Irwin Barracks

Statement of Significance

The defence (Army) complex at Karrakatta has strong historic, scientific and rarity heritage significance, first being used in the 1890s during the colonial period and being part of the major defence expansion in Western Australia in the 1890s. During 1896-cl913 it was the site of the main rifle range for the Perth Metropolitan area. It has buildings dating from 1898. During 1899-1902 it saw the training and dispatch of nine Western Australian contingents to the Boer War. One of its more prominent buildings, Hobbs Artillery Park, dates from the period of Commonwealth defence expansion commencing in the mid-1930s. It has continued in a training role (as the Irwin Training Centre) up to the present time, being mainly used by Army Reserve soldiers. This complex has strong associations with both J J T Hobbs and A J Hobbs.

Physical Description

The Army complex comprises: 1. Colonial period buildings (1898 Magazines) 2. Pre World War II Artillery Barracks (Hobbs Artillery Park, 1938) 3. World War II Buildings (research needed) 4. Post World War II Buildings The Magazine buildings comprise two slightly separated structures of differing size. The smaller building is a shifting room and fuse room, the larger being a powder and ammunition room. The buildings are set in a bitumen paved area and are part of an extensive complex. The buildings cannot be seen from the road. They are constructed from coursed ashlar limestone with two pitched roof clad with fibre reinforced shingle roof and timber floor. Internally, the magazine is fitted out with jarrah shelving and the doors are framed, !edged and braced with a set of double doors between the buildings.

