Military Signal Lamp Floor Lamp from JWO, Germany, 1950s

Details

Description

This lamp was acquired from a former member of the koninklijke landmacht, the royal netherlands army, who indicated it had … Read more This lamp was acquired from a former member of the koninklijke landmacht, the royal netherlands army, who indicated it had been mounted aboard a leopard 1 battle tank during his service. The tank itself carried a separate, larger searchlight for night driving and combat illumination, while this smaller unit served as a portable signal lamp, used to send morse code by hand when radio contact was compromised or deliberately kept silent. Set to infrared, the beam was invisible to the naked eye but readable through issued night optics. Set to visible light, the same lamp could send a standard sos or morse signal in the open.

the maker's plate remains legible, reading ostermann kg elektrotechnik, hamburg 11, and carrying the jwo trademark of willy ostermann elektrotechnik, type psw-23-150, wired for 24 volts, the standard electrical system used across west german military vehicles during the cold war.

the leopard 1 was developed in west germany through the late 1950s and 1960s as the bundeswehr's successor to the aging american patton tanks, and went on to become one of nato's most widely adopted main battle tanks. The netherlands was among its earliest export customers, taking delivery of the first of 468 leopard 1s from krauss-maffei in late 1969, and these tanks remained in service across dutch armored brigades until the last were phased out in the 1990s.

the lamp has been mounted on a vintage wooden field tripod by ertel-werk of munich. The original sos and morse signalling function has been preserved and remains operational, and the original green lens cover is included. The military patina has been cleaned and sealed rather than repainted.

the lamp head measures 34 x 19 x 32 cm. Mounted on the tripod, the total height adjusts from 110 to 155 cm. The fixture has been rewired and fitted with an e14 socket and eu plug. This piece has an attribution mark,
i am sure that it is completely authentic and take full responsibility for any authenticity
issues arising from misattribution,
european plug (up to 250v).the wiring of this item may be original and might need replacement, if not specified otherwise. See less