Fiji Defence

[pjw4118]

Two weeks ago I went up to the Momi battery guarding Nadi Bay. The site is very tidy, the road isn't that hot.
The Fiji Doc guide knew a lot and made sure we were aware the battery covered the only deep water gap in the reef in Western Viti Levu. Here's a few pictures of both guns and the camp.









The leveled areas in mid photo are where the barracks stood.



The remains of a carrier



I copied a few old pictures and found others







It would be interesting to learn more of Sgt Gunn, so appropriately named.

[Dave Homewood]

Excellent photos Peter. Was this site manned by 3rd NZ Division men?

[pjw4118]

Yes the 3rd Div were there, but I am not sure if they manned the guns. There were also a lot of PWB people working on Nadi and Nasouri airfields, fuel depots etc. On the Suva side they built the anti tank sea wall plus some under ground command/hospital centres.
My uncle served there in the 3rd Div and was brought back to NZ in 1943.
I have some photos of their time there and one shows a howitzer with Kiwi gunners so maybe they did man the Moni guns as well. I will post them on this thread..

[kiwiwreckdiver]

Thats in great condition if only a few more of our coastal guns were still like this.