Anti-aircraft defences of Australia during World War II

Members of the Volunteer Defence Corps training with a 3.7 Inch anti-aircraft gun emplaced on Kensington Golf Links in Sydney during May 1943

The following is a list of anti-aircraft defences of Australia during World War II.[Note 1] Prior to the war Australia possessed only very limited air defences. However, by late-1942 an extensive anti-aircraft defence organisation had been developed, with anti-aircraft batteries in place around all the major cities as well as the key towns in northern Australia.[1] A total of two Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) regiments, 32 static HAA batteries, 11 Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) regiments, 16 independent LAA batteries, three anti-aircraft training regiments and one anti-aircraft training battery were formed. These units were equipped with a range of weapon systems including 3.7 inch anti-aircraft guns and 40 mm Bofors guns. In addition six US Army anti-aircraft battalions were stationed in Australia, operating in Fremantle, Darwin, Townsville, and Brisbane.[2]

A number of anti-aircraft batteries were subsequently involved in dealing with the threat of Japanese air raids against northern Australia during 1942 and 1943, shooting down 29 enemy aircraft, probably destroying another 27 aircraft and damaging 32 between January 1942 and the end of 1943. Batteries in New Guinea also saw extensive action.[3] However, as the war progressed and the threat from Japanese aircraft subsided, the manning of anti-aircraft defences in Australia was reduced to release manpower for other branches of the Army and for industry, and was increasingly taken over by Australian Women's Army Service or Volunteer Defence Corps personnel. Most batteries were disbanded between mid-1944 to late 1945.[4]

New South Wales

Victoria

Queensland

South Australia

Western Australia

Tasmania

Northern Territory

New Guinea

See also

Notes

Footnotes
  1. ↑ Anti-aircraft organisation as it existed in late-1942.
Citations
  1. ↑ Palazzo 2001, pp. 156–158.
  2. ↑ Horner 1995, pp. 315–316.
  3. ↑ Horner 1995, p. 379.
  4. ↑ Horner 1995, pp. 391–392.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Palazzo 2001, p. 158.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to World War II defence of Australia.
  • Horner, David (1995). The Gunners: A History of Australian Artillery. St Leonards, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86373-917-3. 
  • Palazzo, Albert (2001). The Australian Army. A History of its Organisation 1901–2001. Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-551507-2. 
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