Mount St John Anti-Aircraft Battery facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mount St John Anti-Aircraft Battery |
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Station at Mount St John Anti-Aircraft Battery
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| Location | 43 Toll Street, Mount St John, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1939–1945 (World War II) |
| Built | February 1942 – April 1942 |
| Official name: Y Station, 16 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, No. 2 Station, Gun Station 393, Mount St John Anti-Aircraft Battery | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 26 November 1999 |
| Reference no. | 602084 |
| Significant period | 1942 (fabric) 1942–1945 (historical) |
| Significant components | command post, magazine / explosives store, gun emplacement, road/roadway |
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The Mount St John Anti-Aircraft Battery is an old military site in Mount St John, near Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It is a "heritage-listed" place, meaning it's protected because of its history. This site was built between February and April 1942 during World War II.
It was part of Australia's air defences. The battery helped protect Garbutt Aerodrome, a very important airfield. It was also known as Y Station, 16 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, or No. 2 Station.
Contents
Protecting Townsville in World War II
Why Townsville Needed Defences
On December 7, 1941, the United States joined World War II. This happened after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The war then became truly global. Japan quickly advanced through Asia and the Pacific. On February 15, 1942, Singapore fell to Japanese forces.
Australia felt it was in danger of being invaded. The Japanese bombed Darwin on February 19, 1942. Townsville was a major city in northern Australia. Many people thought it would be the next target.
Townsville's Role in the War
Townsville became a very important place for the Allies. It was a key port for troops and supplies. These supplies were sent to fight in the New Guinea campaign. The city also became a headquarters for both Australian and American forces.
Between 1942 and 1945, the Townsville and Charters Towers areas had many airfields and supply depots. This made it one of the biggest military centres in the South West Pacific.
Building the Anti-Aircraft Battery
The Mount St John Anti-Aircraft Battery was built to defend Townsville. It was designed to shoot down enemy planes. Construction started in February 1942 and finished by April 1942. It was called No. 2 Station. Another battery, No. 1 Station, was at Rowes Bay.
The No. 2 Station at Mount St John was Townsville's largest battery. It had four powerful 3.7-inch guns. It also had four concrete bunkers for ammunition. A special underground command post helped control the guns. These guns were placed on concrete platforms. They were surrounded by earth walls for protection.
How the Battery Worked
The main job of No. 2 Station was to watch all aircraft around Garbutt Aerodrome. They made sure planes followed the correct paths. If a plane flew in the wrong area, it was seen as an enemy. The battery was connected by phone to other military sites. It was staffed 24 hours a day.
All four guns were ready by March 11, 1942. However, they couldn't fire accurately until March 22. This was when special aiming sights were installed.
First Enemy Sightings
On March 21, 1942, the first Japanese aircraft was seen over Townsville. Observers at Kissing Point Battery spotted it. It was a Japanese reconnaissance plane. Its job was to find airfields for future attacks.
The next day, another Japanese plane was seen. Both planes were sighted at midday. This was the best time for taking aerial photos. The Kissing Point Battery tried to warn Mount St John. But their phone lines were down. Even if they had seen the plane, they couldn't have fired accurately yet.
The Battery in Action
The names of the batteries were later changed. No. 1 Station became X Station. No. 2 Station at Mount St John became Y Station.
The first time both stations fired at an enemy plane was on May 1, 1942. Two Japanese planes were flying towards Garbutt Aerodrome. X Station fired first, causing the planes to climb higher. Y Station at Mount St John then joined in. In total, 33 rounds were fired.
The planes returned later that day. They released a balloon over the airfield. This balloon was a radiosonde or dropsonde. It measured air temperature, humidity, and wind direction at different heights. This information was important for planning accurate bombing raids.
Mount St John's Y Station saw more action. Before Townsville's first air raid, Japanese planes used dropsondes again. This was to gather more information for their planned attack.
Townsville was attacked three times in late July 1942. Japanese flying boats from Rabaul carried out these raids. On July 25/26, two planes dropped bombs into the sea. Y Station did not fire during this raid.
However, during the second raid on July 28, Y Station fired. Searchlights found a Japanese plane at 10,000 feet. After 20 rounds from Y Station, an explosion happened near the plane. This made it drop its bombs in an empty area. During the third raid on July 29, a plane dropped bombs in Cleveland Bay. It was damaged by US fighter planes.
The 16th HAA Battery, which included Mount St John, was disbanded on July 31, 1944. After the war, the Mount St John gun station was sold. It is now privately owned.
What You Can See Today
The Mount St John Anti-Aircraft Battery is located about 2.3 kilometres west of the Garbutt airfield. It's on a road near the Townsville City Council's sewerage plant.
In 1999, the site still had many of its original parts. These included:
- Four ammunition magazines
- Four gun positions
- A semi-underground command post and plotting room
All these structures were made from strong reinforced concrete. There was also a fifth gun platform for a lighter anti-aircraft gun. The main camp for the soldiers was at the bottom of the hill.
The magazines were single rooms, originally buried underground. They had stairs, steel doors, and metal vents. Two of them are now exposed because the soil around them has been removed. The stairs for these two are lying nearby.
The four main gun positions are still visible. Two are hexagonal (six-sided) platforms. The other two look circular but were originally hexagonal. The metal rods for mounting the 3.7-inch guns are still in place. The underground command post is still in good condition. It even has its original metal entrance door. You can also see the old service road that wound up the side of the hill.
Why Mount St John is Important
The Mount St John Anti-Aircraft Battery was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on November 26, 1999. This means it's a special historical site.
A Look at Queensland's History
This battery shows how Queensland defended itself during World War II. Townsville was a vital place for Allied forces. It had important ports and airfields. The city was bombed three times by Japanese planes in July 1942. Y Station even fired at a Japanese aircraft during one of these raids.
The former Y Station is one of the few remaining World War II structures in Townsville. It's unique because it was involved in fighting enemy aircraft both before and after the Battle of the Coral Sea.
Learning from the Past
There might be buried materials at the site from the end of the war. These could help us learn more about how anti-aircraft positions worked in Queensland.
A Great Example of a Military Site
The Mount St John Anti-Aircraft Battery is a good example of a standard anti-aircraft gun station. It has four gun positions, four magazines, and a command post. It also has a light anti-aircraft position and remnants of the camp site. The old road shows how people accessed the site during the war.
Y Station is the most complete example of Townsville's anti-aircraft defences. It is also one of the most intact anti-aircraft sites in all of Queensland. Its location on a hill shows its purpose: to protect the Garbutt airfield.
