Gun Emplacements Matiu/Somes Island

The five concrete structures on the levelled hilltop on Matiu/Somes Island represent a command post and four gun positions. They are the remains of a World War II (19391945) Heavy Anti-aircraft Artillery (HAA) position. One gun emplacement has been damaged, but the structures are otherwise much as they were when they were decommissioned by the army after the war.

In 1942 four 3.7-inch heavy anti-aircraft guns were mounted on Matiu-Somes Island. Their job was to combat high flying enemy aircraft. They were built at a time when the war in the Pacific was finely balanced. Japan had bombed Pearl Harbour, but the fear was brought much closer to home when Darwin, Australia was first bombed in February 1942.

The guns used on Matiu/Somes Island were 3.7 inch calibre and could punch a shell to 10,000 feet in 14 seconds. The position was manned from January 1943 to September 1944 but was never called into action.

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Source

• Text: www.doc.govt.nz
• Photos: Dave