60 ANTI-AIRCRAFT SEARCHLIGHT COMPANY (60 AASL COY)
IN AUSTRALIA DURING WW2

60 Anti-aircraft Searchlight Company (60 AASL Coy) was well established in Newcastle in 1942 under the command of Captain W.I. Jamieson. Captain C.R. Frizell was his second in charge. They had 10 fully manned Searchlight Stations.

Company Headquarters (CHQ) was located at the Drill Hall in Percy Street, Hamilton, Newcastle and the Section Headquarters (section HQ) was at the Newcastle Drill Hall.

The Searchlight Company was placed on alert on one occasion when it was believed that a Japanese Aircraft Carrier was located close to the Australian coastline. The Searchlights were turned on for the purpose of identification but failed locate any Japanese Aircraft Carrier. There were a few more alerts in February 1942, when unidentified aircraft were reported in the Newcastle area.

18 Projectors were received from AASL Group Sydney. The total strength was then 30 Projectors. This then allowed "Clusters" to be established at each Searchlight Station. (i.e. two Projectors were supplied by one Generator.)

Operations personnel from 60 AASL Coy were sent to the Telephonists School at Scheyville (east of Windsor, NSW) to improve their efficiency. Searchlight equipment was camouflaged with new camouflage material that was received from a stores depot.

By May 1942, 60 AASL Coy comprised 4 officers and 251 Ordinary Ranks. 51 of these OR's were detached to 51 AASL Coy.

REFERENCES

"Expose - A History of Searchlights in WWII"
by Noel F. Hill

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"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products

This page first produced 3 January 2003

This page last updated 23 January 2020