Coat hanger

Keith Webb · #1 10-03-05, 00:46

Here's a shot I took yesterday morning from a helicopter at dawn. It's a bit of a different perspective of Sydney...

Snowtractor · #2 10-03-05, 01:14

its Arnhem.

Keith Webb · #3 10-03-05, 02:29

These are just South of Bondi...

Bruce MacMillan · #4 10-03-05, 03:16

here's a shot of sunny Vancouver today looking west over Kitsilano. Similiar to Sydney except your bridge is bigger!

Tony Smith · #5 10-03-05, 08:13

Quote:

Originally posted by Keith Webb
Here's a shot I took yesterday morning from a helicopter at dawn. It's a bit of a different perspective of Sydney...

What were you doing in Sydney, Keith? Seeing the Edinburgh Military Tattoo or catching one of the shows from the Goodies Tour? Both are in Sydney at the moment (I think the Tatto may have finished).

Keith Webb · #6 10-03-05, 09:28

Quote:

Originally posted by Tony Smith
What were you doing in Sydney, Keith? Seeing the Edinburgh Military Tattoo or catching one of the shows from the Goodies Tour? Both are in Sydney at the moment (I think the Tatto may have finished).

Neither, although the Goodies would have been fun... remember the episode where the giant Siamese cat attacked London?

I flew in late Tuesday afternoon, long cab ride to Bankstown, stay in expensive but VERY crappy hotel, determine not to eat in their crappy and expensive restaurant, walk to Vietnamese quarter for excellent and cheap meal, made sure I walked back before nightfall (Bankstown is a scary place), then picked up at 5.30AM by chopper pilot, rig camera on Jetranger, do shoot, then fly back to Melbourne. Good sleep last night!

Keith Webb · #7 10-03-05, 09:45

Here's another pic of the gun emplacement. Shame the gun has long be scrapped...

Richard Farrant · #8 10-03-05, 11:46

Quote:

Originally posted by Keith Webb
Here's another pic of the gun emplacement. Shame the gun has long be scrapped...

Keith,

The artillery museum at North Head is worth visiting, with the restored gun emplacements. I have no doubt you have already been there, though

Richard

Tony Smith · #9 10-03-05, 11:55

Quote:

Originally posted by Keith Webb
Here's another pic of the gun emplacement. Shame the gun has long be scrapped...

All of the tunnels under the Maroubra emplacements are still accessible (bring a torch!) along with the 2ft gauge railway that runs around the place. These are beyond the butts of the Malabar Rifle Range and we thought it was a good place to nick off to during shoots with the Cadets and School Rifle club. Lots of "Overs" whizzing by, it certainly seemed safe under all that concrete.
There are 3 sets of Coastal Defence batteries (in the Malabar/ La Perouse area and more up Sydney's coast at South Head, Middle Head and North Head. The site you've pictured is Malabar Battery which had two 6 inch guns, a four storey control tower, plotting room, an underground generator room and two identification searchlights, mostly linked by underground tunnels.
About 2 or 3 km south is Banks Battery, of two 9.2 inch guns and similar supporting buildings as Malabar.
About 1 km to the west of Banks is Henry Battery, an old 1880's emplacement of an Armstrong Dissapearing gun and 3pdr gun.
There are another 6 batteries around the mouth of Sydney harbour with varying degrees of access/preservation, including North Battery on North head which is now home to the Australian Army's Artillery Museum.
A classic Aussie film is "Stone", about a bikie gang in the '70s. Most of the film was shot in their "Clubhouse" which was the Middle Head Battery, with them riding Harleys through the tunnels and around the gun pits.

Richard Farrant · #10 10-03-05, 13:14

Quote:

Originally posted by Tony Smith
an old 1880's emplacement of an Armstrong Dissapearing gun

Tony,

Your mentioning of the Armstrong Dissapearing gun, reminds me of when I was doing a lot of work for the Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich. They recieved the very decayed remains of one of these, from, I believe, Singapore. On my visit to North Head, they have one in position so that I could then appreciate its workings.

Richard

Tony Smith · #11 11-03-05, 05:28

There is a fully restored, operational one that I understand is the only one in the Southern Hemisphere at Tairoa Head, Dunedin NZ. So clever design, a joy to see working.
The gun carriage is on a Hydro-Pneumatic ram. It is loaded and raised into position by a hand pump, then laid for aim. On firing, the recoil of the gun pushes it back into the lowered position, compressing the air in the ram. When reloaded, the air pressure in the ram raises the gun and puts it back on aim. The gun crew remain out of sight (and harm) in the gun pit. The really clever part of this coast defence gun is that by the time the target hears the shot, or feels it's effect, the gun has already lowered and it's position is hard to determine. It can be exposed and fired and rehidden in a matter of seconds since it comes back on aim when raised.

