Australian Army Artillery Museum

Last updated
Australian Army Artillery Museum
Location map Australia Sydney.png
Red pog.svg
Australian Army Artillery Museum in Locator Map
Dissolved 19 December 2010 (2010-12-19)
Location Sydney, Australia
Coordinates 33°49′04″S151°17′45″E / 33.8178°S 151.2958°E / -33.8178; 151.2958

The Australian Army Artillery Museum was an artillery museum located in North Fort, on the northern head of the entrance to Sydney Harbour, in Sydney, Australia.

Artillery museum

An artillery museum is a museum exhibiting the history and artifacts of artillery. In addition to actual or replica ordnance, exhibits can include photographs, maps, models, dioramas, clothing and equipment used by gunners.

Sydney City in New South Wales, Australia

Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Port Jackson and extends about 70 km (43.5 mi) on its periphery towards the Blue Mountains to the west, Hawkesbury to the north, the Royal National Park to the south and Macarthur to the south-west. Sydney is made up of 658 suburbs, 40 local government areas and 15 contiguous regions. Residents of the city are known as "Sydneysiders". As of June 2017, Sydney's estimated metropolitan population was 5,131,326, and is home to approximately 65% of the state's population.

Australia Country in Oceania

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The population of 25 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Contents

It was formerly called the "National Artillery Museum", and had a large collection of the heritage and history of the Royal Australian Artillery. It was administered by the Army History Unit [1] (AHU) with the assistance of volunteer members of the Royal Australian Artillery Historical Company [2] (RAAHC).

Royal Australian Artillery administrative corps of the Australian Army

The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, normally referred to as the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA), is a Regiment of the Australian Army descended from the original colonial artillery units prior to Australia's federation. Australia's first guns were landed from HMS Sirius and a small earthen redoubt built, near the present day Macquarie Place, to command the approaches to Sydney Cove. The deployment of these guns represents the origins of artillery in Australia. These and subsequent defences, as well as field guns, were operated by marines and the soldiers of infantry regiments stationed in Australia. The first Royal Artillery unit arrived in Australia in 1856 and began a succession of gunner units which ended with the withdrawal of the imperial forces in 1870 resulting in the raising of the Victorian Artillery Corps in Melbourne in 1870 and the New South Wales Artillery in Sydney in 1871. The First World War saw the raising of 60 field, 20 howitzer and two siege batteries along with the heavy and medium trench mortar batteries. Until 19 September 1962 the Australian Artillery was referred to as the 'Royal Australian Artillery', however on this date HM Queen Elizabeth II granted the RAA the title of 'The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery'. The Regiment today consists of Regular and Reserve units.

Collections

The museum displayed more than 50 guns and mortars and associated equipment, numerous paintings, displays, memorials, and medals. The Library has over 2,500 photographs, about 4,000 technical and historical books, and unique research material.

Gun weapon designed to discharge projectiles or other material

A gun is a ranged weapon typically designed to pneumatically discharge projectiles that are solid but can also be liquid or even charged particles and may be free-flying or tethered.

Mortar (weapon) Artillery weapon that launches explosive projectiles at high angles

A mortar is usually a simple, lightweight, man portable, muzzle-loaded weapon, consisting of a smooth-bore metal tube fixed to a base plate with a lightweight bipod mount and a sight. They launch explosive shells in high-arcing ballistic trajectories. Mortars are typically used as indirect fire weapons for close fire support with a variety of ammunition.

The collections covered the period from the first European Settlement (1788) to very recent operations.

Facilities

The museum grounds included shaded picnic areas with barbequeues, a Harbour Lookout Area (the Observation Platform), World War II fortifications and tunnels (listed in the Australian Commonwealth National Heritage list), [3] and a Café that had extraordinary views of the entrance to Sydney Harbour and the channels to Bradley's Head, and Sydney CBD.

Picnic an excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors

A picnic is a meal taken outdoors as part of an excursion – ideally in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding an open-air theatre performance, and usually in summer.

World War II 1939–1945 global war

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Closure

On 19 December 2010 the museum closed and the collection moved into storage at Bandiana pending creation of a new army artillery museum at Puckapunyal army base in Victoria, the base the Artillery School had moved to in 1997, leaving the museum behind at North Head.

Puckapunyal town in Victoria, Australia

Puckapunyal is an Australian Army training facility and base 10 km west of Seymour, in central Victoria, south-eastern Australia.

