batteries contain a clover leaf arrangement of earthworks, but this does not seem to be universal.

<1> C S Dobinson, 2000, Twentieth Century Fortifications in England: Supporting paper AA/1; Searchlight Sites in WWII (Report). SCH4458.

<2> D R Wilson, 1982, Air Photo Interpretation for Archaeologists (Book). SCH4524.