Illumination (RE: USO shows)

["J. Robert Dennis III" <jrdennis@earthlink.net>]

>I missed Al Jolson, but did get a USO show of trick horseshoe pitching. I
>suspect the army told the USO how close they could go.
>Speaking of show biz, any searchlight operators out there? It took some guts
>to operate a searchlight on the front lines. Anybody nostalgic for the
>mortar-launched parachute flares? Remember the rule, stop dead when you hear
>the launch and look down, I believe.
>
>Gene

The Signal Corps started using the artificial moonlight in early '45 in 
Germany.  They had a lot of Search Light units that weren't needed in 
England anymore and there was a need for more night operations.  It is 
also towards the end of World War II that some Tanks got searchlights 
mounted on them.  It was during the Korean War that the concept of the 
flicker technique was developed and used.  It was reported that after 
being subjected to just the "light show" that NKs and Chinese would 
become disoriented and combat ineffective.

If you looked up, your face and neck would shine (not a good thing).  
Besides losing your night vision, people also tend to get fixated on 
something in the sky and lose track on what is going on around them.

If it were a "ground flare" you were suppose to drop to the ground and 
look away from the flare.  The Soviets used mortar and artillery launched 
ground flares in World War II and the Chinese and NKs would have had 
access to them.