Fort Pearce is a former defensive facility occupying part of

Point Nepean Point Nepean ( Boonwurrung: ''Boona-djalang'') marks the southern point of The Rip (the entrance to Port Phillip) and the most westerly point of the Mornington Peninsula, in Victoria, Australia. It was named in 1802 after the British politic ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. It was part of a network of fortifications, commanded from

Fort Queenscliff Fort Queenscliff, in Victoria, Australia, dates from 1860 when an open battery was constructed on Shortland's Bluff to defend the entrance to Port Phillip. The Fort, which underwent major redevelopment in the late 1870s and 1880s, became the he ...

, protecting the narrow entrance to

Port Phillip Port Phillip (Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is completel ...

Fortifications

The fortifications were constructed between 1910 and 1916. Two open concrete gun pits for Mk VII guns were constructed in 1911 with a large underground magazine between the pits. A battery observation post and direction range finder were constructed above the magazine. The gun crews were based at nearby Fort Nepean.

World War I

At the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, additional men of the Royal Australian Garrison Artillery and Royal Australian Engineers were posted to Fort Nepean. Additional barracks were constructed at Fort Pearce and were named Pearce Barracks. The barracks consisted of officers' quarters, two huts for the NCOs and men, ablutions hut, a cook house and store, mess, office, workshop and parade ground. Some of the timber huts were clad with sheets of iron to protect against machine gun fire. The guns at Fort Pearce never

fired in anger {{Short pages monitor