#12 11-03-05, 06:10

Quote:

Originally posted by Bruce MacMillan
here's a shot of sunny Vancouver today looking west over Kitsilano. Similiar to Sydney except your bridge is bigger!

Hi Bruce ... is this the Burrard St. Bridge? and the grassy/park area to the right of the bridge, isn't that where they always hold the Folk Fest or Childrens Festival? On "this" end of the Burrard Bridge, right side, I know someone who had an apt in one of the highrises that I could stand on his deck and look straight down almost at that bridge ... I think iit was 25th floor. very TINY TINY rooms, 2 BR ... $1500.oo per month PLUS utilities. A tad pricey for an UN-noiseproofed place, but wow... whaddaview with wall to wall/floor to ceiling windows ...

This photo has me missing early spring and blossoming things... and I hear things ARE budding and blossoming at the Left-Coast. I lived for 17 yrs in Vancouver.

Oh well ... I'll go back to munching on cornchips and having fantasies of "I wonder what Ontario and Toronto looks like when dressed in growing things and warmth of sun instaed of perpetual winter ... " ... it's too soon to tell what the environment will look like ... but i certainly love the photos you people are posting.

Keefy ... I think i truly hate you too

.... the only way you can EVER make up for this taunting/flaunting warmth and green growth from the air views is to promise me that should I EVER get over there to visit, that you will take me along on a ride-along on one of your "shoots" ... preferably an airborne shoot ... please bring barf bag though ok?

Well ... I'll jump back out of this now ... now I've gone on an off-topic tangent once again ... nite 'all

Karmen

Bruce MacMillan · #13 11-03-05, 06:50

Hi Karmen. Yes it's the Burrard St bridge and that's the Maritime museum/planetarium/Kits Point park on the right. Yes my daffodils have been blooming for two weeks

Don't worry though, I hear summer in hogtown this year is August 1st from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm....

Keith, nice shots of the old emplacements. There are a few forts left around the Vancouver harbour but slowly disappearing as the "powers to be" don't seem to care. It's politically correct to remove anything of a violent nature and I bet the guns weren't registered in the national gun registry.

I think Fort Rodd Hill in Victoria (our Victoria) has one of the disappearing guns as well. Have a look at http://www.fortroddhill.com/index.html

Greg Beeston · #14 11-03-05, 07:35

There is a disappearing gun at Queenscliff Fort. I was one of a team of recovory mechanics/RAEME reservist that removed the gun from the man made South Channel Fort Island in the mid? 80's. We delivered the gun to the Bendigo Ordnance Factory for restorson, I've since seen the gun set up at the Queenscliff Fort
Greg

Tony Smith · #15 11-03-05, 10:46

Quote:

Originally posted by Tony Smith
There is a fully restored, operational one that I understand is the only one in the Southern Hemisphere at Taiaroa Head, Dunedin NZ.

My meaning in saying restored and operational is that it raises and lowers pneumatically and can still fire, ie FULLY functioning.
The gun at North Fort is complete, but the Hydro-Pneumatic system needs work to operate. In accordance with Aust gun laws, the firing mechanism has been disabled and the breech components welded up. I have'nt been to Queenscliff to see their dissapearing gun, but I understand that it is also cosmetically restored, but inoperable. I do hope it is otherwise! There also two other Armstrong guns near Jo'burg in South Africa, but neither are complete.
See http://www.albatross.org.nz/Fort.htm

Tony Smith · #16 12-03-05, 23:21

Mention of the Armstrong Dissapearing Gun at Fort Taiaroa has reminded me of a puzzle I encountered there. Around the upper rim of the gun pit are degree marks painted on the wall. They vary from exceedingly good clarity to poor and faded and don't appear to be touched up, I presume them to be original. The puzzle is this. Aligned with North, the marking is "0". Aligned with South is "180". No problems there. The difficulty relates to the other numbers which run ANTI-CLOCKWISE! That is, NW is 45, West is 90, SW is 135, SE is 225, East is 270, NE is 315. Why are they numbered this way? If they were for Reciprocal bearings (ie, if the breech is located at 90deg, the muzzle would be facing 270deg),N would be 180 and S 0 and the degrees should still run clockwise. Being anti-clockwise, they wouldn't be reciprocal for any other bearing (eg 127deg would show as 233deg, not 307deg reciprocal). The Fire control instruments from the plot room were electrical, so it wasn't because of the need for mirrors to transfer fire data.
I have asked some old gunners involved in Coastal Batteries from WW2 and they don't know why, and modern gunners go off on an explanation of Mils. But in both WW2 artillery fire orders and modern use of Mils, the compass is shown going clockwise. In fact in Maths, Surveying, Navigation and Cartography the compass always runs clockwise.
Can anyone explain? Are there any other 1880's forts elsewhere that still have similar markings?