Australian Army Museum of Western Australia > Records

Western Australia. Rottnest Island. Searchlight or obbservation post location.

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Overview

Location to be verified. The wooden components of the construction indicate this as a 1942 installation not part of the 1939 construction.

Historical information

The Rottnest Island WW2 Coastal Defence Fortress is the only intact establishment remaining in Australia of the seven 9.2 inch coastal gun batteries constructed during the late 1930s and early 1940s to defend key Australian ports from the threat of invasion by hostile enemy forces.
The Oliver Hill Battery is one of a very small number of 9.2 inch gun batteries remaining in the world. The construction of infrastructure for and the installation of high precision military equipment, in difficult circumstances, was a significant technical achievement. Rottnest also retains the physical evidence of a complete coast defence system. This includes observation posts, plotting rooms, camps, and barracks, storage facilities and bunkers.
For the thousands of ex service men and women who served on the island up to and during the WW2 years the facilities have considerable social significance. Some sites are open to the public; others have been made safe and can be viewed externally from the delineated Bidi/Trails.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-32-MIL 2002.174

Themes

Buildings > Military
War and Conflict

Keywords

BUILDINGS

Military

Observation Posts

Links to additional resources

Heritage Article

Australian Army Museum of Western Australia