The move resulted from incompatible objectives of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust as owner of the site and the Army History Unit who were responsible for the collection. [4] The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust wanted the historic North Fort area to be open to the public seven days a week, in line with their objectives to maximise public access to the former defence lands around Sydney Harbour. They further insisted that if the area was not opened seven days a week then the army would have to pay rent to the trust. The Army refused, claiming that their funding levels only permitted the opening of the museum and North Fort area on weekends. The army also gave as a reason for the move that the purpose of their unit museums was to assist in the training of junior soldiers and that the artillery museum had been unable to serve this purpose at North Head, being nearly 1000 km away from the school at Puckapunyal. [5]

Sydney Harbour Federation Trust Australian Government agency established in 2001 to preserve and rehabilitate a number of defence and other Commonwealth lands in and around Sydney Harbour

The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust is an Australian Government agency established in 2001 to preserve and rehabilitate a number of defence and other Commonwealth lands in and around Sydney Harbour. These lands were off limits to the public, some for over 100 years. Over the last ten years, the Harbour Trust has remediated the lands and, with one exception, all are now publicly accessible.

Related Research Articles

Port Jackson Part of Sydney Harbour, Australia

Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea. It is the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. The location of the first European settlement and colony on the Australian mainland, Port Jackson has continued to play a key role in the history and development of Sydney.

Admiralty House, Sydney

Admiralty House is the Sydney official residence of the Governor-General of Australia. It is located in the suburb of Kirribilli, on the northern foreshore of Sydney Harbour. This large Victorian Regency and Italianate sandstone manor, completed in stages based on designs by James Barnet and Walter Liberty Vernon, occupies the tip of Kirribilli Point. Once known as "Wotonga", it has commanding views across Sydney Harbour to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House.

Cockatoo Island (New South Wales) New South Wales, Australia

Cockatoo Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located at the junction of the Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers, in Sydney Harbour, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Royal Australian Army Medical Corps administrative corps of the Australian Army

The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC) is the branch of the Australian Army responsible for providing medical care to Army personnel. The AAMC was formed in 1902 through the amalgamation of medical units of the various Australian colonies and was first deployed to South Africa as a small detachment of personnel supporting the Australian Commonwealth Horse during the Second Boer War. The corps has participated in every Australian Army operation since then, including wars and peacekeeping operations. The "Royal" prefix was granted in 1948.

Snapper Island (New South Wales) New South Wales, Australia

Snapper Island is a 1.65 hectare island in Sydney Harbour, Australia. It lies in the main channel of the western section of the harbour, upstream of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, adjacent to the Sydney suburb of Drummoyne.

Sydney Heads headlands around Sydney Harbour

The Sydney Heads are a series of headlands that form the 2 km (1.2 mi) wide entrance to Sydney Harbour in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. North Head and Quarantine Head are to the north; South Head and Dunbar Head are to the south; and Middle Head, Georges Head, and Chowder Head are to the west and within the harbour. The Heads are contained within the Sydney Harbour National Park.

3rd Armoured Division (Australia) 1942-1943 combat formation of the Australian Army

The 3rd Armoured Division was an armoured unit of the Australian Army during World War II. Originally raised in 1921 as the 1st Cavalry Division, the formation had been converted into a motor division in early 1942, before adopting the armoured designation in November 1942. A Militia formation, the division undertook garrison duties in New South Wales and then Queensland and did not see combat before being disbanded in late 1943 and early 1944.

Government House, Sydney official residence of the Governor of New South Wales

The Government House is the vice-regal residence of the Governor of New South Wales, Australia, located on Conservatorium Road in the Sydney central business district adjacent to the Royal Botanic Gardens, overlooking Sydney Harbour, just south of the Sydney Opera House. Constructed between 1837 and 1843, the property has been the vice-regal residence of the Governor since Sir George Gipps, except for two brief periods; the first between 1901 and 1914, when the property was leased to the Commonwealth of Australia as the residence of the Governor-General of Australia, and the second from 1996 to 2011.

Tourism in Sydney

Tourism in Sydney, Australia forms an important part of the city's economy. The city received 10.67 million domestic visitors and 4.05 million international visitors in year ending September 2018. The most famous attractions include the Sydney Opera House, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Other attractions include the Sydney Mardi Gras, Royal Botanical Gardens, Luna Park, the beaches and Sydney Tower.

