Topic: Militia - LHW - WA
Western Australian Militia
Albany Volunteer Garrison Artillery
The following is an extract from the book written in 1962 by George F. Wieck called The Volunteer Movement in Western Australia 1861-1903, pp. 65 - 66:
Albany Volunteer Garrison Artillery
Coast Defence Artillery was installed in the newly erected fort at Albany in 1893 and a detachment of Permanent Artillery was stationed there. The chief object of the installation was to protect the auxiliary coaling depot established on behalf of the Royal Navy, the cost of installation and maintenance being only partly borne by Western Australia. The garrison provided was too weak to "man" the fort during continuous action, making relief from local sources imperative. As a temporary measure members of the Plantagenet Rifles voluntarily trained as relief gunners but when that corps was disbanded on 29 April 1897 other steps had to be taken.
As a permanent solution of the manning problem it was decided to raise a corps of Volunteer Garrison Artillery. Accordingly, the Gazette of 10 October 1899 conveyed approval to raise a corps to be designated the "Albany Volunteer Garrison Artillery", with an Establishment of 51 all ranks, under the Command of Lieutenant ESP Trude.
The new corps attracted many of those who had received gunnery training when they were members of the Plantagenet Rifles so that it was very soon a valuable asset. By 1901 the corps had a strength of 40 all ranks (including a number of Bandsmen).
Later the designation of the corps was changed to No. 1 W.A. Company, Australian Garrison Artillery.
Officers of the Albany Volunteer Garrison ArtilleryLieutenant Troode, 17 October 1899
Second Lieutenant PH Meeks, 31 August 1900
Previous: 5th Battalion, W.A. Infantry Brigade
Next: 18th Light Horse Regiment (W.A.M.I.)
Further Reading:
Western Australian Militia, Light HorseWestern Australian Militia, Infantry
Citation: The Volunteer Movement in Western Australia, Albany Volunteer Garrison Artillery
Posted by Project Leader
at 12:01 AM EADT
Updated: Friday, 4 September 2009 7:48 PM EADT
