Topic: MilitiaRC - SA
SA Militia - Rifle Clubs
1910
South Australian Rifle Club List, 1910
One of the most important adjuncts to the militia system from 1903 to the re-organisation of 1912 was the role played by the Rifle Club movement in Australia. At the time, these clubs were seen as the reservoir of manpower for a potential guerrilla force should any invasion occur. The doctrine was almost a copy of that pursued by the Boer forces in South Africa which successfully held the Imperial Army at bay for nearly three years. For Australia, the invasion fear was uppermost in the minds of the population. This fear found its articulation in a novel written by Charles H Kirmess (the nom de plume for Frank Fox) called "Commonwealth in Crisis" which was first serialised in the "Lone Hand" magazine which was largely funded by the Commonwealth Government via Alfred Deakin. The story was about a Japanese invasion of the Northern Territory in 1912 requiring the Commonwealth to resist with a guerrilla force of irregulars trained through the rifle clubs.
So important were the rifle clubs for the defence of Australia that the Commonwealth provided the training staff, rifles and ammunition so the clubs could function. Members were drilled, wore uniforms and practised all the basic skills of soldiering as well as target shooting.
Below is the list of Rifle Clubs which existed in every town throughout South Australian in 1910. The towns and cities are in alphabetical order. This particular date is the high point of the Rifle Club movement in Australia. With the coming of universal military training in 1912 and the Great War in 1914, the Rifle Clubs saw a decline in their importance within the Australian defence scheme.
A
AdelaideAdelaide Catholic Rifle Club
Adelaide Rifle Club
Adelaide University Rifle Club
Advertiser Rifle Club
Commercial Travellers and Warehousemen Rifle Club
Cyclists Rifle Club
East Torrens Rifle Club
Electric Tramways Rifle Club
Hibernian Rifle Club
School of Mines Rifle Club
South African Soldiers' Association Rifle ClubAlford - Tickera Rifle Club
Angaston - Rifle Club
B
Balhannah - Ambleside Rifle Club
Blackwood - Rifle Club
Blyth - Rifle Club
Booleroo Centre - Rifle Club
Bordertown - Tatiara Rifle Club
Brinkworth - Rifle Club
Burra - Rifle Club
C
Caltowie - Rifle Club
Campbelltown - Rifle Club
Clare - Rifle Club
Clarendon - Rifle Club
Cockburn - Rifle Club
Crystal Brook - Rifle Club
D
Denial Bay - Rifle Club
E
Echunga - Rifle Club
Elliston - Rifle Club
Eudunda - Rifle Club
F
Farina - Rifle Club
Farrell's Flat - Rifle Club
Fowler's Bay - Rifle Club
Frances - Rifle Club
Freeling - Rifle Club
Fulham - Reedbeds Rifle Club
G
Gawler - Rifle Club
Gladstone - Rifle Club
Glencoe - Rifle Club
Glenelg - Rifle Club
Goolwa - Rifle Club
H
Hamley Bridge - Rifle Club
Hawker - Rifle Club
Hog Bay KI - Dudley Rifle Club
Hoyleton - Rifle Club
Hummock Hill - Rifle Club
I
Iron Knob - Rifle Club
J
Jamestown - Rifle Club
K
Kapunda - Rifle Club
Keith - Rifle Club
Kilpara - Rifle Club
Kingscote KI - Rifle Club
Kingston SE - Port Caroline Rifle Club
L
Lamaroo - Rifle Club
Laura - Rifle Club
Leighton - Rifle Club
Loberthal - Rifle Club
Lucindale - Rifle Club
M
Mannum - Rifle Club
Melrose - Mount Remarkable Rifle Club
Meningie - Lake Albert Rifle Club
Milbrook - Rifle Club
Morgan - Rifle Club
Mount Pleasant - Rifle Club
Mt Lofty - Rifle Club
Murat Bay - Rifle Club
Murray Bridge - Rifle Club
N
Naracoorte - Rifle Club
O
Owen - Dalkey Rifle Club
P
Palmerston - Rifle Club
Parilla - Rifle Club
Peake - Rifle Club
Penola - Rifle Club
Penong - Rifle Club
Petersburg - Rifle Club
Pinaroo - Rifle Club
Port Adelaide - Rifle Club
Port Augusta - Rifle Club
Port Broughton - Rifle Club
Port Germain - Rifle Club
Port Lincoln - Rifle Club
Port MacDonnell - Rifle Club
Port Pirie - Rifle Club
Port Wakefield - Rifle Club
Q
Quorn - Rifle Club
R
Redhill - Rifle Club
Renmark - Rifle Club
S
Salisbury - Rifle Club
Semaphore - Rifle Club
Spalding - Rifle Club
Strathalbyn - Rifle Club
Streaky Bay - Flinders Rifle Club
T
Tailem Bend - Rifle Club
Tantanoola - Rifle Club
Terowie - Rifle Club
Tintinara - Rifle Club
Tumby Bay - Rifle Club
Tununda - Rifle Club
V
Victor Harbor - Rifle Club
W
Wasleys - Rifle Club
Watervale - Rifle Club
Williamstown - Rifle Club
Willunga - Rifle Club
Wilmington - Rifle Club
Wirrabara - Wirrabara and Forest Rifle Club
Y
Yanyarrie - Rifle Club
Yorketown - Rifle Club
Further Reading:
Citation: South Australian Rifle Clubs 1910
