Nasonini Gun Battery
The gun battery now nestled within the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat’s main premises has deteriorated like its sister structure in Veiuto, with it also existing in less-than-ideal conditions. However, only one of its guns remains in it (broken up into pieces, unfortunately) and one of its three emplacements has been demolished so a residence for the High Commissioner of New Zealand could be built in its stead.
Last updated on 03 Jul 2024
Narrated by Taniela Rakaseta
Timeline
1942
In early 1942 Fiji’s armed forces build what is later known as the Nasonini (or Flagstaff) Gun Battery after the Empire of Japan’s concerted attacks during World War II on Pearl Harbor, Guam, and other Pacific island locales. It is a visible improvement on the Fijian batteries that came before it (indeed, the most cutting-edge military apparatus guarding Fijian coastlines at that time) due to its three 6-inch guns and complementary radar detection system for focusing those guns on specific targets.
1944
The clear movement of World War II activity in the Pacific away from Fiji prompts the deactivation of all of Fiji’s coastal gun constructions (including the Nasonini Gun Battery) on February 10. And the Fiji Artillery Regiment’s newly-minted Heavy Artillery Maintenance Section is tasked with properly decommissioning the Nasonini establishment (as well as others like it).
1975
The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat’s headquarters is built nearby and envelops the inoperative Nasonini Gun Battery.
References
Architects Pacific, 2019. “Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat – Suva, Fiji.” (available online) , accessed 15 August 2019.
Fiji Times, 2015. “Modest, Yet Proud World Wars Contribution.” (available online) , accessed 15 August, 2019.
Global Archaeology, 2019. “WWII Defences: Visiting Archaeology in Fiji.” (available online) , accessed 15 August, 2019.
Howlett, Lieutenant R.A. 1948. The History of the Fiji Military Forces, 1939-1945, London, Crown Agents for the Colonies.
Lowry, R. 2006. Fortress Fiji: Holding the Line in the Pacific War, 1939-45, Sutton, R.W. Lowry.
Parliament of the Republic of Fiji, 2019. “Our Story.” (available online) , accessed 15 August, 2019.
Young, A. 2012. World War II Archaeology in Fiji: Assessing the Material Record, Nebraska Anthropologist Vol. 170, No. 1: 76-95.