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Lights and action
Keith Brigstock leads a group of history enthusiasts recreating the 93rd Searchlight Regiment, Royal Regiment of Artillery
Interview: Kiri Bloom
 I am a Civil Servant working on phones and computers for HQ Directorate Royal Artillery at Larkhill, which is a fairly modern profession, really. But at weekends I step back a few years.
I’ve always been a history nut. I grew up watching war films and making models of tanks. I joined the Army at 16, and playing real soldiers sort of got it out of my system. But not totally.
Later, married and out of the Army, I got involved in the Sealed Knot – the famous English Civil War re-enactment group. I joined Sir John Dalbiers Bye Trayne of Artillery for Parliament, and spent many happy weekends doing English Civil War battles.
My interest in Second World War re-enactment followed, but it was different. This was no longer about set-piece battles, it was the whole wartime experience; uniforms and equipment, music and even dancing. I found that I had a lot to offer war enthusiasts. I may be a Civil Servant now, but my 20 years as a gunner gave me first-hand experience in gun drill and other experiences that I could pass on to others.
A few friends and I formed our own Ack Ack Command group, dedicated to telling the tale of the men and women who manned our anti-aircraft defences during the war. The group soon grew, with a great number of girls joining, including my wife Tracey who is a Civil Servant at Upavon.
The members own a number of their own artillery pieces, including a Mk 1 40mm Bofors. However I felt that we were not really portraying the women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service in their true role. The ATS never served on the Bofors guns, rarely manned any of the heavy guns and never officially fired them. So I decided we needed to acquire some equipment that both sexes could authentically crew. I was watching Scrap Heap Challenge on TV when suddenly a contestant walked past a large wartime anti-aircraft searchlight. I thought, "That’s it!" Reasonably easy to move around, no licence required, the girls can form a detachment of their own, and a light with a range of a few miles could be great fun to play with.
The very next day I contacted the show’s makers asking for information about the searchlight. I wasn’t expecting to get anywhere, so imagine my delight when I received an email from the chief researcher, saying that he had spoken to the owner of the scrap yard and he was happy for us to have it free of charge. We went over to pick it up. Close-up, we realised it was in awful condition, and that restoring it would be very hard, although not impossible.
Most of the heavy work is done now, and we just have the inside electrics to do. Corporal Andy Dawson of the RAF is being very helpful. Renovating the light is expensive and lack of money has really slowed us down. AMS Systems helped kick the project off with a donation, but money has now run out. We’re still looking for sponsors.
However, nothing would have been possible without the support of the Director of Royal Artillery and the Royal School of Artillery. They’ve given me space to work on the project in my spare time.
The unit the girls portray is 93rd Searchlight Regiment RA, the only all-female regiment in the history of the British Army. We have very strong links with the veterans who handled the searchlights during the war. I’ve talked to a lot of veterans and they’ve all got stories to tell. I’m organising a reunion for 93rd Searchlight Regiment in June and we’ve found 50 people who want to come. Hopefully, a TV programme will come out and that will help to lift the profile of the ATS, who were pretty much forgotten after the war.
For obvious reasons, I can’t be a full member of the "new" 93rd Searchlight Regiment, but I’ve taken the role of Assistant Instructor Gunnery and handle the group’s technical training. This is important because we’re expected to perform to a very high standard of technical ability. I have to throw my weight around a bit, like a real sergeant major. The girls love it.
The searchlight and the group have become a big part of my life. If I’m not away at an event, I’m busy researching or planning the next. I don’t think my wife enjoys it as much as I do but she likes coming away and being with the girls.
My youngest son Michael, who is 10, loves going away with us to weekend shows dressed in his 1940’s scout uniform. In fact it suits the whole family.
Reprinted from the April 2005 edition of 'Focus' magazine
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