AWE and BEAUTY Joint Proof and Experimental Unit – a History Doctor Steven Anthony Schmied

AWE AND BEAUTY Joint Proof And Experimental Unit – A History Doctor Steven Anthony Schmied AWE AND BEAUTY A History of the Joint Proof and Experimental Unit Doctor Steven Anthony Schmied © Commonwealth Of Australia 2019 First Published 2019 This work is copyright. Permission is given by the Commonwealth of Australia for this publication to be copied royalty free within Australia solely for educational purposes. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced for commercial purposes. Designed and produced by Big Sky Publishing www.bigskypublishing.com.au AWE AND BEAUTY A History of the Joint Proof and Experimental Unit Doctor Steven Anthony Schmied www.bigskypublishing.com.au CONTENTS Chapter 1. Awe And Beauty ..........................................................................................................................................04 Chapter 2. Graytown ....................................................................................................................................................12 Chapter 3. Port Wakefield .............................................................................................................................................46 Chapter 4. Orchard Hills ..............................................................................................................................................73 Chapter 5. The Work ....................................................................................................................................................75 Chapter 6. A Community Of Professionals .................................................................................................................105 Chapter 7. The Future .................................................................................................................................................124 Chapter 8. Roll Call ....................................................................................................................................................128 Epilogue: The Final Word On Awe And Beauty ..........................................................................................................170 AWE AND BEAUTY 01 FOREWORD Lieutenant Colonel (LTCOL) Anthony Watson, CSC (2019) marks 90 years since its establishment in 1929. There Commanding Officer (CO) is not only significant history that must be captured and Joint Proof and Experimental Unit (JPEU) never forgotten, but more important are the stories and tales January 2017 - December 2018 of the men, women and their families who have worked, JPEU has a proud and distinguished history. The unit is played and lived the history of this amazing unit that we responsible for ensuring that the ammunition and weapons must not let slip away. It is this history, these stories, the used by the members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) memories, and the tales that make the unit what it is today, are safe and fit for purpose. JPEU is one of only a few units and will shape and influence its future success. within Defence that has touched every member who is Over the period of 2017 to 2018, JPEU for the first serving or has served; everyone in training and on operations time in many years experienced a large revitalisation of its who carries a weapon, uses ammunition. Unknown to most staffing. The new members have been welcomed with open Service personnel and the general public, they depend on arms. With the transition of staff, there is a risk that the JPEU for not only their safety but also for their confidence unit may easily forget its heritage and proud history. For in the weapons and life preservation systems that we employ this reason, I requested Doctor Steven Schmied to write will operate when, where, and how they expect them to. Awe and Beauty, based on previous and current staff’s The unit’s prestigious history dates from the Australian perspectives, to ensure that their memories and stories may Army Ordnance Department Inspection Services, be captured and not forgotten. established in 1902. The lineage may be further traced to the restoration of Charles II in 1660 and his reformation of Office of Ordnance and the Board of Ordnance by Royal Warrant in Britain. The unit is one of the oldest joint and fully integrated units in the ADF, with Australian Public Service (APS) and uniform staff working together at the Proof and Experimental Establishments of Port Wakefield (P&EE-PW) and Graytown (P&EE-GT) since 1929 and 1968 respectively. On 20 December 2018, P&EE-GT marked 50 years since its move from Fort Gellibrand at Williamstown in Victoria to its current location, while P&EE-PW this year 02 AWE AND BEAUTY Figure 1. Rainbow Over The Range (Port Wakefield Archive) AWE AND BEAUTY 03 Chapter 1. AWE AND BEAUTY Awe and Knowledge In the field of munitions production, the inspection was Historically the term Awe only referred to the fear that established as early as the 15th century, when John Judde God may stir in the mind and the soul. The desire to please was appointed Master of Ordnance on 12 December 1456. and appease the Awesome has driven Man to great acts of Judde was charged especially with the inspection as well as kindness and terror, each with their own beauty. As religion the provision of war material of all descriptions. Then in may be believed to be the ultimate battle for the human soul, 1543, the office of the Surveyor of the Ordnance was created war is also the battle for human beliefs, with treasure and with the responsibility of inspection of Government stores blood the price that may need to be paid. In the reign of Charles II in 1683, a warrant was issued The mission of the JPEU is to understand the nature and detailing the permanent establishment of a Surveyor- behaviour of awesome events, such as the behaviour of a General, whose duties were: bullet or the ability of a vehicle to withstand the blast from “to survey and make proof of all ordnance, powder, small a mine or Improvised Explosive Device (IED). These events arms and all other emotions and provisions of war and are extreme in their danger, power and briefness of time. not to suffer any stores to be received which are not good, The challenge has been to capture the event accurately, if at serviceable and also duly proved and marked with our all. The unit has by necessity been innovative in developing mark if it ought to be.” processes, techniques and equipment. This may be taken as the first authentic reference to proof Even before the establishment of formal inspection and the placing of the acceptance mark on the accepted work. facilities for military supplies, the custom of carrying out In Defence, proof is: inspections played a prominent part in British national “the final acceptance inspection of ammunition or a th th life. In the guilds of the 13 and 14 centuries, special piece of equipment” measures were taken to inspect the work of apprentices and Munition are proofed by firing a sample from each journeymen to guard against any bad or makeshift work. manufactured batch, with the projectile retrieved after firing Before a journeyman could set up on his own, he had to to study it for signs of deformation and to check the function submit a sample of his work to the wardens of his guild who of the fuse of an artillery shell. subjected it to severe inspection. If his work was accepted, it was known as his “masterpiece” and he was then recognised as a master in that particular trade. 04 AWE AND BEAUTY Figure 2. Awe And Beauty Of The Detonation Of 84 Tonnes Of Explosives. The Shock Wave Is Seen Expanding Out (Left) (Port Wakefield Archive) Figure 3. Plate Battery Test (Right) (Port Wakefield Archive) The requirement for an Australian Surveyor-General was The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) hydrographers made not required for the first decades after Federation as Australia surveys of coastal sites suitable for proof firings involving did not have the capability to manufacture any weapons over-water recovery of shells that laid the groundwork for larger than infantry rifles, and it was implicit that war the establishment of Port Wakefield. materiel would continue to be obtained from Britain. Within In conclusion, the purpose of a Defence Force is to protect a few years, WWI destroyed this illusion. Far from being a nation from external threats whilst allowing military force able to rely on British supplies, the war placed such a strain to be exerted on other parties to protect the nation’s interest. on Britain’s ability to produce quality munitions that at the Unfortunately, this requires the use of deadly force. To ensure height of the fighting in France, she was pleading with the that this force does not backfire on the Defence members, dominions to manufacture artillery shells. These experiences JPEUs function is to conduct test and evaluation of ordnance were reflected in post-war moves to make Australia less so as to ensure it is safe and suitable for use by the wider dependent on Britain for its defence needs. In 1921, a defence community. Failure of defence ordnance can and has Munitions Supply Board was created within the Australian resulted in the injury and death of Defence members as well Department of Defence to oversee the government factories as the inability of Defence to defend Australia’s sovereignty. and facilitate civilian production. The beginnings of quality control of Australian- manufactured munitions began when the Munitions Supply Laboratories at Maribyrnong in 1922, under the

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