Virtual Discovery #49 - Air Defence Guns on Rottnest

Air defence doctrine in World War Two envisaged three general elements in ground based air defence. At the first level, there was self defence by unit personnel using their issued weapons which might also include some purpose specific anti-aircraft weaponry or mountings such as Bren guns or Lewis guns. Larger calibre, crew served weapons such as the Bofors gun could provide point defence around key targets. The largest weapons either extended the coverage of point defence or were sited to provide area defence. Area defence could provide belts of coverage along likely axis of air attack or an umbrella of coverage over a city or port. The 3.7 inch HAA gun filled this role for Australia during World War Two although no weapons of this type were deployed to Rottnest.