Adelaide - Plaque\e celebrating the opening of the Torrens Drill Hall in 1936. South Australia
Torrens Drill Hall built to the design of government architect C E Davis, and its parade ground are listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.
After a subsequent major upgrade and restoration of the Torrens Parade Ground and the drill hall, the building became the headquarters for veterans’ organisations, and the main office of the History Trust of South Australia.
All external detailing is original to the 1936 building.
The Torrens Parade Ground is on the site of the Government Quarry from which stone and fill was used for the construction of government buildings, including the adjacent Government House.
That is why the land falls away so steeply behind the Government House wall.
Prior to 1893, the Military Parade Ground was located in the area which is now the South Australian Museum forecourt on North Terrace.
The Parade Ground has been the mustering point for South Australian troops embarking for the Boer War, World War One and World War Two. It has been regularly used as a review and parade ground and a meeting point for military commemorative services such as Anzac Day marches.
It has been associated with various units, but most particularly the 10th Battalion which was originally the Adelaide Rifles (and known as the Royal South Australian Regiment). This Regiment has had a particularly illustrious career on the battle front: in Gallipoli and France in World War One, and in Tobruk and New Guinea in World War Two.
The quarry was filled in, the area landscaped and the palm trees we see today were planted.
On the flat ground at the base of the quarry a parade ground was created for the colonial regiment and in 1899 the drill sheds that had been located on North Terrace were relocated behind the Parade Ground.
*The Department for Environment and Water are proud to own and manage a number of South Australia's highly significant State Heritage Places. The Torrens Parade Ground and Drill Hall on Victoria Drive, Adelaide, is one such place.
*Two plaques on the front of the hall read as follows:-
“From this Parade Ground the first South Australian Soldiers to proceed on active service left Adelaide for the South African War 1899–1902.
The number of South Australians who served in this campaign was 84 Officers and 1450 other ranks.
and
“This building was opened by His Excellency the State Governor Major General Sir Winston Joseph Dugan KCMG, CB, DSO on the 22nd September 1936 during the South Australian Centenary Celebrations.
*The Minister of Defence (Mr Parkhill) today laid the foundation stone of the new administrative building and drill hall which are being built on the parade ground at a cost of £18,000.
Mr Parkhill said the new building would do credit to King William road.
Everyone from the members of the Military Board to public-spirited citizens who facilitated the attendance of their employees at training would share in the erection of the building, he said.
Thanking the Minister for laying the foundation stone, Col W Dollman said the Parade Ground was the cradle and the nursery of the military forces of South Australia.
Col F H Howland unveiled a tablet in the new building commemorating the departure from the Parade Ground of the first South Australian overseas contingent in 1899.
He prophesied that the building some day would be just as much history to South Australians as Whitehall was in London. When they left Adelaide for the South African war, he wondered whether they would be able to maintain the traditions of their forefathers, but before they returned Lord Kitchener told him he regretted that he did not have a few thousand more Australian soldiers.
Mr Parkhill, who made a special journey from Melbourne to attend the ceremony, returned by the express tonight.
*Veterans and members of the late 10th Australian Infantry Regiment who turned out on Saturday afternoon to see the Minister of Defence (Mr Parkhill) place in position the foundation stone of the £18,000 drill hall at the historic parade ground, have voiced regret that the descendant of the old unit - the 10th Battalion - should have been pushed out of its traditional home by the newer 43rd-48th Battalion.
Some of those at the ceremony helped to fill in the parade ground which was originally a quarry.
[By the time of the building’s opening the concerns of the 10th Battalion had been solved.]
*Troops on Parade For Opening Ceremony
GUNS TO FIRE
Recognised as the traditional home of the 10th Battalion ("The Adelaide Rifles"), the new drill hall on the parade ground will be declared open by the Governor (Sir Winston Dugan) on Tuesday night, and named by him "The Torrens Drill Hall”.
"The Torrens Regiment" is the territorial designation of the 48th Battalion, which is linked with the 43rd, and will share the new hall with the 10th Battalion.
A special commanding officers' parade for all units has been called, and militiamen of the metropolitan area will take part in the ceremonial opening of the new quarters, which are equal to any in the Commonwealth.
