Mount St. John - 16 Heavy Anti-aircraft Battery

Mount St. John can be seen behind the industial buildings.
Photo taken in February 1999 from Mount Louisa looking towards Many Peaks Range

16 Heavy Anti-aircraft Battery at Mount St. John was known as No. 2 Station, Y Battery and 393 Australian Battery. Terry Daley was the 2nd in charge of the installation at Mount St. John which is located adjacent to the Garbutt airfield. Mount St. John later became the site for Townsville's Mount St. John Zoo. The zoo was later abandoned and the general area was then later developed as the Norline Drive-in picture theatre. This has also since closed down.

Construction of this Anti-aircraft battery commenced in February 1942. It comprised four 3.7 " calibre Anti-aircraft guns. The four hexagonal gun emplacements are still partially visible to this day. There were four single-roomed underground ammunition magazines with stairs leading down into the bunker. They had large steel doors over their entrances. These have since all been removed. They were two ventilators in the roof of each ammunition bunker.

There was another large square shaped building which was the command post and plotting room. Its steel door is still attached. It was constructed partially underground.

Philip Dulhunty (philip@dulhunty.com) was based at Gunsite 393 at Mount St. John during World War 2. He has sent me the following photographs from a nostalgic visit that he made back to the location. He was also posted to an anti-aircraft battery at Nelly Bay on Magnetic Island.

Ammunition storage bunker still standing at Mt St John	Ants nest and snake skins hanging down from the inside of one of the ammunition storage bunkers
The gun sight overgrown with brambles and broken concrete slabs	The concrete roof of one of the underground storage bunkers
A view across to Garbutt and Castle Hill from Mt St John	Philip Dulhunty standing on top of one of the concrete bunkers still remaining
The overgrown site with concrete bunker in the back ground	View of Mt St. John from Garbutt Field

"DARWIN BOMBED"
THE UNIT HISTORY OF 14 HEAVY ANTI-AIRCRAFT BATTERY
By Jach Mulholland

"The North Queensland Line - The Defence of Townsville in 1942"
by Ray Holyoak, 1998

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