The First Shot

Image: Fort Queenscliff Museum Association, Victoria.

A commemoration was held at 10:30am on 5 August 2014 at Fort Queenscliff, Victoria to mark the outbreak of the Great War. Fort Queenscliff is the site where the order was given to fire the first shot in anger by the British Empire. Artillery at Fort Nepean then fired a warning shot at a German merchant ship endeavouring to escape internment.

The commemoration included a service of remembrance, a dedication of a memorial and a firing of the Fort’s saluting battery. The event is being supported by the Australian Defence Force and will be open to the public. Invitations are being extended to a wide range of local community groups, local primary and secondary schools, and ex-service organisations.

Hosted by the historic Fort Queenscliff Museum, The First Fateful Shot: Port Phillip Bay, August 1914 formally examined the lead-up to the outbreak of the Great War from the Australian perspective, and the events of 1914 including the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force landing at Rabaul and the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago.

To see future events and read more go to www.mhhv.org.au