Drill Hall

³Prime Minister Alfred Deakin viewed the Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 – 1905 as posing a new and dangerous threat to Australian security, and in a bold move, he committed Australia to the introduction of compulsory military training.

¹The Secretary to the Minister for Home Affairs wrote asking Port Pirie Council to lease them 100 x 200 feet of Park Lands between the Hospital and Gertrude Street (on Alexander Street) at a peppercorn rental for 21 years on which to erect a drill hall, with right of removal. After a meeting of ratepayers on Monday 27^th March 1905 and some protracted discussion across two years, the new Drill Hall opened on May 15^th 1907.

²Those taking part in the ceremony of the opening were No.3 Squadron, 17th Australian Light Horse (South Australian Mounted Rifles); D Company, S.A. Infantry Regiment; Port Pirie and Solomontown Cadet Corps, The Port Pirie Rifle Club and The Excelsior Brass Band. A social was held in the large hall that evening and was largely attended.

³Australia was divided into 215 training areas based on the density of the population, the relation of the area to its place in the fighting unit, and the possibility of the instructional officer covering the area satisfactorily for training purposes. Each area was to support part of a fighting unit under the supervision of a trained permanent forces instructional officer supported by one or two non-commissioned officers.

Defence Bill 1909

4Those who failed to register for military training were punished with fines or jail sentences. Many boys did not register for their military training, and between 1911 and 1915 there were 34,000 prosecutions, with 7,000 jail sentences imposed. ʷIn 1912, the Port Pirie Courthouse charged 51 boys, all under the age of 18 years for not attending the necessary compulsory drill parades as set out by the Commonwealth Military Defence Act. Some went to reformatory school and others were heavily fined. 

ʸ In April 1920 local council passed a motion to relocate the original drill hall in Alexander Street to a new lease of about 8 acres of land on the corner of Mary Ellie Street and The Terrace. 

ᶺMilitary Drill Hall, Mary Elie Street, Port Pirie Circa 1940

It was converted into a mobilisation store, offices and sanitary block while a larger disused drill hall from Crystal Brook was dismantled, transported to Port Pirie, reassembled; a parade ground and recreation oval were also established. Compulsory military training was abolished in 1929 due to costs and wasn’t reintroduced again until the outbreak of the Second World War.

Sources:

¹Port Pirie Recorder and North Western Mail, SA Wednesday 8 March 1905 

²Port Pirie Recorder and North Western Mail, SA Wednesday 15 May 1907 

³The Army High Command and Australia Defence Policy, 1901-1918, by Guy Verney

4 https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/conscription/universal_service

ʸ Port Pirie Recorder, SA Friday 19 November 1920

ʷ Port Pirie Recorder and North Western Mail, SA Wednesday 23 October 1912
ᶺDes Parker, Port Pirie