REMLR R & R flyer

The Registry of Ex-Military Land-Rovers invites you to go on 'R & R'
--to be held on the first weekend in September 2001 - Legacy Week

Military vehicle enthusiasts are invited to enjoy a weekend touring Newcastle/Stockton Bight in September 2001. The weekend will combine visits to military relics and sites with the uncommon opportunity to test man and machine amongst 6175 acres of sahara-like sand dunes. The beach itself is about 30km long. REMLR members will set out to see remaining military relics and to enjoy the company of fellow enthusiasts, a campfire, and maybe a black-out convoy. Also a concourse d'elegance of sorts is to be held up on a sand dunes and trophies awarded.

The Bight stretches from Port Stephens in the north to the Port of Newcastle in the south and is about 200km north of Sydney on the Pacific coast of Australia. If you've seen Sahara, a movie filmed in the 1980s about a skirmish with the Afrika Corps -this is where it was shot (so to speak). Many films and many more adverts for glossy four-wheel-drives have been done here -its the film crew's favorite.

The Port Stephens Tourism website says:

"The wind-blown sand dunes of Stockton Beach comprise the largest continuous mobile sand mass in New South Wales. The yellow grains have been washed in from the sea and blown ashore to form dunes up to thirty metres high... About one kilometre back from the beach, the moving dunes run abruptly into the forested dunes. At the interface, trees of all sizes are slowly covered by moving sand until they disappear completely. Perhaps ten years later, when the dune has moved on, they are uncovered to stand as stark sentinels, witness to the irresistible inevitability of sand on the march... As the sand moves about, it exposes sections of barbed-wire entanglements left over from World War II. The wire had been hung from several rows of star pickets along the length of the beach. Running across the beach into the farmland for several kilometres was a line of heavy concrete pyramids designed to slow down tank movements. Many of these tank traps are still where they were placed all those years ago."

During World War II the Bight was extensively militarised for such things as Commando training, beach assault training, etc, etc. The north-south road connecting Port Stephens and Port of Newcastle ("Nelson Bay Road") runs along the back of the dunes. This road was upgraded as part of the war effort by the US Army. At the southern end of the Bight, the big 9inch guns at Fort Wallace and 6inch guns at Fort Scratchley defended the strategic port of Newcastle. Fort Wallace and its underground features are still 'Authorized Access Only'. Fort Scratchley is a now a significant public military and maritime museum where the cannons boom on special occasions.

The State Member for Port Stephens, Mr J. Bartlett, recently said:

[The northern end of the Bight was] "...used as a bomb range... That area needed to be cleaned, and in the early 1990s laser equipment was used along the first three kilometres of the sand dunes to remove the unexploded ordinance...
[The southern end of the Bight is] "...an historic precinct for those with an interest in the military history of New South Wales and Australia. The armour testing range would have been unique in Australia as it is where the steel made by BHP was taken to be tested. The test was whether a [large] block of steel... could withstand the impact of armour-piercing shells which were then being refined and developed."

As for current military activity, the Army camp at Gan Gan is still in use (though hardly anyone notices), and the airfield at Williamtown is very busy (which no one can fail to notice). RAAF Williamtown is an ADF FA-18 fighter base set in behind the lines of dunes. RAAF fighters can usually be observed screaming along at low altitude and doing runs on a weapons range east of Medowie. Also at Williamtown is Monty Webb's Monarch Military History Museum, and the RAAF sponsored Fighter World (website) collection. These optional attractions and others -such as the dolphins and beach sights of Nelson Bay- are not to be missed if you take an extra day off on the Friday before or the Monday after the REMLR 'R & R'. (website)

Celebrating: the 100th Anniversary of the Australian Flag (Melbourne Sept 3 1901), the 90th Anniversary of the School Of Infantry (Singleton 1911), the 60th Anniversary of RAAF Base Williamtown and of Gan Gan Army Camp (both 1941), the 40th Anniversary of the Land-Rover Series 2A (Warwickshire Sept 1961).

