94TH COAST ARTILLERY (AA) REGIMENT
40TH ANTI-AIRCRAFT BRIGADE
IN AUSTRALIA DURING WW2

visits since 3 April 2004

The 94th Coast Artillery Group was constituted 16 December 1940.

The three battalions of the 94th Coast Artillery (AA) Regiment arrived in Sydney on the "Queen Mary" on 28 March 1942. The 101st Coast Artillery Battalion (AA Separate) and the 104th Coast Artillery Battalion (AA Separate) also travelled on the "Queen Mary". These three units were members of the 40th Coast Artillery Brigade.

The following units arrived on the Queen Mary:-

40th Coast Artillery Brigade
94th Coast Artillery (AA) Regiment
101st Coast Artillery (AA) Battalion
104th Coast Artillery (AA) Battalion
5th Station Hospital
47th Station Hospital
8th Air Base Group
11th Materiel Squadron
43rd Bomb Group, 64th Bomb Squadron
43rd Bomb Group, 65th Bomb Squadron
441st Ordnance
73rd Ordnance
15th Signal Platoon
2nd Quartermaster Detachment
Air Corps Replacement Group

The 94th CAAA Regiment boarded a train and headed for Brisbane, in southern Queensland.

1st Battalion
Battery "A"    15 Searchlights
Battery "B"    4 x 3" guns 
Battery "C"    4 x 3" guns
Battery "D"    4 x 3" guns

2nd Battalion
Battery "E"    15 Searchlights
Battery "F"    4 x 3" guns 
Battery "G"    4 x 3" guns
Battery "H"    4 x 3" guns

3rd Battalion
Battery "I"     .50" calibre machine guns
Battery "K"    .50" calibre machine guns
Battery "L"    .50" calibre machine guns
Battery "M"   .50" calibre machine guns

The 3" guns were deployed at:-

• Heath Park - 4 guns
• Hendra Stores - 3? guns
• Holy Cross Laundry, Wooloowin (on the hill) - 1? gun
• Amberley - 4 guns
• Archerfield - 4 guns
• Cannon Hill? - 4 guns
• Seven Hills? - 4 guns

The .50" calibre machine guns were deployed:- 

• along the Brisbane River
• Doomben
• Eagle Farm

The Searchlights were deployed around Brisbane roughly in an inner and outer circle:-

• Seven Hills
• The Gap
• Everton Park
• Boondall (Sue's Corner)
• St Vincent's Orphanage (Nudgee) This was HQ for the Searchlight Units
• Above Hargreaves Factory at Manly West
• Murrarie State School
• Myrtletown
• Newstead Park (on high ground)
• Eagle Farm (Schneider Road)
• Archerfield
• Amberley
• possibly on Mt. Gravatt

The 94th Coast Artillery Group established a camp in the grounds of the Magdalen Hospital at Wooloowin in Brisbane in early 1942. Alan Thomas remembers the US Camp. He told me that they were "locked in" and for vital things like chocolates, candy, Coca Cola, they would call over the fence to the local boys to take their offered money to go to the local shops and buy on their behalf. The change would end up being the tip for the boys.

Battery "H" of the 94th Coast Artillery (AA) Regiment was deployed to Horn Island at some stage.  Battery "A" & Battery "B" of the 104th Coast Artillery (AA Separate) Battalion were on Horn Island at the same time. 

The 94th Coast Artillery was decorated with the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation streamer during WW2. The 94th was reactivated on 1 April 1960 as the 94th Air Defense Group at Kaiserslautern in West Germany under the 32nd Air Defense Command. The 94th Air Defense Artillery Group was renamed to the 94th Air Defense Brigade in 1982.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank Alan Thomas, Russell Miller and Dave Spethman for their assistance with this home page.

Heaps of WW2 books available at Amazon.com

"Australia @ War"

This page first produced 3 April 2004

This page last updated 10 July 2009