Illowra Battery was an Australian Army coastal battery at Port Kembla, New South Wales

Port Kembla, New South Wales

Port Kembla is a suburb of Wollongong 8 km south of the CBD and part of the Illawarra region of New South Wales. The suburb comprises a seaport, industrial complex , a small harbour foreshore nature reserve, and a small commercial sector. It is situated on the tip of Red Point, first sighted...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. It was also known as Hill 60 Battery.

History

The Australian Army

Australian Army

The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...

 took over occupation of the Hill 60 area and the Aboriginal

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

 people living there were forcibly removed from the land and were never permitted to return to the Hill.

Two large gun emplacements were constructed, housing BL 6 inch Mk XI guns

BL 6 inch Mk XI naval gun

The BL 6 inch Gun Mark XI was a British 50 calibres high-velocity naval gun which was mounted as primary armament on cruisers and secondary armament on pre-dreadnought battleships.-History:...

 and their shields held in storage from the decommissioned World War I cruisers HMAS Brisbane

HMAS Brisbane (1915)

HMAS Brisbane was a Town class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy . Built in Sydney between 1913 and 1916 to the Chatham subtype design, Brisbane operated in the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Australian coastal waters during World War I.Following the end of the war, the cruiser was...

, Sydney

HMAS Sydney (1912)

HMAS Sydney was a Chatham class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy . Laid down in 1911 and launched in 1912, the cruiser was commissioned into the RAN in 1913....

 and Melbourne

HMAS Melbourne (1912)

HMAS Melbourne was a Town class light cruiser operated by the Royal Australian Navy . Commissioned in 1913, the cruiser served during World War I. She was paid off in 1928, and broken up for scrap in 1929.-Design and construction:...

. Two large tunnels were built and are steep in descent and have a small gauge tramway used for hauling shells to the guns located at the 2 gun emplacements.
A concrete bunker is connected to the underground tunnel system.