Coat hanger

[Tony Smith]

Originally posted by Keith Webb
Here's another pic of the gun emplacement. Shame the gun has long be scrapped...

All of the tunnels under the Maroubra emplacements are still accessible (bring a torch!) along with the 2ft gauge railway that runs around the place. These are beyond the butts of the Malabar Rifle Range and we thought it was a good place to nick off to during shoots with the Cadets and School Rifle club. Lots of "Overs" whizzing by, it certainly seemed safe under all that concrete.
There are 3 sets of Coastal Defence batteries (in the Malabar/ La Perouse area and more up Sydney's coast at South Head, Middle Head and North Head. The site you've pictured is Malabar Battery which had two 6 inch guns, a four storey control tower, plotting room, an underground generator room and two identification searchlights, mostly linked by underground tunnels.
About 2 or 3 km south is Banks Battery, of two 9.2 inch guns and similar supporting buildings as Malabar.
About 1 km to the west of Banks is Henry Battery, an old 1880's emplacement of an Armstrong Dissapearing gun and 3pdr gun.
There are another 6 batteries around the mouth of Sydney harbour with varying degrees of access/preservation, including North Battery on North head which is now home to the Australian Army's Artillery Museum.
A classic Aussie film is "Stone", about a bikie gang in the '70s. Most of the film was shot in their "Clubhouse" which was the Middle Head Battery, with them riding Harleys through the tunnels and around the gun pits.