Eligibility: $30 Legacy pin (website) per vehicle arranged at f.u.p. by REMLR and a Gov't $5 Permit payable at the Mobil Petrol Station at Anna Bay (keep the receipt safe). All ex-mil vehicles welcome. We are hoping for at least fifteen vehicles. Friends and family are okay, especially if they can occasionally dig or push. We understand that some members may arrive in a car and need a ride because their ex-mil vehicle is being rebuilt or they may arrive in their "other" 4-wheel-drive for the same reason. All vehicles and trailers must have rego -any state- and insurance coverage is totally your responsibility.

Recommended: a colour article about the Bight in Overlander magazine March 1995. Also 1:25000 maps Williamtown 9232-2-N and Morna Point 9332-3-N. Sunglasses, binoculars, cameras, UV cream, food & drink, tent & lite camp gear, mugs suitable for "The Toast", original army tyres, snatch strap, spare fuel, spare water, a spade & toilet roll, first aid kit, common sense. Nights are cold, and it could be windy too. Bring weatherproof jackets and blankets in case. If it rains - event still proceeds. Area is 30k from a major hospital and has mediocre to good digital phone signal. Children are to be cared for responsibly. There is broken glass in places and we recommend that kids shoes stay on. Pets okay. All garbage must be kept until Park exit.

Confirmation: please respond with vehicle entry and names ASAP via

The Registry of Ex-Military Land-Rovers, www.remlr.com
PO Box 814 Charlestown, New South Wales, 2290, Australia

REMLR - Provisional Event Outline - 'R & R' 2001

Friday: optional day to 'do' Nelson Bay, Mil Museums, RAAF, RSL, dolphins, etc.

Friday night: limited number of billets.

Saturday: R & R form up point (f.u.p.) directions as follows.....

Proceed north of Newcastle along "Nelson Bay Rd" for 45 minutes passing RAAF Williamtown, Bobs Farm, and firewood storage area on right side of road at Anna Bay prior to roundabout. Pass thru roundabout. Pass large Putt Putt Golf on left side of road and slow down...
Turn 1: at roundabout -which is the next intersection- turn right toward "Anna Bay" on "Gan Gan Rd" heading toward "Birubi Point 2km".
Proceed 1km along "Gan Gan Rd" and proceed over a well marked speed bump. (Do not turn at the sign on right side of road where most 4-Wheel-Drives access the dunes- we will not be using that entrance). Notice the next intersection on the right called "James Patterson St" -a blue tourism sign at the intersection says "Birubi Beach Caravan Park" and points east... that is the road to the f.u.p. BUT FIRST proceed straight on to the Anna Bay shops and the Mobil petrol station round the corner to top up your fuel and get that important $5 Permit.
Turn 2: after topping up at the Mobil, return down the road you came into the shopping area on... then
Turn 3: before you go over that speed bump again, turn left at "James Patterson St", the street that you noticed before on the way to the Mobil. A blue tourism sign at the intersection says "Birubi Beach Caravan Park" and points east.
Proceed 1km to the end of "James Patterson St" passing over about 10 speed bumps and noticing the Caravan Park on the left side of the road. You should soon be at a carpark 'above' the Birubi Surf Club and seeing the South Pacific. To the south, at a lower level, there are some Tank traps around a unsealed carpark: that's the f.u.p.

Site Mil Heritage notes:

