Drummond Battery

Drummond Battery was a counter bombardment battery at Port Kembla, Australia during World War II.

No. 2 BL 9.2 inch gun in 1944

Gun emplacement 2 today

Gun emplacement 1 today

Constructed in 1942 to provide protection for Port Kembla from enemy shipping and submarines. Two BL 9.2 inch Mk X gun emplacements with related underground facilities were constructed near Drummond, Wollongong.

Today the site is used as a mushroom farm. I was told that if you are polite with the owners they will let you in to have a look.

Illowra Battery, Hill 60, Port Kembla, New South Wales

This is the Hill 60 Bunker Located in Port Kembla, New South Wales. This fortifications formed part of the Kembla Fortress network. Its purpose was to defend Port Kembla in the event of a sea born attack by an enemy vessel standing off the coast during WWII.

The Australian Army took over occupation of the Hill 60 area and the Aboriginal people were forcibly removed from the land and were never permitted to return to the Hill.

Two large gun emplacements were constructed, housing BL 6 inch Mk XI guns and their shields held in storage from the decommissioned World War I cruisers HMAS Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Two large tunnels were built and are steep in descent and have a small gauge tramway used for hauling shells to the guns located at the 2 gun emplacements.

A concrete bunker is connected to the underground tunnel system.

Pictured above is one of two gun emplacement at the Illowra Battery aka Hill 60. The large steel shell is a former gun shield that was taken from one of the decommissioned World War I cruisers HMAS Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne before they were scrapped.

^{There would have to be about 15 to 20 separate rooms connected to these tunnels. Some of the rooms are quite large and were probably used as accommodation for troops and storage for ammunitions.}