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Irwin Barracks

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Irwin Barracks

Irwin Barracks is an Australian Army military base located in Karrakatta, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. It occupies a 62-hectare (150-acre) site on the western side of the Fremantle railway line.

It was previously known as Karrakatta Camp and Irwin Training Centre.

The barracks were originally named the Irwin Training Centre on 5 December 1948 in honour of Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Chidley Irwin, the first military commandant of Western Australia (1829–1833).

Prior to this the area was known as Karrakatta Camp and was set-aside as a military training area by the Western Australian Colonial Government in 1895. The site was used for short camps (in tented accommodation) and courses for Militia and School Cadet units until the beginning of World War II.

In 1896 a rifle range was constructed at Karrakatta and equipped with seven sets of Jeffries patented "Wimbledon" targets – only the fourth range in the world so equipped. The range replaced the original rifle range located at Mount Eliza, which was used by all metro-based troops including the Western Australian contingents, which trained at Karrakatta camp for the Second Boer War (1899–1902).

On 6 October 1898 completion of buildings for use as magazines for storage of powder and ammunition for Perth No.1 Battery were completed. The buildings were constructed of local coastal limestone with slate roofs. These buildings have walls 698.5 millimetres (2 ft 3+12 in) thick and floors of concrete lined with timber flooring. They still exist within the Barracks. The magazine buildings are included on the Commonwealth Heritage List as evidence of colonial defence infrastructure.

Following Federation, the site was transferred from the State of Western Australia to the Commonwealth for 750. The site formed part of the 5th Military District and was also used for the training of citizen forces (militia) under the Commonwealth.

In 1913 the range was formally closed as it was deemed "unsafe", following the earlier death of an army cadet in November 1909, with the range relocated to a new site in Swanbourne.

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Australian Army military base in Western Australia
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