ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Canal Defence Light

So imagine you are playing hide-and-seek with your friends at night. You have to be careful not to bump into anything because it's dark and you can't see very well. Now imagine that there were bad guys trying to sneak into your hiding spot to tag you out. You would need some way to be able to see them coming without giving away your hiding spot, right?

That's what a Canal Defence Light (CDL) is for. It's a special type of light that was invented during World War II to help protect important waterways like canals and rivers. Basically, it's a device that can shine a really bright light in a certain direction, but only a little bit at a time so that it doesn't give away your position too quickly.

CDLs were often used on boats or other small vehicles that needed to move around in the dark without being seen by the enemy. When they needed to see something, like another boat approaching, they could use the CDL to shine a spotlight on it, but only for a few seconds at a time. This made it harder for the enemy to know exactly where they were or where they were headed.

So, in short, a Canal Defence Light is a special type of spotlight that was used during WWII to help protect important waterways from enemy troops. It was designed to shine a bright light without giving away the user's position too quickly.