Development of coastal defence fortifications

The initial fortifications of Port Jackson were initiated following the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. The initial batteries were established at Dawes Point, Fort Macquarie and Fort Phillip. Their aim was to defend the colony from vessels that had already entered the harbour. Fears by Britain that its colony could be invaded during the Napoleonic wars led to improvements to the harbour defences. A battery was established at Georges Head around 1801. Following the surprise visit of American warships in 1839, further defences were constructed at Kirribilli, Pinchgut and Bradleys Head. As a consequence of the Crimean War, further improvements were made to Bradleys Head, Middle Head and South Head (1854).^[1]

1870 saw the removal of British forces from Australia (the Cardwell reforms), putting the onus on wealthy colonies like NSW and Victoria to assist with defence arrangements. In 1871 a string of works were undertaken at outer and inner Middle Head, Georges Head, South Head, Steele Point and Bradleys Head. However, improvements in armaments led to continual redundancy of the fortifications by the 1880s. Fortifications such as Bare Island (1885 onwards) were a feature of this period. Military advisors such as Scratchley and Jervois advocated new defence priorities which led to the 1890s construction of outer defences in Sydney's eastern suburbs.^[1]

The guns established here, including Ben Buckler, were aimed to maximise the new gun technologies of the era, and as a deterrent to hostile attack by increasingly efficient naval vessels. The coastal guns were used in a "counter-bombardment" role – to repel armed ships approaching, passing or bombarding population centres like Sydney. They had to be equal to the power of ship-mounted guns, and were used in association with smaller guns aimed at attacking vessels entering port, and with other harbour defence systems such as mines and torpedo boats. The 23-centimetre (9.2 in) breech-loading gun types were originally designed for the Royal Navy. An 1879 British Ordinance Committee had earlier identified the need for Britain and its colonies to be able to match arms developments such as those of the Imperial German Army and Navy (Krupp guns).^[1]

The Ben Buckler Battery specifics

The three guns that formed the outer defensive circle of Eastern Sydney in the late 1890s were established at Signal Hill Battery in Watsons Bay, Ben Buckler Battery in North Bondi, and Steel Point Battery in Clovelly. The single batteries consisted of a gun pit that incorporated a BL 9.2 inch (234 mm) Mk VI British-made breech-loading Armstrong 'disappearing' gun. The disappearing guns were prevalent at the end of the nineteenth century throughout Britain, its colonies and the United States. They were chosen because of their range and power, and upon firing and recoil, the gun retracted into its concealed pit and was therefore a lesser target to attacking naval vessels. The domed metal shield that covered the gun pit was devised to deflect incoming shells striking the battery.^[1]

During the late nineteenth century, ten 23-centimetre (9.2 in) breech-loading "counter bombardment" guns of this type were established in Australia. These comprised three at Sydney's eastern suburb batteries, plus a spare barrel; four in Victoria at Fort Nepean and Queenscliff, and two in South Australia (purchased in 1888). The Adelaide guns were never established into Fort Glenelg but were bought back by the British government in 1915. The Sydney guns were purchased with three hydro-pnuematic mounts and had the following serial numbers: Shark Point: #7317; Signal Hill: #7318; Bondi: #7319, and the spare: #7320. Of these guns, only the Signal Hill, Vaucluse barrel survived on public display at the Royal Australian Artillery Museum at North Fort, North Head before the museum closed in 2010.^[1]

The Armstrong Foundry gun at Ben Buckler was cast in 1891 and established within its concrete casemate in 1893. The casemate allegedly had ten-metre (thirty-three-foot) thick concrete walls. Transportation of the gun from the Victoria Barracks, involved a team of thirty-six horses and took three weeks. The gun weighed 20 tonnes (22 short tons) and was installed on an EOC Hydro-pneumatic Mark "1" disappearing mount, operated by hydraulic power. The gun was fired through a slot in the iron "top" shield and could fire a 172-kilogram (379 lb) armour piecing projectile to a range of 8,200 metres (26,900 ft).^[1]

A report in the Sydney Morning Herald of April 1908 reported the findings of a Board of Enquiry into the premature firing of the Ben Buckler gun – illustrative of the dangers associated with this technology.^[1]

