Six Inch Guns, Horsburgh Island

Six Inch Guns, Horsburgh Island
Six Inch Guns, Horsburgh Island
	Location of Six Inch Guns, Horsburgh Island in Earth
Location	Horsburgh Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia
Coordinates	12°04′52″S96°50′38″E / 12.0812°S 96.8438°E Coordinates: 12°04′52″S96°50′38″E / 12.0812°S 96.8438°E
Commonwealth Heritage List
	Official name: Six Inch Guns
Type	Listed place (Historic)
Designated	22 June 2004
Reference no.	105222

Last updated May 15, 2020

The Six Inch Guns are a heritage-listed battery at Horsburgh Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.^[1]

History

During World War II Horsburgh Island was occupied by armed forces. In November 1940 the Australian Army decided Cocos should guard against another Emden|Emden-type incident (Battle of Cocos) and a military presence be speedily arranged.^[1]

In 1941 Captain Koch of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery and his unit came to Horsburgh Island and installed two six-inch guns to protect the atoll's main entrance and anchorage. This installation was to be supplemented by an infantry presence. The men who provided the islands' defences came from two volunteer corps, the Ceylon Light Infantry and the Ceylon Garrison Artillery under the command of British officers.^[1]

These volunteer soldiers eventually led the Cocos Islands mutiny on 8 May 1942 - the aim to hand over control of the islands to the Japanese. The mutiny went horribly wrong and resulted in one death and a few minor injuries. Four of the gunners were imprisoned and three executed. The two rusted gun emplacements remain on the southern point today as reminders of the military occupation of Horsburgh Island.^[1]

Description

The guns are located at Possession Point on the south-east corner of Horsburgh Island. There are two guns, one on a steel base which has partially collapsed onto the beach. The other gun is approximately 50 metres inland. The barrel of the gun is detached and partially buried on the beach. There are stone and coral walls that extend into the lagoon.^[1]

The guns may be associated with World War II gun installations on Christmas Island.^[1]

Condition

In 1996, the guns were heavily rusted and parts were missing. The front gun has been undermined and the inland gun barrel has been separated.^[1]

In 2000 it was reported that due to the coastline having eroded so substantially, the barrel of the gun has been washed off into the sand further and the base now rests entirely on the beach rather than on the higher grassed lands as it once did. Several other bits of the gun are now lying exposed on the coral. All are heavily corroded. The gun mount in the grass area is also heavily corroded.^[1]

Heritage listing

The Six Inch Guns, c. 1941, demonstrate the Cocos (Keeling) Islands' important strategic location in the Indian Ocean during the Second World War. The Second World War ended the relative isolation of the Islands and the military presence led to Australian and international scrutiny of the Clunies Ross family's paternalistic administration of the Cocos Malay people. This scrutiny was a catalyst for the Australian Government to assume control of the Islands in 1951.^[1]

The Six Inch Guns are surviving evidence of the armed forces occupation and impact of the Second World War on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and are the only remnant of the period when the Ceylonese Army was stationed on Horsburgh Island.^[1]

Related Research Articles

The Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands is an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean, comprising a small archipelago approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka and closer to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is part of Southeast Asia and is in the Southern Hemisphere. The territory's dual name reflects that the islands have historically been known as either the Cocos Islands or the Keeling Islands.

The Cocos Islands mutiny was a failed mutiny by Sri Lankan soldiers against British officers, on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands on 8 May 1942, during the Second World War.

North Keeling is a small, uninhabited coral atoll, approximately 1.2 square kilometres (0.46 sq mi) in area, about 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of Horsburgh Island. It is the northernmost atoll and island of the Australian territory of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. It consists of just one C-shaped island, a nearly closed atoll ring with a small opening into the lagoon, about 50 metres (160 ft) wide, on the east side. The lagoon is about 0.5 square kilometres (0.19 sq mi) in area. The island is home to the only surviving population of the endemic, and endangered, Cocos buff-banded rail, as well as large breeding colonies of seabirds. Since 1995, North Keeling Island and the surrounding sea to 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) from shore have been within the Pulu Keeling National Park.

Horsburgh Island is one of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Its area is 1.04 square kilometres. There is a small lagoon in the interior of the island to the northeast.

West Island Mosque is a heritage-listed mosque at Alexander Street, West Island, of the Cocos Keeling Islands, an external territory of Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

The Home Island Industrial Precinct is a heritage-listed industrial area at Jalan Bunga Mawar, Home Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

The Direction Island Slipway and Tank are heritage-listed industrial remnants at Direction Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia. The site was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

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The RAAF Memorial is a heritage-listed war memorial at West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

The Qantas Huts are heritage-listed former accommodation huts at Sydney Highway, West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia. They were added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

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The Type 2 Residences are six heritage-listed houses at Air Force Road, West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

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Captain Ballards Grave is a heritage-listed burial place at Home Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

The Early Settlers' Graves are heritage-listed burial places at Jalan Kipas, Home Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

The Home Island Foreshore is a heritage-listed cultural landscape at Jalan Panti, Home Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

The Type T Houses Precinct is a heritage-listed residential area at William Keeling Crescent and Qantas Close, West Island Settlement, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Six Inch Guns (Place ID 105222)". Australian Heritage Database . Department of the Environment . Retrieved 15 May 2019.

Bibliography

Allom Lovell Marquis-Kyle Architects Pty Ltd, "Cocos (Keeling) Islands Heritage Study", 1996, Vols 1 and 2
Allom Lovell Marquis-Kyle Architects Pty Ltd, "Lot 14 Home Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands, 1994
Bunce, P "The Cocos (Keeling Islands) Australian Atolls in the Indian Ocean", 1988
Nairn, B and Searle, G "Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1891-1939",
Melbourne University Press, 1986

Attribution

This Wikipedia article was originally based on Six Inch Guns , entry number 105222 in the Australian Heritage Database published by the Commonwealth of Australia 2019 under CC-BY 4.0 licence , accessed on 15 May 2019.

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[ahd-105222-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Six Inch Guns (Place ID 105222)". Australian Heritage Database . Department of the Environment . Retrieved 15 May 2019.