When flashlamps are operated from an inductive energy store, it is necessary for the current to develop rapidly and uniformly across the diameter of the lamp as the induced voltage is rising. A circuit is described in which 9 J stored in 2 mu F capacitors is used to ionize pairs of lamps, approximately 100 mu s before the voltage reaches the minimum at which the lamps will operate. Oscillograms show how the current then develops as the voltage rises.