1917 155MM Howitzer
LAURIE Smith — past president for the Palm Beach Rotary Club and driver of the project to install a reproduction 1917 howitzer gun at Point Peron — was finally able to phone metal worker Adrian Watt recently and tell him to start work.
The just-commissioned replica gun will be an as-close-as-possible match to the original WWII guns that were placed at Point Peron.
Earlier this year the City of Rockingham Council awarded a $10,000 community grant to the club for the project, which was recently matched by $10,000 from the Point Peron Rehabilitation Committee.
The separtment, of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and Planning, Lands and Heritage are also supporting the project.
Point Peron Rehabilitation Committee chairman Phil Edman said: “This site will be to remember more than 3000 Australians who lost their lives on Australian soil and in its waters during one of the world’s saddest and ugliest conflicts.”
Club president Kevin McDonnell said: “The Rotary Club of Palm Beach is proud to be associated with Point Peron Restoration Project and the Howitzer replica memorial.
“We see it a great way to honour the memories of those men and women who served to defend our coastline in the dark days of WW2 and to preserve the history of the area for the generations to come."
City of Rockingham Mayor Barry Sammels said the city was delighted to be able to support the project.
“The Community Grants Program assists with the delivery of programs, projects and events that benefit the community, and in this case the city was very happy to support a project with historical significance to Rockingham,” he said.
Mr Edman added: “The Howitzer gun project will help highlight how Point Peron played an important role in the defence of Western Australia during World War II, and will closely resemble the original guns that were placed at Point Peron more than 70 years ago.
“I congratulate the Point Peron Rehabilitation Committee and the Rotary Club of Palm Beach for their efforts in bringing this project to fruition.”
Point Peron ‘Cape’ was an integral part of the coastal defence strategy of Western Australia during World War II. Built in 1942, Peron Battery was one of a string of heavy coastal batteries which included those on Garden Island, Rottnest Island and on the mainland reaching to Swanbourne. These batteries — known as the Fremantle Fortress — defended the Port of Fremantle.
The Bbattery was decommissioned in December 1944 when the guns were removed.
In the highest afforded recognition at the State level, based on the cultural heritage significance of the Cape Peron Battery Complex, it was entered in the Register of Heritage Places on an interim basis under the Heritage of Western Australia Act 1990 on June 28, 2019.
The gun installation is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2020.