Fort Scratchley est. 1882 had Brit 'mark VII' 6inch 112lb shells to go 8.5 miles
School Of Musketry - Singleton est. 1911 (90th Anniv)
Fort Wallace est 1912 - in 1942 had about 100 men & women stationed there - had 2 gun crews of 11 men with 'Mark VII' 6inch guns - were moved and installed at Rabaul (with one of the crews) one week before Japs invaded Rabaul - nearly all KIA - Fort Wallace got new Brit 'Mark X' 9.2inch guns installed - 284lb shells were hoisted by 'new' hitech hydraulics - then men packed in cordite behind - each shell was 3ft long and 9inch diameter and went over horizon - est 30,000yds/17 miles - 'Mark X' was same Brit arty used at Dover, Gibraltar, Singapore batterys - Fort Wallace battery shared compound with very hush hush radio towers for 'big' Sigs Listening Post, and also Searchlight emplacements - Fort Wallace guns supported by Observation posts to South and North (could spot targets 30 miles out): Ob South was set up on Redhead bluff, OP North was called 'Ypres' - a tower set on a dune at end of Boyce's track to the east of Bobs Farm or east of Cox's Lane - radio comms for bearings on targets - passed to Fort Wallace underground Plotting Room - also 4 magazines and a mile of passageway - and Sigs LP
Anti-Aircraft battery located southern side of Fern Bay Rifle Range - had three AA guns each 3in - the area of dunes to north of Fern Bay was a 'Restricted Area'
Airstrip at Williamtown est 3/1941 was expanded during war - from 1942 using Wirraway, Mosquito, Spitfire, Kittyhawk, Bristol, B26 - run by US Army Air Corps for duration
Rough airstrip chewed tyres; Spitfires av 8 landings, Wirraways av 13 landings, Vengence av 5 landings
Gan Gan camp est 1941 huts and parade ground
Tomaree Head had 2 'Mark VII' 6inch guns and north radar post for Williamtown 4/1942
Ash Island main air defence telegraphy 9/1942
Shepherds Hill south radar post 1/1942
Shoal Bay (east end) had two US Torpedo tubes under cover - anti-sub warfare
HMAS Assault Assoc. says Aust Navy installed electric & water & wharves to Nelson Bay 1942 - his non-official outfit trained soldiers & commandos, beach assault with USN LSPs & LSTs - gunnery - counter-attack exercises - often Sunderlands at Soldiers Pt - 30,000 US soldiers at Fly Point & Nelson Bay to Williamtown area - plus 22,000 Australians - incl Australian Commandos - at 'secret site' that is now Nelson Bay sports ground - the American Army camp is now the site of the RSL and Golf Club
Air training for fighters, fighter bombers & dive bombers - one dive bomber design, the Vengence, recorded 9 crashes around Bight - crews killed - design later taken out of combat in Pacific theatre and sent back home by US 5th Air Force 1943
Morna Pt range had targets set on beach and Range personnel & radio hut - a Mosquito fighter bomber 17/9/1945 strafed Morna Pt targets at 15ft above beach, then hit Range hut aerial (25ft high) and spun seaward killing crew
Bight area wartime bombing/gunnery ranges
- main bombing range - southern boundary in line southeast of southeast edge of Williamtown runway, extending from Bight's high water mark 10 miles seaward to eastern boundary, western boundary follows Bight's high water mark northeast to Morna Pt, northern boundary ten miles to seaward
- circular range 2500yds diameter just east of Fullerton Cove
- circular range 4000yds diameter northwest of runway
- wedge shape range east of Medowie
- GI gunnery range & blind ammo hazard at Morna Pt
- Rifle range and armour testing range near Fern Bay 1942-1945
1942 tank traps on high tide and low tide lines
barbed wire entanglements - rolls of wire on star pickets over length of beach
bluffs and cliffs on the coast to the south of Newcastle were not considered to be as inviting to an invasion force as the sandy bight
Wave battery set up at Nobbys Head only 3.5inch mortar gun - hit Zarra St Power Station with a shell when night fired at 'Jap sub' 8/6/1942 -a decoy?
Post war, 16th Transport based at Camp Shortland in Port of Newcastle - lost 8 Amphibious Tanks fitted with 75mm Howitzer (wet mags on rotary air mtr) in heavy sea (30m deep) approaching Morna Pt 8/3/1954 - it was an ambitious beach landing exercise - heading was Pt Stephens nav light - 3 killed
Post war, 'Sygna' 50,000t Norwegian bulk carrier blown aground 26/5/1974 in storm - wind 105knots (210kmph) - crew rescued by Williamtown SAR Huey - the pilot got Air Force Medal