History

The Karrakatta site seems to have been acquired by the Colonial Government of Western Australia during the 1880s and indeed was used for the storage of two seven inch coastal artillery guns in the early 1890s (Battye 1912, pp.391, 395; Glyde 1991, p.6). From about 1895, with the assistance of the State Minister for Defence, Sir John Forrest, the then Military Commandant for Western Australia, Colonel A. Wilson, was able to have the Karrakatta reserve improved so as to permit 'camps of training on a very much more extensive scale' (Battye 1912, p.395). These camps, which were for Western Australian Volunteer Forces, took place during 1896-8, the first being at Easter 1896 and receiving an official visit from the Governor (Grant 1992, p.5; Haynes & Pope 1997, p.l6). The main Metropolitan Area rifle range which bad been at Mt Eliza since 1863 was closed in August 1895. In 1896, an extensive rifle range was opened on the northern side of the Karrakatta reserve and was equipped with 'Jefferies' targets (Battye 1912, p.395; Wieck 1962, p.72). Although Wieck (1962, p.72) suggests that it was 'designed to meet all requirements', this rifle range was declared unsafe about 1911 and closed when the present Swanbourne rifle range was ready for use in 1913 (Haynes & Pope 1997, p.l7). Doaks & Isaacs (1988, p.62) suggest that the present Irwin Training Centre at Karrakatta 'evolved from the original Volunteer's rifle range' of 1896. A gun shed and caretakers quarters were erected at Karrakatta in late 1896 (Haynes & Pope 1997, p.17). What may be the latter is a two-storey building shown in a photograph stated to have been taken during the Easter camp in 1897 but bearing the date 'May 24 1896' (Grant 1991, p.20). Two magazines were constructed on the east side of the southern end of the rifle range during July-October 1898 - see National Trust (WA) file 'Nedlands 4' and a brochure from c1926 in the writer's collection. The magazines comprise two limestone buildings with slate roofs, and incorporate a number of safety features. They appear to have had few modifications over the years, although the original Welsh slate roof was replaced in 1968. Robertson (1989, p.33) states that they were built for 'the storage of powder and ammunition originally intended for the Perth No.I Battery Field Artillery', although the correct designation for this unit would seem to be 'No.I (Perth) Battery, Field Artillery' (Grant 1991 , p.51). The contract price was £810.19.9 and the contractor, S B Alexander (Western Suburban Post, 16 February 1988). Photographs from the 1896-98 period indicate that the troops were housed in tents. Around 1899, the place seems to have been known as 'Camp Karrakatta' (Haynes & Pope 1997, pp.29-30). The camps at Karrakatta were cancelled over the period 1899- 1900 due to the use ofKarrakatta for the training and dispatch of the nine Western Australian contingents for the Boer War, totalling 1226 personnel. As the last three contingents (as part of the 'Australian Commonwealth Horse') were not dispatched until 1902, it is possible that the periodic camps were not held at Karrakatta during 1901-02. The accommodation of troops in tents at Karrakatta appears to have continued for some years - see photographic images in Hasluck & Lukis (1977, pis 146-7), Doaks & Isaacs (1988, p.62), Grant (1988, p.44), Grant (1991 , pp.l 0, 13, 21-2, 63). On 1 March 1901, the Western Australian Defence Force and its assets came under Commonwealth control. The periodic camps at Karrakatta continued, although a major training area (43,000 acres) was established at Tammin from about 1909, enabling advanced training to be more readily carried out (Battye 1912, p.395). Senior cadets had an Easter camp at Karrakatta in 1910. Undoubtedly the introduction of universal military training in 1911 (involving all males between the ages of 12 and 26) made Karrakatta an important initial training camp, especially its reasonable access to the Swan bourne Rifle Range. A camp at Karrakatta is recorded for 1914. However, most of the soldiers in Western Australia during World War I seem to have been trained at the Blackboy Hill Camp (Greenmount), where about 32,000 men were processed. There is no record of specific usage of Karrakatta by the Australian Army during the 1920s and early 1930s, although it is likely that it was involved with the compulsory military training introduced in 1920 and suspended in 1929. The expansion of the defence of Australia from the mid-1930s saw works carried out at Karrakatta from 1936, the most notable being in 1938 when a brick artillery barracks complex was erected. The purpose of this barracks was to house the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade which was then located at Swan Barracks with its horses and some of its equipment at the Guildford Remount Depot. The barracks, which were designed by the architect Athol Joseph Hobbs, included officers' and sergeants' messes, a drill hall, an administration/office block, and twenty four garages for the guns. Interestingly, Hobbs was the Commanding Officer of the 3rd Field Brigade from 1937 to 1939 and of the 2/3rd Field Regiment 1939-40 (Horner 1995, p.226n). The name Hobbs Artillery Park for these artillery barracks seems to have been used from about 1940. It was named after Lieutenant General Sir Joseph John Talbot Hobbs (father of A J Hobbs) who, from 1887 had served with the Perth Artillery Volunteers which subsequently became the No 1 {Perth) Battery, Field Artillery in 1897. He was commissioned in 1889 and seems to have commanded the Battery from 1897 (Grant 1988, pp.24-5). As a Colonel, J J T Hobbs commanded the Australian Artillery on Gallipoli in 1915, with his 18 year old son (A J Hobbs) serving in one of his batteries there. Only a little information on the use of the Karrakatta base during World War II is available. A certain number of works were carried out there during 1939-42. McKenzie-Smith (1994, pp.50, 55-6, 111-2, 11 7-120, Appendix C-7) notes the movement of several engineer units to Karrakatta in late 1943, being disbanded there or departing for elsewhere over the period April-September 1944. During late 1945 and much of 1946, the facilities at Karrakatta became an interservice Combined Discharge Centre. The writer also recollects that there was a Prisoner of War camp there in 1946 as well as a salvage yard. Post -war, Horner (1995, p.431) notes that when the 1947 Defence Program was implemented in 1948, No 3 Field Regiment was based at Karrakatta. There is little further available information until the Australian Army reorganisation in the early 1970s. Homer (1995, p.502) indicates that No 7 Field Battery (as part of No 5 Field Force Group) was based at Karrakatta in 1976. It is not known at this juncture when the name Irwin Barracks (which seem to be used interchangeably with Irwin Training Centre) was first used, but it may date from the 1960s. At the present time it is used by both Regular and Reserve units.

Integrity/Authenticity

Good

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update