I was in Germany in the 70's and I never saw any , maybe I wasn't far enough behind the theoretical front!
Yes, Jeff, I would have thought so too, but a chap involved in the making of a film wants to hire/buy a few 1960s Tilley Guardsman lanterns in working order for use in the film
Well, it wouldn't be the first time a film hadn't been entirely accurate! But why would he insist on Tilley Guardsmen? (if that's the correct plural). Are they crucial to the storyline somehow? That seems had to imagine...
I suppose he thinks that because Tilley lamp is a generic term for all pressure lamps amongst the British public, that is necessarily what must have been used. And the plated X246 that was current at the time, before the X246A, is quite photogenic, no pun intended. (I wonder if the Swedish word fotogen is also used in this context.) Besides, I have about 10 of them ready to go and only one or two Vapaluxes, not for sale. The plan is to sell them and then buy them back for pennies after the production is over.
From my very limited experience of film production, they will probably want to electrify them. I can't imagine many gaffers or props managers will want to be bothered with filling, pumping, replacing mantles and tweaking. They'll just want to be able to turn them on and off. In the crap film 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull', they appear to have used electrified lamps: In this scene a handle has been added to the side of the lamp, presumeably to hide the wire: In this scene an actor picks up a lamp by the top cap to throw the lamp on the floor to start a fire: Terry
In 1965, the current Tilley lantern was the X246B although if the Army had employed Tilley lanterns, it would seem reasonable to assume that some of the earlier models would still have been in use...
In '65 they would probably have had a number of Tilley Hospital lamps as well. I have seen a few dated 1955 with the MoD broad arrow and they would very probably stiil been in service in 1965. I doubt they would have used the Tilley X246B more likely the M1 Vapalux/Bialaddin. Too early for the 320 and I can't remember ever seeing a military version of model 315 but the M1/305 was in production into the 1960s. ::Neil::
There is some evidence here http://0flo.com/index.php?posts/68109 that at least the RAF had some of the plated 1950s X246 lanterns. So I suppose it is not inconceivable that there were also some in use in Aden in the '60s. Be that as it may, I'm pleased to report that the film company purchased 4 lamps from me and we can look forward to seeing them posted in the Lamps in Film & Print section
