The Military History Society of New South Wales

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Statement on the future of Sydney's Victoria Barracks

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Statement of the Military History Society of New South Wales on sale and redevelopment of Victoria Barracks, Paddington, Sydney Site map of Victoria Barracks precinct The Victoria Barracks precinct contains some of the most elegant Regency style buildings in Australia, even though their original and continuing purpose has been functional as a military facility. The Barracks site is simply too compact in its dimensions (15 hectares) and too important historically to be developed for anything other than its present use. Precious heritage buildings and spaces are dispersed right across the site (see site map above). In accordance with their function and the state of technology at the time of construction, the site’s structures are low-rise. We are concerned that new buildings would be higher in a way that overshadows and spoils the low horizontal silhouette of the Main Barracks, particularly looking to the south. In this regard the Main Barracks and the parade ground have historically b...
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Group Visit to the Australian Army Museum of Military Engineering at Holsworthy Barracks, Sunday 19 October 2025

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On Sunday, 19 October 2025 a party of Society members visited the magnificent Australian Army Museum of Military Engineering at Holsworthy Barracks in western Sydney. We were granted the privilege of a special guided tour which started off on the upper level along the visual Timeline wall which places events in chronological context from colonial to more recent times. Then we were given access to back-of-office storage and sorting areas containing hundreds of fascinating items from weapons, to uniforms, to maps, to instruments, to flags and to medals, all collected over the historical periods presented on the timeline. We then moved to the lower level where the Ubique Gallery displays many fascinating exhibits relating to wartime engineering across Australian military history. Finally we entered the Large Technology Gallery with its incredible fleet of military engineering vehicles adapted to a variety of battlefield purposes, like bulldozing, repair and maintenance, transport and mine...
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Restore the Gravesite of Major General Charles Frederick Cox (1863-1944)

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Cox as a New South Wales Lancer Sadly, it has come to the Society's attention that the grave of Major General Charles Frederick Cox, one of the most distinguished figures in New South Wales military history, lies in an unkempt and dilapidated condition at Saint Paul's Anglican Church Carlingford Cemetery in Sydney. Surely all interested parties, including the state government, owe it to the memory of this great man to bring about the restoration of his resting place. Photographs depicting the current condition of his gravesite are presented below. Biography (from the Australian Dictionary of Biography) Major General Charles Frederick Cox, CB, CMG, DSO, VD (2 May 1863-20 November 1944) was born in Sydney and entered the colonial railways in 1881. Over the next ten years he developed an interest in the volunteer movement and joined the New South Wales Lancers in 1891, subsequently commissioned as a lieutenant in 1894. He was given command ...
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