page_title: Leighton Battery
section_title: Fremantle Fortress prior to World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Leighton Battery / Fremantle Fortress prior to World War II
caption_attribution_description: BL 9.2 inch Mk X gun of Oliver's Battery, on Rottnest Island, Western Australia
context_page_description: Leighton Battery at Buckland Hill, Mosman Park, Western Australia, was part of the Coastal defences of Australia during World War II and the Fremantle Fortress, protecting Fremantle Harbour.
  The battery initially consisted of two 6-inch Mk VII naval guns, operational from February 1943. The two guns were removed in 1945 and replaced by three 5.25 inch dual purpose coastal artillery/antiaircraft guns. While it was envisioned to have all major ports in Australia protected by these type guns, the Leighton Battery became the only one ever operational. The battery was dismantled and the equipment disposed of for scrap in 1963.
  The battery site was added to the Western Australian State Register of Heritage Places in August 1999 and was awarded an Engineering Heritage National Marker in November 2014. While some above-ground installations have been restored, the underground installations consisting of underground tunnels, rooms, observation post and semi-buried command post are considered an outstanding example of technical achievement.
context_section_description: During the mid-1930s, the Australian Government upgraded its coastal defence batteries protecting the major ports of the country from enemy attack. In Western Australia, protection of the Fremantle Port was a priority. This was to be achieved by upgrading existing batteries and constructing new ones. At Leighton, Swanbourne, North Mole, Fremantle Harbour, South Beach and Point Peron, the batteries were upgraded. Additionally, new batteries were to be installed on Garden Island and Rottnest Island. 
  These combined coastal defences were referred to as the Fremantle Fortress. Originally, the defence of the port was to be achieved through the placement of 9.2-inch naval guns at Buckland Hill but this was deemed insufficient to protect the port from long-range bombardment by cruisers equipped with 8-inch guns. Instead, the 9.2-inch guns were placed on Rottnest Island as part of the Oliver Hill battery, which allowed engagement of enemy ships before they reached a range where they could fire at Fremantle Port, having a range of 28 km (17 mi). The defence of Fremantle Port was deemed essential to national Australian security during a potential future war.
  Additional batteries, equipped with 6-inch Mk VII naval guns and 6-inch Mk XI naval guns, were installed at Rottnest Island (the Bickley Battery), Arthur Head and Fort Forrest, in North Fremantle. The Fort Forrest guns were moved to Swanbourne in 1935, with Buckland Hill not selected at this point because of its proximity to vital other installations. At the start of World War II, both of the batteries at Rottnest Island and the Arthur Head and Swanbourne ones were operational.
caption: 9.2-inch naval gun, Oliver Hill battery, Rottnest Island
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