Mary Tarrant realised later that, standing on the top of Fort Scratchley, she and her father were looking at different things. That would have been some time in 1957, the day her father retired from service, including as the fort's paymaster.
Mary was 15 then, and admits she was more interested in the boys on the beach. Now she remembers how sadly bittersweet that morning must have been for her father.
Arthur Balks joined up in 1940 and was on duty the night the Japanese submarine fired on Newcastle. He was stationed on a three-pounder gun that night near Nobbys Lighthouse as the shells whistled over top.
Mr Balks lived at the fort at one time, and as Mrs Tarrant flips through the photo book in the gift shop she can pick out the frames that show her as a young child.
"I'm in that picture." she said. "I'm three; the little girl right down the front."
Mary Tarrant has volunteered at the city's historic fort for more than 10 years, it is a part of her. She can look at the giant aerial photograph imposed on the wall of the fort shop and pick out where those who served the fort's defence might have been stationed. Inside the gates, she is surrounded by memories of her dad.
"When he retired, he took me all around, through the tunnels and all over the place. As an adult, I look back and think that was a very sad day for him because he was leaving something that he had been a part of for 17 years," she said.
"Dad died in 1964 and this was still a working fort then. I'd like to think that he would be proud that I'm here and helping to keep the memory alive."
Stephen Shaw has been a volunteer and a guide at the fort for seven years now, and lists the treasures that the historical society preserves at the top of Flagstaff Hill: a piece of shrapnel from the bombing that flew over the fort and landed in the roadway, the base of one of the shells that the submarine fired, a parachute off one of the same shells and Major General Peter Scratchley's shoulder tabs, sword and scabbard.
"There are these priceless artefacts that you can't find anywhere else," Mr Shaw said.
The fort was finished in 1882 after local citizens formed up the the Newcastle Volunteer Rifle and Artillery Corps in 1855 amid fears of a possible Russian attack on the harbour during Great Britain's war in the Crimea. In 1866, the corps received two 32 pounder guns mounted at Signal Hill to protect the harbour's entrance. The 80-pounder guns were put in place when the fort was eventually completed.
The fort's historical society runs tours, oversees the firing of the guns on special occasions and maintains the fort's collection. It relies on its volunteers and the meagre proceeds of the fort's shop and donations to keep afloat. Everyone who wears the society badge loves what they do, but the numbers are dwindling.
"Stephen puts in five days a week," president Frank Carter said. "That's too much top expect of a volunteer.
"We're no different to any other volunteer organisation; somehow we keep getting through."
Company Out of the Square has created a series of videos titled Faces of the Fort to recognise the volunteers and encourage the next generation to join the cause.
"I just felt that fort can get a little forgotten at times, and taken for granted," Out of the Square boss Marty Adnum said.
"So, it was a case of asking how we can help to promote the fort.
"You get the passion and the love, and these volunteers are genuine; they could be doing other things. Unless there is a transition between all the knowledge that is here, passed on to the next volunteers, we're going to struggle."
Mr Carter said he and his small band find ways of making ends meet, and he is emphatic about avoiding a reduction in opening hours. He wants to see the tradition continue, and the collection of Newcastle history preserved.
"Come and see," Mr Shaw said, when asked what he would tell a young person looking for a way to give back. "Come and see what we do."
"The one thing I say about Fort Scratchley," Mr Carter smiles. "The pay is lousy, but the fringe benefits are great. The military and the church got the best locations in town. In Newcastle Scratchley got the best, and the Cathedral did okay."
- Volunteers keen to lend a hand can contact fortscratchley@bigpond.com
