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Endeavour Coastal Battery
Entrance (Zuna) Island, Endeavour Battery
During 1942 officers of the Royal Australian Artillery Corps (RAA) inspected locations for additional coast defences in Torres Strait to support the existing Goods Island and Thursday Island (Milman Hill) batteries. Emplacement sites were selected for Turtle Battery on Hammond Island and Endeavour Battery on Entrance Island.
The original reconnaissance of Entrance Island was carried out in September 1942. Initially it had been proposed to install a battery of 155mm guns at Red Island Point on Cape York to cover the anchorage and close off Endeavour Strait. However, a decision was made to emplace a battery of 60-pounder guns on Entrance Island, which would give better coverage of the Endeavour Strait. The guns arrived on Thursday Island on 19 November 1942 and were installed on mobile mounts on the south-east coast of Entrance Island in February 1943. They became operational as Endeavour Battery in April 1943. A number of concrete building slabs and gun platforms remain visible along the south-east coast of the island.
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History
Construction of gun emplacements on Entrance Island began in January 1943. Initially there were to be three Breech Loading 60-pounder (127mm) heavy field guns of World War I vintage, designed about 1903. Endeavour Battery personnel, selected from Goods and Milman coast batteries, moved to Entrance Island in February 1943 and the Endeavour Battery became operational in April. During the following month the Torres Strait Fixed Defences-Heavy Artillery was renamed Coast Artillery Torres Strait. A Bofors 40mm Light Anti-Aircraft gun was emplaced at each of the Torres Strait batteries, including Endeavour, in September 1943.
An Army Appreciation of the situation at Entrance...
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