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Truckies get blast from helping |
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The guns were transported to their new home by 13CSSB following more than 12 months of restoration by members of the Royal Australian Artillery Historical Society of WA. Made by Armstrong in 1881, the two naval guns arrived from England in the early 1900s and found their way to Perth. They were destined for the scrapheap in 1960 when someone saw their historical value and relocated them to HMAS Leeuwin. The guns stayed on guard in front of the naval cadets’ building at HMAS Leeuwin until the cadets approached the RAA Historical Society of WA to restore them. They were transported to 13 Bde at Irwin Barracks where Society members Kevin Hamilton, Wayne Henderson and Harvey Everett spent more than 12 months painstakingly restoring them to their former glory. Mr Hamilton said the guns needed a lot of work. “They were in a very poor state when we first got them,” Mr Hamilton said. Mr Henderson said stripping the rust was the hardest part of the exercise. “They should now last another 100 years.” Restoration of the naval guns was completed earlier this year and they were relocated from Irwin Barracks by 10 Tpt Coy, 13CSSB. Weighing in at 1.5 tonnes each, the guns were loaded on to two Unimogs and transported to their new home inside the naval cadets’ HMAS Perth Memorial Hall. The Military Historical Society is trying to track down the history of the guns. A spokesman said it would be nice to have the full history of the guns to make an information board to be displayed next to them. |
