The Bilo Gun Battery - Lodestar
Channel: Social Plug - Fiji
Date: 31/07/2021

On this episode of the Social Plug Lodestar, we visit the Bilo Gun Battery.
Fiji is proud of the military prowess it exhibited when World War 2 broke out in September 1939, especially as it had no previous modern military tradition. An important part of the Fiji Defence Force during this time was the Bilo Battery Gun Site which was constructed in January of 1941 to defend Suva Harbour.
Just past Lami Town is a sign marking the location of a World War II Heritage Site.  It is called the “Bilo Battery Historical Site’
Going back in time to World War II, the guns at Bilo peninsula lent a degree of comfort to the people in a time of uncertainty and fear as news of the Japanese invasion flashed across the Pacific.
The guns once pointed out from the side of Bilo peninsula like twin fingers of death, down to the Bay of Islands in Lami and across Suva harbour to the capital. They were placed there to guard the passage in the reef leading into Suva harbour.
Fortunately for Fiji, the guns at Bilo did not see action did but they were ready for the enemy.
At the time, they were the biggest guns in the southern hemisphere, and they played a part in the defense plans of Fiji during World War II. 
The Bilo battery had two six-inch cannons supported by two 4.7-inch guns.  After the war, the guns were taken away by the Fiji although the underground ammunition storage is still there.
There was a time when the Bilo gun site was full of activity, packed with army trucks, soldiers, offices and living quarters
The Bilo Battery was a key part of the defence of Fiji, being one of only four gun positions protecting Suva. The others were located near the Parliament House, Veiuto, at the Forum Secretariat area, and at Flagstaff Reservoir Hill. 
Other gun batteries in Fiji were on the western side of Viti Levu, at Momi and Vuda. 
During the war years the New Zealand Army replaced the Fiji Defense Force and they were in turn replaced by the United States Army, before the U.S. Army pulled out of Fiji in 1944, to head to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea as the battle continued in the Pacific further north.
Today, the Bilo Battery stands as a physical reminder of World War 2 and the site is maintained by the Fiji Museum. The next time you seek to find a hidden bit of Fiji’s history pay a visit to the Bilo Gun Battery.

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