Canal Defence Light - Deployment and Combat

Deployment and Combat

The system was highly secret as surprise was considered essential to its use. This hampered its employment as commanders were often unfamiliar with it and did not consider it when drawing up plans for attack. CDLs were never used for their intended purpose; however, they saw use by US forces in protecting bridges after the crossing of the Rhine in March 1945. The Germans attempted to attack the bridges at night using swimmers and floating mines, dropped into the river upstream. The armour of the CDL's made them more suitable for this task than conventional searchlights as, in some sectors, the East bank of the river was held by German forces who subjected the CDL tanks to considerable artillery and small-arms fire. Curiously, the actual use of the system resembled its name, which was intended to be spurious.

Later, the battle moved East and the CDLs were used to illuminate the bridges for the benefit of engineers carrying out maintenance. Conventional searchlights were more suited for this but none were available. The CDLs were eventually replaced by captured German searchlights.