Most WWII aircraft have instrument lighting provided by small lights, commonly called cockpit lights, mounted on swivel posts. Some lights were mounted on flexible arms that could be positioned around the cockpit.
Early and pre war aircraft instruments may have had radium faces and were illuminated by fluorescent lighting with ultraviolet filters. These lights had high voltage vibrator power supplies and starter circuits. Later fluorescent/UV lights would run straight from aircraft DC power.The control switch/rheostat would have a spring loaded start position to energize the start circuit for the light. After starting the rheostat could be reduced to vary the intensity. On some of these lights the UV filter also could be rotated or removed which would let direct lighting through.
Here is a shot of a UV light here in the shop that I hooked up to 24 volts and fired it up after the rheostat was turned to start. The filter is wide open to allow direct lighting from the fluorescent bulb.
The use of radium faces on instruments seems to have dropped off later in the war. Late aircraft would commonly have simpler cockpit lights that used incandescent bulbs running on regular aircraft DC power. These lights used normal rheostats to vary the intensity. They often had filters, usually red, but could be switched to direct incandescent light by removing the filter or a slide type of arrangement.
I believe that eye brow lights and post lights or individually lighted instruments didn’t become common practice until after WWII. Several different instruments in WWII had their own lighting (compasses for example) but this was more the exception than the norm.
Here is a photo taken of Rowe Bowen, an 89 year young WWII B-24 pilot taking the controls of a B-24J for the first time in over 60 years. I had the distinct honor to fly right seat with him when I took this photo.
In the upper right corner you can see the fluorescent cockpit light and the knob for its rheostat. The wiring for the light is also visible in the photo.
In the lower right side you can barely see the face of another cockpit light rheostat, just like the one above, that shows the start position for the light.
Incidentally Mr. Bowen flew that B-24 better than I ever will! How cool to see him do what he did so beautifully 60 years later.
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