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The Bickley Battery Project
The site of the Bickley Battery, located at Bickley Point on Rottnest Island, was selected specifically to defend access to Gage Roads via the South Passage (p.2). From this elevated position on the island’s southern coastline, the battery could observe and engage hostile vessels attempting to approach Fremantle from the open ocean.
Gage Roads is the area of the Indian Ocean immediately offshore from Fremantle Harbour, extending beyond the harbour entrance formed by the North and South Moles. Measuring approximately 12.8 kilometres by 8 kilometres, it functions as both a shipping lane and an anchorage. Large commercial and naval vessels either pass through Gage Roads enroute to Fremantle Harbour or remain anchored there while awaiting a berth. Control of this area was therefore essential to the protection of Western Australia’s principal port.
In combination with the 9.2-inch guns at Oliver Hill Battery, Bickley’s 6-inch guns were intended to play a key role in counter-bombardment operations. These guns were not designed to sink battleships and cruisers but to suppress enemy fire and disrupt attacking forces long enough to protect the harbour and coastal infrastructure.
Now more commonly referred to as counter-battery fire, counter-bombardment involves the suppression of enemy artillery through destruction or neutralisation (p.6). By targeting hostile gun positions, this strategy aimed to reduce the enemy’s ability to fire effectively or to support further reinforcements.
Acquisition of land and early works
The Department of Defence formally acquired the land for the Bickley Battery site in July 1936. Construction began shortly after, with work commencing on the main barracks at Bickley Point in October of the same year. These barracks, known as Kingston (also referred to as Kingstown), were designed to house personnel attached to the battery units and represented the first substantial phase of development at the site.
Planning the Bickley Battery
Early planning proposals envisaged three 6-inch guns, with the third intended as a reserve. However, the final construction contract was scaled back and consisted of:
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two 6-inch guns (numbers 2286 and 2290),
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three magazines (one servicing each gun, plus a reserve magazine),
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two gun shelters,
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a Battery Observation Post,
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a Close Defence Observation Post (CDBOP), and
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an artillery store.
According to the Aiming Post, the omission of the third gun was due to a combination of practical and economic constraints:
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limited space within the area allocated for the gun emplacements and the Close Defence Observation Post,
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a shortage of long-range 6-inch guns, and
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the difficulty of providing the extensive infrastructure required for installation during a period of economic constraint (p.2).
These factors reflect the challenges facing Australia’s pre-war defence planning in the mid-1930s, when resources were limited and priorities had to be tightly controlled.
Building the battery
Aside from sand and limited water resources available on the island, all construction materials had to be transported from the mainland. This was achieved using the barges Agnes and Duchess, which ferried supplies from Fremantle Harbour to Rottnest Island (1).
Agnes
Little is known about this wooden tug operated by the Western Australian State Shipping Service. It later gained some notoriety for its role in salvaging the Dutch Royal Netherlands Navy submarine K-XI in 1946. Agnes was reportedly scuttled at Rottnest Island’s ship graveyard, between Five Fathom Bank and Stragglers Rocks, on 14 April 1955. Despite this, no confirmed trace of the vessel has ever been located.
Duchess
Originally a privately owned wooden Swan River ferry steamer, the Duchess was later converted for use as a barge. It was towed out to sea and deliberately scuttled in 1945.
Unidentified men unloading the first barge load of metal at Rottnest Island
Struggles at the start
Both barges were described at the time as being “ancient,” yet they were still capable of unloading their cargo using onboard derricks (simple cranes with pivoting arms). Rottnest Island itself lacked any comparable lifting facilities, which quickly became a significant limitation.
The existing jetty was also problematic. Heavy military equipment, particularly artillery components, could not be safely handled using the jetty in its original form. This prompted the installation of a heavy-lift, hand-operated overhead gantry (2). The scale of the challenge is underscored by the fact that the barrels of the 9.2-inch guns alone weighed approximately 30 tons, far exceeding the lifting capacity of the barges.
Originally constructed in 1906, the jetty was upgraded in 1935. These works extended it by 47 feet and strengthened its structure to accommodate the new gantry and heavier loads.
Railways, roads and logistics
The upgraded jetty enabled the establishment of a narrow-gauge railway network linking the landing facilities to the gun emplacements at each battery. At the time, Rottnest Island had no formed roads, making the construction of transport infrastructure an immediate priority (3).
