Battery Observation Post

Fort Connaught Battery Observation Post

Built in the 1930s for the up-rated 3 Gun Fort Connaught. It is thought that the B.O.P. was operational by 1936 with the old Mount Serapong Battery 9·2 Inch Emplacements being filled in during the construction period. The B.O.P. for the Serapong Battery still exists. It is located behind Fort Connaught’s, and was in use until the 1960s.

The instrument mountings in the lower level indicates that it was the Battery Observation Post. The upper level would seem to have been the P.W.S.S. (Port War Signal Station) for Keppel Harbour. Alternatively, that may have been at Faber Fire Command.

The B.O.P. During the 2006 Archaeological Survey of Mount Serapong

The tarpaulin in the photo is covering part of the newly uncovered passage that led to the No.1 9·2 Inch BL Gun of the Mount Serapong Battery. Both Gun Emplacements were excavated. Prior to the survey, there was still evidence of the bombing of the area around the B.O.P.

Fort Connaught War Diary. 18 January 1942
A large number of bombs fell on Serapong Hill and in and around Connaught Fort.......Two bombs fell close to the O.P. on Serapong Hill, the splinters of one penetrating the steel shutters of the OP wounding one man working inside. The other demolished the oil and paint stores situated behind the O.P.

Batteries & Defences