14th Anti-Aircraft Battery

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Brief History

This unit was formed at Georges Heights in NSW during October 1940 to be sent to Darwin to occupy sites at Fanny Bay and the Oval. (The Oval was the local football field adjacent to the harbour cliffs. The Oval was located at the northern end of the Esplanade directly opposite the then New Darwin Hotel). 14th HAA Bty left Circular Quay in Sydney on the ship HMT Zealandia on 22 November 1940. They had stopovers at Brisbane and Thursday Island on their way to Darwin, arriving in August. Originally manning 3.0 inch guns, they changed to 3.7 inch guns over time and received reinforcements from amongst others, the 5th Ani-Aircraft Battery in Perth. In December 1941 the unit was renamed 14th Australian Anti-Aircraft Battery.

In February 1943 they were relieved and moved to Kyeemagh in NSW where they became involved in training VDC personnel as in August 1943 all AA untis were restructured to allow partial manning of them by VDC soldiers. The battery's name changed to 14th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery (Static) including the 424th, 425th and 426th Troops. By February 1945 the unit had only a cadre of permanent soldiers to provide training and maintenance with other roles filed by VDC personnel, as they manned gun sites at Brighton-le-Sands, Malabar and Bankstown. The kensington site had transferred to the 15th HAA Battery (Static). In July 1944 AA defences were reorganised withthe unit disbanding.

Five men died while posted to this unit - three from illness, one from accidnetal injuries, and one died from Wounds received during an air raid on Darwin.

Individual Honours

• 1 x Member of the Order of the British Empire
• 1 x Mentioned in Despatches

Unit Personnel

• Eric Robert Uren 28 Jan 1942 - 3 Aug 1943