Illowra Battery is a former Australian Army coastal-artillery battery located at Hill 60, Port Kembla, New South Wales in Australia, built and in service during World War II. It was also otherwise known as Hill 60 Battery. [1]
Two large naval-gun emplacements were constructed, both housing British BL 6-inch Mk. XI guns and complete with their protective gun-shields formerly held in storage from the decommissioned World War I-era Australian Navy cruisers HMAS Brisbane, Sydney and HMAS Melbourne. Two large tunnels were built to support the gun-battery and are steep in its descent underground and is fitted with a small-gauge tram/trolleyway used for hauling the guns' shells to their breeches located at the two coastal-gun emplacements above.
Aside from the two tunnels, a concrete bunker was also built and is connected to the tunnel system.
Illowra Battery was abandoned shortly after the end of World War II in 1945. A mushroom farm was established in its main bunker complex due to the cool temperature and adequate humidity within for the growing of such edible fungi. Today, the site remains popular with local visitors as well as urban explorers, who have added much colourful and diverse graffiti to the old battery's walls and remnants.
Wrights Hill Fortress is a counter bombardment coastal artillery battery in the Karori suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. It was built between 1942 and 1944 and is predominantly underground, with numerous tunnels linking the war shelters, gun emplacements, magazines, plotting rooms and engine room - which are, at some points, over 50 feet underground. The fort was intended to house three 9.2" Mk. XV guns, but only two guns were installed and the fort never saw action. After World War II was over, fort commanders fired both of the guns. The fall of the shot was observed in Cook Strait and these test firings were deemed a success. In 1960, somewhat ironically, both of the guns were sold to the Japanese as scrap metal, the very nation Wrights Hill Fortress was constructed to defend Wellington against. The design of the fort is similar to the Stony Batter and Whangaparāoa 9.2" Mk. XV batteries, near Auckland.
Sydney Harbour was protected by coastal batteries and other fixed defences from the early 19th century until the 1960s. These defences were constructed to protect the Australian city of Sydney from attack by enemy warships and submarines.
Fort Pasir Panjang or Labrador Battery is located within Labrador Park at the southern tip of Singapore island. It was one of the 11 coastal artillery forts built by the British in the 19th century to defend the western passageway into Keppel Harbour against piracy and foreign naval powers. During the 1942 Battle of Pasir Panjang, the fort played a supporting role but a limited one in defending the Malay Regiments against the Japanese invasion at Bukit Chandu. In 1995, the site was gazetted by the National Heritage Board as one of the 11 World War II sites in Singapore.
The Ben Buckler Gun Battery is a 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 Sydney, 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.
Malabar Battery was a coastal defence battery built in 1943 during World War II at Malabar Headland in Sydney, Australia. The battery is also known as Boora Point Battery.
The Bradleys Head Fortification Complex is a heritage-listed former mast and defensive battery and military fortification and now war memorial and recreational area located at Bradleys Head Road within the Sydney Harbour National Park in Mosman in the Mosman Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Government engineers and built from 1840 to 1934. It is also known as Bradleys Head Forts and HMAS Sydney 1 Mast and Associated Memorials. The property is owned by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 30 August 2010.
Fort Banks is an old World War II bunker and fortification complex that was used to protect the approaches to Botany Bay. The fortification is located north of Cape Banks in La Perouse, New South Wales, Australia.
The Henry Head Battery is an artillery battery located on the northern side of the entrance to Botany Bay at Henry Head, La Perouse, New South Wales, Australia.
Flagstaff Hill Fort is a former military fort at Flagstaff Point, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
Breakwater Battery, was a coastal defence battery at Port Kembla, New South Wales, Australia during World War II.
Drummond Battery, also known as Fort Drummond, is a heritage-listed former coastal artillery fortification and now television station and mushroom farm at 1 Television Avenue, Mt Drummond, Mount Saint Thomas, City of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It was built between 1942 and 1943 by the NSW Public Works Department and NSW Department of Main Roads. The Australian Army used the site from 1942.
The Signal Hill Battery was constructed in 1892/93 at Watsons Bay and is adjacent to the Signal Hill Lighthouse on Old South Head Road.
East Point Military Reservation was a World War I and World War II coastal defense site located in Nahant, Massachusetts. In 1955–62 it was a Nike missile launch site. In 1967 the site was converted into the Marine Science Center of Northeastern University.
After the Wehrmacht occupied the Channel Islands on 30 June 1940, they assessed the existing defences to determine if they would be of use. The Germans found the Islands' fortifications antiquated and woefully inadequate for modern warfare.
False Cape Battery is a heritage-listed fortification at Yarrabah Road, East Trinity, Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1942 to 1943 during World War II. It is also known as Leper Bay. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 18 April 1997.
The Shepherds Hill military installations is a New South Wales state heritage-listed site, consisting of a former military gun battery emplacement, observation post and gunner's cottage at The Terrace in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1890 to 1940. It is also known as Shepherds Hill Defence Group Military Installations, Observation Post and Gun Placement and Shepherds Hill Battery. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 July 2010.
The Tomaree Head Fortifications is a heritage-listed fortification at 2 Shoal Bay Road, Shoal Bay, New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as Tomaree Head Battery, Tomaree Battery and Stephens Battery. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 22 October 2010.
Hill 60 is a heritage-listed Aboriginal site at Military Road, Port Kembla, City of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It is also the location of the World War II installation the Illowra Battery. The property is owned by Wollongong City Council. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 14 December 2001.
The Lithgow Heavy Anti Aircraft Gun Stations and Dummy Station is a heritage-listed former gun emplacements, anti aircraft gun batteries and dummy batteries and now disused railway signal box located via Kirkley Street, Bowenfels, City of Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1941 to 1942 by Water Conservation & Irrigation Commission, Defence. It is also known as Lithgow Anti Aircraft Gun Emplacements and Heavy Anti Aircraft guns 3.7 inch anti aircraft guns. The property is owned by Lithgow City Council. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 5 August 2011.
Fremantle Fortress was the combined coastal defences protecting the harbour of Fremantle, Western Australia, since the mid-1930s and, predominantly, during World War II. The coastal defences of the Fremantle Fortress stretched along the coastline of Perth from Cape Peron to Swanbourne and also included installations on Garden Island and Rottnest Island. While the first coastal batteries of the future Fremantle Fortress were installed at Arthur Head in 1906, the military installations protecting the harbour were expanded in the 1930s, being eventually dismantled again by 1963.