Geograph - photograph every grid square

I missed this the last time I was here. It's a metal casting embedded in concrete about 20 metres behind the Beaulieu pundit code lettersLink and to the rear of the former Watch Office or Control Tower. It's a Signals Mortar socket, typically used in emergency situations on an airfield when the comparatively weak light fired from a Verey pistol would have been rendered useless in times of poor visibility or bad weather. The Signals Mortar fired a very powerful pyrotechnic flare hundreds of feet vertically into the air, and was used primarily as a measure of last resort for the emergency guidance of an aircraft to an airfield. In such situations a signal mortar would be placed in the socket, and fired by pulling a wire attached to the base.

SU3401 : WWII Hampshire - RAF Beaulieu airfield: Signals Mortar (2)