Anti-Aircraft Battery Mt Victoria

This was one of six heavy anti aircraft batteries built in Wellington. It was constructed in 1942 and decommissioned in 1944. It was built to the Type-A design with four emplacements and one command post.

The Mt Victoria emplacements were seen to be an eyesore from very early on. During 1946 investigations were made by the council regarding the emplacements and their removal. It was decided though that total demolition was not required. However the Government would be required to fill in the area between the emplacements to serve as a look-out area. A plan was drawn up by the City Engineer, and while one emplacement was partially back filled at some point, the plans themselves were not followed through with. No further demolition steps were taken until 1969, when a request was lodged with the Ministry of Works by the Council, to investigate the demolition of the Mt Victoria site. An inspection was carried out in December 1969, and while the design of the emplacements were similar to those at Tinakori, the site was far more difficult. The hillside was steeper with less room for machines to manoeuvre, explosives were out of the question due to close proximity to housing and there was no suitable adjacent area for disposal of the rubble. The works would also have to be carefully managed to keep concrete from damaging the adjacent road or houses.  

A site for the disposal of the rubble was eventually found half a mile away in a gully near the fever hospital off Alexandra Road. This was cleared with the Council as a suitable site, and the estimate given for the demolition was $5,200. The work was started on 21/5/70. The job cost more than the estimate however, largely due to a request from the Council that the five bases be removed also. It led to a further $1,073 being spent on the demolition of the site. The only thing left to mark that anything military related was ever there, is a plaque on a bench seat placed by the gunners who  used to man the site.