The Army Museum in Burt Street, Fremantle was constructed in the early 1900s to house artillerymen manning the gun emplacements on the piers at the end of Fremantle harbour. Although the buildings are a considerable distance from the gun emplacements, they make logistical sense in that the site is close to the Old Fremantle Traffic Bridge, allowing the artillerymen to reach both sides of the harbour from this point. The only alternative arrangement would have been to build two barracks and given that Fremantle is very far from just about every other place on Earth, building two barracks to defend against attacks that would never come, would have been somewhat insane.
The grand old buildings now house the Army Museum of Western Australia. Every year they hold an open day with free entry. At other times the museum is open at limited times during the week. It's best to check the museum's website as hours and open days are limited. https://armymuseumwa.com.au/
We had long wanted to visit the museum (it is only five minutes drive from our house), so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Several military vehicle collectors in our car club were also attending. This is our friend John's 1944 KdF Kubelwagen. This car had been used in the movie "The Eagle Has Landed."
Volvo military jeep
Light Horse Great War re-enactors put on an excellent display. This reminded me of the filming of "Before Dawn" in Esperance a few years ago. Several of the attendees also participated. The film is now available on Netflix. https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2024/03/before-dawn-2024-australian-first-world.html
Great War field tent
Red Cross post
Get on your bike!
Or on your horse
WW2 field gun
One of the 100 tracked carriers (known colloquially as 'Bren Carriers') built at the Midland Railway Workshops (we visited the workshop museum only the day before: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2024/10/old-midland-workshops-and-powerhouse.html )
Jeep with recoilless rifle (aka bazooka)
Chevrolet Blitz truck
M3 Grant tank
M2 Stuart light tank
These were mainstay tanks for the Australian army during the Second World War
Armoured personnel carrier
M113A Medium Reconnaissance Vehicle
Leopard Tank (you could probably pick up a few of these for scrap in Ukraine right now)
Saracen armoured car
Greyhound armoured car
Ferret armoured car
I can remember when these were 'a dime a dozen' on the second hand car market. You could pick up a disarmed Ferret for as little as $500 Australian dollars. When we were kids, my dad teased my brother and I about buying one. We were keen, but he was only joking.
Willys Jeep the ubiquitous American military vehicle
Centurion Tank.
The galleries - lots of hats
Hat box for a pith or ceremonial helmet
Colonial uniforms and equipment from the 1880s.
The age of Redcoats
Ceremonial dress and the uniform of a local militia officer 1890s
West Australian army uniform 1890s (before Federation)
Uniforms around the turn of the century. Red is replaced with a less conspicuous deep blue.
Commemorative plate with the Allied national flags during the Great War (1914-18).
German Great War helmets
Great War flying uniform
Turkish uniform from the Great War
Australian Light Horse
Japanese bombing attacks on Australia. Note that Darwin was bombed 82 times!
Motorized one man canoe. These were used by special services to infiltrate harbours and lay mines. They were used in Singapore.
Afterwards we had a wander through the George Street Precinct of Fremantle. Very nice area.
The Army Museum in Fremantle is actually quite excellent with an interesting collection of artifacts and well put together displays. I expected we would spend an hour or so there but it took us at least two and half to three hours to visit. It does suffer from not being open very often however so do check the website for opening hours. https://armymuseumwa.com.au/ This all reminds me that I still have to finish my posts about the National War Memorial and Museum in Canberra https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2023/10/national-war-memorial-canberra.html and the Albany War Museum. So little time....