It was not until the 1920s that Australian coastal defence sites began to be re-equipped with modern breech-loading 9.2" naval guns. These comprised the seven two-gun "Mark 10" 9.2" batteries completed by World War II. The new Sydney batteries comprised North Fort at North Head, and the Banks Battery at La Perouse. These sites still exist (minus the guns).^[1]

Military ordinance disposal

The Ben Buckler gun site has survived today through a series of unique events. Obsolete by the outbreak of World War II, the gun was held in reserve. With the Federal military disposal program after the war, the majority of coastal gun fortifications were dismantled. The Australian coastal defence guns were generally offered for sale to be cut up for scrap value. No buyer was obtained for the Ben Buckler gun so it was allegedly buried under direction of Waverley Council in the 1950s, complete with its hydraulic raising mechanism and concrete emplacement works. The work allegedly involved the dumping of five feet of sand into and over the emplacement which was then incorporated into public grasslands.^[1]

Uncovered briefly in 1984

The gun's existence was forgotten until disturbance by excavation trench works associated with the Bondi Ocean Outfall Sewer in 1984. The exposed top of the concrete casemate was uncovered by mechanical diggers, photographed and surveyed by the (then) Waterboard Authority. The existence of the fortification led to its inclusion in the Waverley Heritage Study commissioned by council in 1990. At that time, the approximate location of the site was added to a modern plan of the Hugh Bamford Reserve. The gun is believed to have been retained within the below-ground level emplacement, although its existence has not been confirmed.^[1]

The Ben Buckler gun site survives as a buried archaeological feature.^[1]

Heritage Office site survey, 2005

The Heritage Office became aware of the gun's existence through a published Information Sheet developed by Waverley Council and Waverley Library for Heritage Week in 1985. Based on the surviving records, the Heritage Office led a remote magnetometer search of the site on 6 April 2005. The site visit involved discussion with Sydney Water who provided modern survey drawings of the oval with an overlay of the suggested location of the gun pit based on the previous exposure of the site in 1984. The survey was assisted by heritage staff at Waverley Council and Rod Caldwell, Project Officer, from the Fort Scratchley Historical Society, Newcastle.^[1]

Condition

As at 20 April 2005, the 1984 exposure of the top level of the site suggested that the wholly buried structure has retained a significant level of integrity. Annecdotal evidence suggests that the entire concrete casemate, gun and hydraulic mount were left in situ and buried by landfill during the 1950s for the creation of the public open space, the Hugh Bamford Reserve (oval). The site therefore has the potential to retain significant structural remains and fittings associated with the 1893-built structure and later modifications.^[1]

The Ben Buckler gun is held in high esteem by military experts as perhaps the best extant example in Australia. It retains the potential to showcase late nineteenth century disappearing gun technology and associated emplacement designs. The battery site has the ability to interpret the changing policy of harbour and coastal defence planning at key centres such as Sydney, reflecting changing technologies, methods of warfare (e.g. attack by armed, armoured cruisers), and changing military doctrine. As only three of these large 23-centimetre (9.2 in) disappearing guns were established in NSW, the Ben Buckler site has the potential to document the principal characteristics of the important class of coastal fortifications of this type.^[1]

Modifications and dates

Constructed 1893. Possible modifications throughout the use of the site culminating in its retention in reserve during World War II.^[1]

Further information

The Ben Buckler site is the only one of three 23-centimetre (9.2 in) coastal batteries established in Sydney with disappearing guns in the late 1890s. It is the only one to have retained significant elements, the others being stripped of armaments and fittings.^[1]

Sometime in the 1950s the army vacated the site. The Australian Government was unsuccessful in finding a scrap metal buyer to remove the gun, so it buried the gun and gave the site over to parkland. The gun's existence was forgotten until it was rediscovered in the mid-1990s by Sydney Water Board engineers planning a new pipeline.

In 2010 Waverley Council identified land located adjacent to the battery as a possible site for an industrial depot. The proposal was met with opposition from the community.^[3]

Attribution

This Wikipedia article contains material from Ben Buckler Gun Battery 1893, 9.2 Disappearing Gun, entry number 01742 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 2 June 2018.