Permanent men of the Army Service Corps, under Major Cawley, will provide a mounted escort for the Governor, and two guards of honour, each of 50 men, will be provided by the 10th and 43rd-48th Battalion. They will carry colours and will be formed up in front of the remainder of the troops, massed on the historic parade ground.
Troops will assemble in Victoria Drive, which will be closed to traffic at 8 pm.
When the Governor opens the main door with a golden key, a battery of artillery will fire a salvo. The three other doors of the hall will open simultaneously with the firing of a feu-de-joie by the guards of honour.
The King's Medal as best rifle shot in the Commonwealth Forces will be presented by Sir Winston Dugan to Pte E W Potter, of the 43rd-48th Battalion.
The State Centenary Council is providing supper in the drill hall, to which only uniformed troops and official guests will be admitted. During the interval in which the Governor is inspecting the building, the mounted escort will repeat its Royal Show demonstration of a musical ride. Fanfares will also be sounded by the mounted trumpet band.
A proposal that country units might be established, with a consequent retrenchment of city officers and non-commissioned officers, has stimulated recruiting in the 43rd-48th and 27th Battalions, the regiments concerned.
Desiring to preserve their platoons, men now serving are endeavouring to enlist their friends. An instance of this was given in the 43rd-48th this week, when a private induced five friends to enrol.
The 27th Battalion is conducting a voluntary parade at Keswick Barracks on Sunday, when instead of going to Woodside as originally intended troops will go through an intensive programme of instruction, including ceremonial, automatics, and sand table tactics.
Selected officers are specialising in set subjects, the squads having the instructors in rotation. A mid-day meal is being provided by regimental cooks.
Members of the naval" reserve now undergoing training at Birkenhead Depot will spend several afternoons on the Port River next week learning boat handling. In one phase of the work they will manouevre on flag signals hoisted on a mast ashore. Anti-gas lectures and training in gas masks will be given on Wednesday.
Ref: Mail Saturday 14-12-1935, News 16-12-1935, News Thursday 17-9-1936, Department for Environment & Water, State Heritage Places, Adelaidia.
Adelaide - Plaque\e celebrating the opening of the Torrens Drill Hall in 1936. South Australia
Torrens Drill Hall built to the design of government architect C E Davis, and its parade ground are listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.
After a subsequent major upgrade and restoration of the Torrens Parade Ground and the drill hall, the building became the headquarters for veterans’ organisations, and the main office of the History Trust of South Australia.
All external detailing is original to the 1936 building.
The Torrens Parade Ground is on the site of the Government Quarry from which stone and fill was used for the construction of government buildings, including the adjacent Government House.
That is why the land falls away so steeply behind the Government House wall.
Prior to 1893, the Military Parade Ground was located in the area which is now the South Australian Museum forecourt on North Terrace.
The Parade Ground has been the mustering point for South Australian troops embarking for the Boer War, World War One and World War Two. It has been regularly used as a review and parade ground and a meeting point for military commemorative services such as Anzac Day marches.
It has been associated with various units, but most particularly the 10th Battalion which was originally the Adelaide Rifles (and known as the Royal South Australian Regiment). This Regiment has had a particularly illustrious career on the battle front: in Gallipoli and France in World War One, and in Tobruk and New Guinea in World War Two.
The quarry was filled in, the area landscaped and the palm trees we see today were planted.
On the flat ground at the base of the quarry a parade ground was created for the colonial regiment and in 1899 the drill sheds that had been located on North Terrace were relocated behind the Parade Ground.
*The Department for Environment and Water are proud to own and manage a number of South Australia's highly significant State Heritage Places. The Torrens Parade Ground and Drill Hall on Victoria Drive, Adelaide, is one such place.
*Two plaques on the front of the hall read as follows:-
“From this Parade Ground the first South Australian Soldiers to proceed on active service left Adelaide for the South African War 1899–1902.
The number of South Australians who served in this campaign was 84 Officers and 1450 other ranks.
and
“This building was opened by His Excellency the State Governor Major General Sir Winston Joseph Dugan KCMG, CB, DSO on the 22nd September 1936 during the South Australian Centenary Celebrations.
