West Head Lookout

This guide to West Head Lookout in Sydney returns to 1942, when Sydney Harbour had just been attacked by Japanese midget submarines and soldiers dug in on this headland, hauling two navy guns down a purpose-built railway to face Broken Bay. It follows the years the battery's crew spent watching the horizon, binoculars up and searchlights tested, for a fleet many feared was on its way. Look for the old gun pits and rusting rails on the track behind the lookout, now reclaimed by bush.