Royal Australian Artillery Historical Company ENewsletter

AIRBURST

Royal Australian Artillery

Historical Company

ENewsletter Edition No 60 April 2022

Dear Gunners (Readers) -

Welcome to Airburst No 60 April 2022

There has been some movement at the station about the proposed construction of an Army Armour/Artillery Museum at Puckapunyal. In accordance with Army Policy the facility is to be known as a Heritage Learning Centre. Funds have been approved in the recent budget with the Project Total Budget $41.2m; $300k spent this FY; $16.3m to be expended FY22-23. This project will provide exhibition space, storage, restoration and administration facilities to support heritage collections, and demolish existing redundant facilities. This project is scheduled to commence construction in mid 2022 for completion in mid 2024.

ANZAC DAY 2022

The ANZAC Day service at the RAA National Memorial will be held at 0800hrs to allow those who wish to join the March at the Australian War Memorial (AWM) to do so. All are welcome. Details are:

Time: 0800 - 0845 hrs
Location: RAA National Memorial, Mt Pleasant (parking at the gate)
Dress: Coat and ties with medals.
Transport: Park at the gate near the RMC obstacle course. A shuttle will operate between the gate and the Memorial from 0730 h and after the ceremony

The weather is forecast to be cool but sunny, and we are confirming the presence of the Sallyman on the day to provide refreshments; as always, donations are most welcome. ACT Health directions require people not to attend if they are unwell or have been close contacts to those who have tested positive to COVID-19; for more information see www.covid19.act.gov.au.

National ANZAC Day Services & March

The National ANZAC Day March & Service will resume in Canberra but in a different form given the restrictions imposed by the redesign of the AWM.

Information from the AWM website is as follows

· Dawn service – Dawn service commences at 5.30 am - No tickets required

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Veterans Association Commemorative Ceremony – Ceremony commences at 8.00 am
ACT RSL Veteran’s March – Commences at 9.30 am
Galleries and Commemorative area - Open from 12.00 pm – Tickets are required
Last Post Ceremony – commences at 4.45 pm –Tickets are now fully booked.

The ceremony will be live streamed on Youtube and Facebook.

The March details for Canberra are somewhat threadbare. No assembly points for each group have been published but directions will be given to each group by marshals. See the map at the right Covid measures apply.

Timings are: assemble at the FUP: 0830 hours Step Off: 0930 hours Finish: 1030 hours. Forming up area and route is shown on the map below. Note that they differ from previous years.

Local State Services

The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) has a website containing information on local service in each state. CLICK HERE

Have a great day

Ubique

Ian Ahearn

Chair RAAHC

Green Hill Fort Thursday Island

The Green Hill Fort complex on Thursday Island was constructed between 1891-93 as part of the Imperial and colonial whole-of-Australia defence in the lead up to Federation. It was erected in response to the “Russian scare" of 1885 and to late 19th century European colonial expansion into New Guinea and the South Pacific.

New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia contributed to the cost of construction, Britain supplied the armament, and Queensland funded and supplied the garrison.

It was eventually decommissioned some time in 1927 and the buildings were demolished and the guns were spiked. Green Hill is a small grassy hill about 58 metres above sea level at the western end of Thursday Island.

6 inch Breech Loading (BL) Gun at Fort Green Hill

There are five rooms with 600 millimetre thick concrete walls used for ammunition storage. The initial buildings on site were the general storeroom, shell store, cordite room, lamp room and artillery store. A timber and corrugated iron guardhouse (25 inch by 15 inch) was also built over a 20000 gallon underground well. A cooling plant machine room and a powder room were added in 1912. Air conditioning ducts were installed from the cooling plant machine room to the cordite store.

Aerial view of Green Hill Fort

Target finder housing site

Underground barracks area

Initially the British supplied 4 rifle muzzle-loading (RML) 7” guns 4 sixteen-pounders. The British then agreed to provide three more modem six-inch breech-loading guns. Two Mark VI and a Mark IV were supplied from the Elswick Ordnance Company owned by Sir William Armstrong. The guns, each weighing 10 tonnes had a range of 8.4km. They thus, effectively, covered all approaches to Thursday Island's harbour. They were supplemented with nine-pounder field guns, which appear to have been mainly deployed on the hill slopes nearby. A 10-barrel Maxim 0.45-inch machine gun was parapet mounted.

General view of 6 inch gun emplacement

Gun at sunset

Memorial Plaque to those who served and died at Green Hill Fort

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Did You Know?

ANZAC Day around the world

Left: ANZAC March

in Sydney

ANZAC Day commemorations have been held in many

countries around the world. They include:

Belgium Brunei Canada Cyprus Egypt France Germany Hong Kong India Ireland Israel Malaysia New Zealand Pacific Islands Nations Poland Singapore South Sudan Thailand United Kingdom United States

Above: ANZAC Commemoration Villers-Bretonneux, France

Below: ANZAC Day Commemoration Warsaw, Poland

Above: ANZAC Day, London

Below: ANZAC troops during the war in Iraq commemorated

ANZAC Day

Above: Members of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam

(AATTV), attending an ANZAC Day ceremony.

Below: Hell Fire Pass, Thailand where an ANZAC Ceremony is held every year

COMMEMORATING 150 YEARS

1871 - 2021

The RAAHC and the Australian Artillery Association continue to support the initiative by publishing history items on Facebook and the web site. Click on the yellow text to access updated information

Where Right & Glory Lead – short stories about ordinary Gunners doing extraordinary things through history.

A Brief History of Australian Artillery – an insight into the employment of Australian artillery on operations.

Gunner Perspectives – candid interviews of everyday Gunners from all corners of today’s Gunner community.

Video tracing 150 Years of Australian Artillery

This initiative was created by the Regiment with a team lead by Lieutenant Colonel Nick Floyd. The RAAHC & AAA produced the video series and are is proud to participate in the rest of the initiative.

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Gunners Around the Nation & The World

View the latest Newsletters from various Artillery associations around the nation:

RAA Association Victoria Newsletter - Cascabel

Locating Surveillance and Target Acquisition Association - Newsletter

131 Locators Association - Newsletter

Royal Australian Artillery Association (NSW) -Website

Australian Artillery Association - Website

Royal Canadian Artillery - Royal Canadian Artillery

‘A’ Field Battery Association Incorporated-Newsletter

Royal Australian Artillery Historical Company

PO Box 171

Cremorne Junction

NSW 2090 Australia