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Pre 1914, Fremantle Artillery Volunteers Exhibit, 1879

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Overview

Collective display of items relating to the Fremantle Naval Artillery Volunteers and the subsequent Fremantle based artillery units. The display includes: (1) a Russian style Cossack sword (relating to the Russian seaborne raiding fears of the 1870s; (2) a colonial pattern sun helmet with Fremantle Volunteer Artillery helmet plate and carrying case; (3) a Snider-Enfield rifle with butt stamp "FNAV" indicating provenance to the Corps; (4) silver laceed (for Volunteers) cross belt and sword belt for Fremantle Artillery Volunteers; and (5) Artillery pattern sword with Queen Victoria cyphers engraved. The objects are placed on a sepia print of the Long Jetty at Fremantle.

Historical information

In the days of the Long Jetty and the North Jetty prior to the discovery of the Kalgoorlie Boulder Goldfields, commercial shipping through Fremantle was considered inadequate to merit the cost of fixed port defences. Proposals for Martello Towers and similar fortifications were beyond the means (and interest) of the colonial administrators. A volunteer unit, however, required minimal government expenditure for weapons and only the issue of some items of uniform. The result was the formation in 1879 of the Fremantle Naval Artillery Volunteers as a volunteer artillery unit to help provide for the defence of the port of Fremantle.
The initial weapons for the Fremantle Naval Volunteers were two 6 pounder bronze field guns. These guns were cast in 1720 and 1739, had been recommissioned for service during the Napoleonic Wars. Two 6 pounder smooth bore guns positioned around the Queen Victoria monument in Kings Park are recorded as being cast in 1813 and 1814 are most likely the original guns used by the Fremantle Naval Volunteers. The second date would be the year that these weapons were reworked for further service.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-32-54-333

Inscriptions and markings

Accompanying text panels include analysis of the perceived threat and a copy of the Warrant authorising formation of the Naval Artillery Volunteers under Captain Forsyth.

Links to additional resources

Defending Fremantle Port

Australian Army Museum of Western Australia

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