*The Minister of Defence (Mr Parkhill) today laid the foundation stone of the new administrative building and drill hall which are being built on the parade ground at a cost of £18,000.
Mr Parkhill said the new building would do credit to King William road.
Everyone from the members of the Military Board to public-spirited citizens who facilitated the attendance of their employees at training would share in the erection of the building, he said.
Thanking the Minister for laying the foundation stone, Col W Dollman said the Parade Ground was the cradle and the nursery of the military forces of South Australia.
Col F H Howland unveiled a tablet in the new building commemorating the departure from the Parade Ground of the first South Australian overseas contingent in 1899.
He prophesied that the building some day would be just as much history to South Australians as Whitehall was in London. When they left Adelaide for the South African war, he wondered whether they would be able to maintain the traditions of their forefathers, but before they returned Lord Kitchener told him he regretted that he did not have a few thousand more Australian soldiers.
Mr Parkhill, who made a special journey from Melbourne to attend the ceremony, returned by the express tonight.
*Veterans and members of the late 10th Australian Infantry Regiment who turned out on Saturday afternoon to see the Minister of Defence (Mr Parkhill) place in position the foundation stone of the £18,000 drill hall at the historic parade ground, have voiced regret that the descendant of the old unit - the 10th Battalion - should have been pushed out of its traditional home by the newer 43rd-48th Battalion.
Some of those at the ceremony helped to fill in the parade ground which was originally a quarry.
[By the time of the building’s opening the concerns of the 10th Battalion had been solved.]
*Troops on Parade For Opening Ceremony
GUNS TO FIRE
Recognised as the traditional home of the 10th Battalion ("The Adelaide Rifles"), the new drill hall on the parade ground will be declared open by the Governor (Sir Winston Dugan) on Tuesday night, and named by him "The Torrens Drill Hall”.
"The Torrens Regiment" is the territorial designation of the 48th Battalion, which is linked with the 43rd, and will share the new hall with the 10th Battalion.
A special commanding officers' parade for all units has been called, and militiamen of the metropolitan area will take part in the ceremonial opening of the new quarters, which are equal to any in the Commonwealth.
Permanent men of the Army Service Corps, under Major Cawley, will provide a mounted escort for the Governor, and two guards of honour, each of 50 men, will be provided by the 10th and 43rd-48th Battalion. They will carry colours and will be formed up in front of the remainder of the troops, massed on the historic parade ground.
Troops will assemble in Victoria Drive, which will be closed to traffic at 8 pm.
When the Governor opens the main door with a golden key, a battery of artillery will fire a salvo. The three other doors of the hall will open simultaneously with the firing of a feu-de-joie by the guards of honour.
The King's Medal as best rifle shot in the Commonwealth Forces will be presented by Sir Winston Dugan to Pte E W Potter, of the 43rd-48th Battalion.
The State Centenary Council is providing supper in the drill hall, to which only uniformed troops and official guests will be admitted. During the interval in which the Governor is inspecting the building, the mounted escort will repeat its Royal Show demonstration of a musical ride. Fanfares will also be sounded by the mounted trumpet band.
A proposal that country units might be established, with a consequent retrenchment of city officers and non-commissioned officers, has stimulated recruiting in the 43rd-48th and 27th Battalions, the regiments concerned.
Desiring to preserve their platoons, men now serving are endeavouring to enlist their friends. An instance of this was given in the 43rd-48th this week, when a private induced five friends to enrol.
The 27th Battalion is conducting a voluntary parade at Keswick Barracks on Sunday, when instead of going to Woodside as originally intended troops will go through an intensive programme of instruction, including ceremonial, automatics, and sand table tactics.
Selected officers are specialising in set subjects, the squads having the instructors in rotation. A mid-day meal is being provided by regimental cooks.
Members of the naval" reserve now undergoing training at Birkenhead Depot will spend several afternoons on the Port River next week learning boat handling. In one phase of the work they will manouevre on flag signals hoisted on a mast ashore. Anti-gas lectures and training in gas masks will be given on Wednesday.
Ref: Mail Saturday 14-12-1935, News 16-12-1935, News Thursday 17-9-1936, Department for Environment & Water, State Heritage Places, Adelaidia.