34. The Australian Fortification That Fired the First Allied Shots of WWI and WWII
The first Allied shots of both WWI and WWII were fired not in Europe or even the Northern Hemisphere, but on the opposite side of the globe, in Australia. In both cases, the shots were fired from Fort Nepean, a defensive facility whose construction began in 1873, as a means of protecting the entrance to Port Phillip in Victoria. On August 5th, 1914, soon after receiving news that war had been declared, a German ship in Port Phillip, the SS Pfalz, tried to slip out. A 6-inch gun from Fort Nepean fired a shot across her bow, which convinced the Pfalz to turn around and surrender.
Incredibly, the same Australian defensive facility also ended up firing the first Allied shots of the next world war. At 1:30 AM on September 4th, 1939, just hours after war was declared, a vessel passed by Fort Nepean. The fort’s personnel called upon the ship to identify itself, but when it failed to immediately do so, orders were given to fire a shot across the bow. This time around, however, Fort Nepean’s target turned out to be a friendly ship, the Australian freighter SS Woniora. Still, although it had turned out to be a huge mistake, Nepean had once again fired the opening Allied shot of WWII.