Bradleys Head headland in Sydney, Australia

Bradleys Head is a headland protruding from the north shore of Sydney Harbour, within the metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is named after the First Fleet naval officer William Bradley. The original Aboriginal inhabitants belonged to the Borogegal clan of the Eora nation, and was known as Borogegy, Booraghee, Booragy or Burrogy. Also on the headland is an active lighthouse, Bradleys Head Light, constructed in 1905.

Army Museum of Western Australia miliary museum in Fremantle, Western Australia

The Army Museum of Western Australia is a museum located in an historic artillery barracks on Burt Street in Fremantle, Western Australia. The museum was established in 1977 and has three Victoria Crosses on display.

Fort Queenscliff historic commonwealth heritage site in Queenscliff VIC

Fort Queenscliff, in Victoria, Australia, dates from 1860 when an open battery was constructed on Shortland's Bluff to defend the entrance to Port Phillip. The Fort, which underwent major redevelopment in the late 1870s and 1880s, became the headquarters for an extensive chain of forts around Port Phillip Heads. Its garrison included volunteer artillery, engineers, infantry and naval militia, and it was manned as a coastal defence installation continuously from 1883 to 1946. The other fortifications and armaments around the Heads were completed by 1891, and together made Port Phillip one of the most heavily defended harbours in the British Empire.

Middle Head Fortifications

The Middle Head Fortifications is an heritage-listed former defence establishment and military fortifications and now public space located at Middle Head Road, Middle Head, Mosman in the Mosman Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as the Middle Head Military Fortifications or The Old Fort. The fortifications consist of the Outer Middle Head Battery located at the end of Old Fort Road, the Inner Middle Head Battery located at the end of Governors Road, and the Obelisk batteries reached by a path from the corner of Middle Head Road and Chowder Bay Road. The fortifications at Middle Head formed part of Sydney Harbour's defences. The property is owned by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

Georges Head Battery

The Georges Head Battery, also called the Georges Head Military Fortifications, is an heritage-listed former military fortification located on the Georges Head on Chowder Bay Road, Georges Heights, in the suburb of Mosman, in the Mosman Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia.

Ben Buckler Gun Battery

The Ben Buckler Gun Battery is an heritage-listed fortified former gun emplacement and military installation of the late-Victorian period and now public open space located in the North Bondi locality of Ben Buckler, in the Waverley Municipality of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The gun battery was designed by NSW Colonial Government and built during 1893. It is also known as Ben Buckler Gun Battery 1893, 9.2 Disappearing Gun and Bondi Battery. The property is owned by Waverley Municipal Council. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 15 December 2006.

Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda 17th-century Heritage Site in Bermuda

The Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications is the name used by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee to identify collectively as a World Heritage site St. George's Town, founded in 1612, and a range of fortifications, batteries, and magazines built between 1612 and 1939, the last of which was removed from use in 1953.

Camden Fort Meagher

Camden Fort Meagher is a coastal defence fortification close to Crosshaven, County Cork, Ireland. Together with similar structures at Fort Mitchell, Fort Davis (Whitegate), and Templebreedy Battery, the fort was built to defend the mouth of Cork Harbour. Though originally constructed in the 16th century, the current structures of the 45 acre fort date to the 1860s. Originally named Fort Camden and operated by the British Armed Forces, the fort was handed-over to the Irish Defence Forces in 1938. Renamed Fort Meagher in honour of Thomas Francis Meagher, it remained an Irish military installation until 1989 when the Irish Army handed the fort over to Cork County Council. It remained largely overgrown until 2010 when a group of local volunteers began restoration and development of the fort for heritage and tourism purposes. The fort was renamed Camden Fort Meagher and is now open seasonally to visitors, with exhibits on the fort's Brennan torpedo installation and one of the only resident 9/11 exhibits outside the United States.

Man OWar Steps

The Man O'War Steps is a heritage-listed jetty located at Farm Cove Crescent, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1810. The property is owned by NSW Maritime, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 18 April 2000. The Steps are located on the eastern bank of Bennelong Point, adjacent to the Sydney Opera House and on the north-western boundary of the Royal Botanic Garden.

References

  1. ↑ Australian Army History Unit
  2. ↑ The Royal Australian Artillery Historical Company
  3. ↑ Commonwealth National Heritage List
  4. ↑ Major General Tim Ford, AO (Retd), Representative Colonel Commandant and Chairman RAAHC : A Letter from the Chairman RAAHC on the Immediate Future of North Fort "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-02-17. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
  5. ↑ Last rounds for artillery museum at North Head
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.