Can anyone identify the midel of the pictured Aladdin pressure lamp? The photo was taken in Afghanistan in 1956 by one of the members of the 1955-1956 Oxford & Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition, travelling from London to Singapore. Aladdin were one of their many sponsors of the Expedition which departed from London in September 1955. Cheers Simon
Could also be a 305, hard to tell apart, but someone will know. They are a kerosene lamp. What’s the story..?
Again, thanks for your reply. My mate and I both have 1954 land rovers, the same as the oxford & cambridge Far Eastern Expedition of 1955. We are trying to assemble "kit" as close as we can to what they were carrying. The field notes they wrote in their diary stated that their aladdin equipment all ran on ordinary "car petrol" and not kerosene. Would this be correct for a Bialaddin lamp? Simon
Hi all bialaddin and vapalux lamps were designed to run on kerosene. Trying to run them on gasoline would be highly dangerous as they do not have a positive shut off, to turn them off pressure has to be released from the fuel cap which could cause released gasses to catch fire or explode if petrol was used , hope this helps. Regards Ian
Thanks Ian, I definitely will not be running a Bialaddin on anything other than kerosene when I eventually find one. Interesting how it was stated that they ran their aladdin equipment all on ordinary petrol. A scary thought then. I am however very impressed how my Tilley X246 Deluxe runs being kerosene, with virtually no exhaust odour in comparison to an ordinary hurricane lamp. Thanks, Simon
Are you planning to recreate the trip? Don’t know about NZ but those lamps surface in Australia often enough. Or if you want to splash a little out on one to get one quicker vapalux for sale | eBay they are common on Ebay Uk. If you read wikipedia under Vapalux you will see why they are called Bialaddin rather than Aladdin.
Not planning to recreate the trip, but looking towards doing an early 1950's camping weekend in the Waitaki Valley near Oamaru some time in February with the two 1954 land rovers. We're slowly gathering up and collecting period correct or "pukka" equipment including an early '50s square canvas motor tent. See if I can find a Bialaddin 305 lamp to take with us. The weekend will be good for a laugh if nothing else Simon
Briars Gully just down a bit from Benmore dam is where we're headed. Just follow the glow from our Tilley and Coleman lamps. 50's cooking on a '55 Coleman 4M stove, I'll be taking my Coleman 411 as the supporting act along with other period goodies. Happy new year 1955!!
Sounds like a great adventure is about to unfold. Period era re enacting is so very new trending and cool. How can you not have fun
I could be wrong about this and I’m sure there will be people around here who will know, but I think there are a lot more 300x s around than 305s. This is because the 300x was made when fewer people had electricity and also the Bialaddin was the army’s lamp of choice and they bought a lot of them during the war and after.
I'm thinking the Bialaddin lamp in the pic might just be a 305 on account of having a lip on the curved top of the chimney and the absence of vent holes under the curved top as the 300X appears to have. I could be wrong however. I'll keep eyes peeled if one appears
Hi , Looking at the picture I'm not able to see which model it is , the only difference between the last model 300x and the 305 was the size if the filler cap, the 300 had a larger filler cap, hope this helps. Ian
I just checked with Ian Ashton’s book and the changeover was around 1951 which should make it a 305 ? apart from the filler cap and the markings on the collar they are pretty much identical .. I see that the one in the photo has a wick from a bialaddin heater fitted so presumably they had some bowl fires and spares as well..
I can't exactly make out which brand or model would fit in. While it certainly resembles most to a Bialaddin, I began to have some doubts after I noticed this feature:- I don't recall any Bialaddins having such an outward-folding lip at the bottom rim of the fount. It might not be what it appears to me. Any thoughts?
Also, the globe cage rods on a 305 were fixed top and bottom with screws whereas those on a 300 where riveted.
I've been up the shed today and had a look at the cages on my 300x lamps and found 4 that have screws holding the frames together, 2 chrome frames and 2 brass frames all four have green enamelled hoods so it looks like Willis and bates started this design on the last of the 300x before they changed to the 305 model.
My 305 does not have two screws holding the cap onto the hood as the 300 series do. And I can’t see them in the photo. All of the 305s I have seen (3) have chrome founts but there are plenty with green painted founts in the ref library. The green ranges from khaki-ish to forest green.
Having looked at the Reference Gallery it's probably a Bialaddin 305 as the hood looks like it's a one piece, enamel type. From the photos it seems to have no glass although the quality of the image isn't great. As others have said, it's only safe to run it on kerosene/paraffin. The link below shows what one would have originally looked like and there might be one on UK eBay if you're interested. You probably won't find one is as good condition for a reasonable price but doing one up is good practice for learning how they operate and you learn how to service them. Good luck with your period camping trip, it sounds like a great idea! 1952 Bialaddin 305 Military
If you give the mantle a coat of hairspray before you travel it may stay intact. I alway think they stay together better in a car if in the vertical position but this might be my imagination.
Simon, are you having the Land Rover Series I for this trip? I would presume they ran on leaded petrol back then. At least before they introduced the Diesel-fueled versions later in the 50s. No idea why would they use petrol on something looks a Bialaddin. Perhaps they ran out of kero? A Bialaddin would still run on petrol, just not too safely. Maybe that was part of the adventure too.
@Simon Henderson very late reply.. i’m just reading the excellent account of the journey and very good it is too! undertaken in the mid 50’s .. because of political upheavals and physical barriers it’s possibly the only time then or since that it was possible (acknowledgements to tim slessor and signal )
