Praed Point Battery was a coastal-defence installation at Praed Point,

East New Britain East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, consisting of the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely des ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was built in 1941 by

Royal Australian Engineers The Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) is the military engineering corps of the Australian Army (although the word corps does not appear in their name or on their badge). The RAE is ranked fourth in seniority of the corps of the Australian Army, be ...

Lark Force Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occ ...

, together with 'L' Coastal Defence Battery of the

Royal Australian Artillery The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, normally referred to as the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA), is a Regiment of the Australian Army descended from the original colonial artillery units prior to Australia's federation. Australia's first ...

. The battery defended St. George's Channel and the approaches to

Blanche Bay Blanche Bay is a bay near Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu ...

. Because of the topography of Praed Point, the guns were located at different levels down the hillside. The battery was commanded by Major James Rowland Purcell Clark, and was equipped with two six-inch Mk. VII naval guns, formerly from

Wallace Battery Wallace Battery was an artillery battery located on the northern side of the entrance to the Hunter River at Stockton, New South Wales, Australia. The battery was part of Fortress Newcastle. Two 6 inch Mk VII guns were installed at Fort Wallace in ...

, and two H.C.D. 90cm Mk VI searchlights. The battery was destroyed on 22 January 1942 during a Japanese air raid, with the upper gun being blown off its mount and sliding down the slope, knocking out the lower gun emplacement. Eleven men were killed in the attack.Gamble, p. 83.

Notes

References

* Artillery units and formations of Australia East New Britain Province Papua New Guinea in World War II {{EastNewBritainProvince-geo-stub