At a cost of approximately £33,200, the railway system was constructed using 10,000 jarrah sleepers, 15 turnouts (track configurations that allow trains to switch between lines) and 165 second-hand rails, each measuring 7.3 metres in length. These rails were purchased from the Western Australian Government Railways (4).
Two light diesel locomotives were transported to the island. One fitted with its engine mounted cross-wise, known as Crab, while the other was nicknamed The Crayfish (4). A motorised personnel trolley was also put into use, capable of carrying up to six people at a time. Remarkably, this trolley continued to be used into the late 1950s by maintenance crews long after the batteries had been placed into care and storage.
Water supply and catchment systems
While construction was underway, a persistent shortage of drinking water was addressed through the creation of a bituminised water catchment near Mount Herschel, north of the main settlement and close to Longreach Bay. This catchment remains in use today and forms part of the infrastructure associated with the Rottnest Island Desalination Plant.
All buildings of sufficient size were designed to collect rainwater, with roof runoff directed into dedicated freshwater tanks or diverted into nearby reservoirs (6).
View of camouflage on main water tank on Mount Herschel, Rottnest
War breaks out
World War II began on 1 September 1939 and news of the outbreak spread fear and uncertainty around the world, including in Australia. For many Australians, the idea of another global war was deeply unsettling, particularly for those who had not lived through World War I.
Although the First World War had ended more than twenty years earlier, its effects were still visible everywhere. Memorials stood in towns and cities, casualty lists were remembered by families and the social and economic damage caused by the war had never fully disappeared. Younger Australians, however, had no personal experience of that conflict. Their understanding of war came mainly from stories, monuments and second-hand accounts rather than from lived experience.
Because they had never been through a major war themselves, many people had no clear sense of what another one might involve or where its limits might lie. When fighting broke out again in 1939, the belief that the previous war had been fought to prevent any future conflict only added to the shock and anxiety. Fear was heightened by uncertainty, imagination and by the knowledge that warfare had changed. Modern war now included air raids, long-range naval attacks and weapons that could reach civilian populations with little or no warning.
As tensions escalated, the number of troops stationed on Rottnest Island increased significantly. On 7 May 1940, construction was completed on a series of hutments (huts) designed to temporarily accommodate personnel working at the battery (AWM52 4/18/5/3). These lightweight timber structures were erected in close proximity to the guns, allowing crews to be housed near their operational posts, reducing response times in the event of an attack.
At the same time, the Kingston barracks complex was being modified to increase its accommodation capacity. Despite these changes, Kingston was primarily reserved for non-gun crews, housing administrative staff, Fire Command personnel responsible for directing artillery fire and the Coast Artillery Gunnery School, which provided specialist training in coastal defence operations (Glyde).
Rottnest declared a prohibited place
Less than two weeks later, Rottnest Island was formally declared a prohibited place under the National Security (General) Regulations (AWM52 4/19/7/9). This designation placed the island under strict military control, restricting civilian access and movement due to its strategic importance.
As part of this transition, all women and children were evacuated to the mainland. This was done not only for safety reasons but also to free up accommodation for incoming service personnel, including members of the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS).
Approximately fifty AWAS personnel were posted to the island. While some were attached to Bickley Battery, the majority were assigned to Oliver Hill, where they operated the underground plotting rooms. These rooms formed the nerve centre of the coastal defence system, where information from observation posts was received, analysed and converted into firing data for the guns.
Peak wartime occupation
By 1942, Rottnest Island had effectively become a fortified military base. Approximately 2,500 military personnel were stationed across the island, supporting coastal artillery, communications, training, logistics and command functions. With the war showing no immediate signs of ending, the island remained on a heightened state of readiness, its landscape and daily life reshaped by the demands of global conflict.
References
1. The Coast Defences of Western Australia 1826-1963: A Study by R. K. Glyde for personal use (Printed 1991), p.83
2. ibid, p.84
3. Oliver Hill Battery Rottnest Island: Conservation Management Plan. Completed on behalf of the Rottnest Island Authority by Palassis Architects (December 2005), p.9
4. ibid, p.84
5. ibid, p.84
6. ibid, p.85
7. AWM52 4/18/5/3 - [Unit War Diaries, 1939-1945 War] CCD [Commander Coast Defences] Western Command, January 1940 - December 1941, appendices
8. AWM52 4/19/7/9 - [Unit War Diaries, 1939-1945 War] Fremantle Fixed Defences, September 1943
