Gavin wrote:
"What eould this achieve?"

I suppose this relates to radiation from the dipole`s ends.

There`s not much from the ends of a dipole in free-space. Radiation from
a dipole in free-space is patterned as a doughnut symmetrically placed
around the axis at the dipole`s center.

Kraus in his 1950 edition of "Antennas" on page 133 wrote:
"The pattern is independent of phi, so that the space pattern is
doughnut-shaped, being a figure of revolution---."

Down the same page:
"However, the near-field pattern for Er, is proportional to cos theta as
indicated by Fig. 5-6b." (shows fields about the ends of the dipole)
These are mostly reactive fields which don`t radiate.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI