rifleclub

Rifle Club Picnic in Bowen 1918

from State Library of Queensland

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  The Queensland Rifle Association (QRA) was formed on 15 May 1861,[2] making it the oldest sporting club in Queensland. Its nearest rival, the Queensland Turf Club was formed in 1863, and the Queensland Cricket Association and Queensland Yacht Club two years later. From the beginning, the Rifle Association had two separate and sometimes conflicting purposes. The first is to promote the sport of competitive shooting and the second is to improve shooting skills for military purposes. The Rifle Association was independent of the Volunteers but was formed largely to hone the marksmanship of the Volunteer forces. The relationship between the Queensland Rifle Association and the military continued for almost a century, being formally dissolved in 1960 when Australian Army funding for competition prizes and ammunition was withdrawn. World War I saw a peak in rifle club membership in Queensland and some 5,316 members and ex-members of rifle clubs enlisted between 1914 and 1918. Rifle club membership expanded rapidly during the war from 9,578 in 1914 to more than 18,000 by 1917. One of the most celebrated marksmen to enlist was Trooper W. E. “Billy” Sing from the Proserpine Rifle Club. At Gallipoli Billy Sing was the deadliest sniper in the Australian forces with a tally of over 200.[1] Women were involved with rifle clubs, often mainly in social activities but small-bore "miniature rifle shooting" was seen as a sportswoman could readily participate. In 1891 women participated for the first time in a competition at Tarampa using heavy rifles over 200 and 300-yard ranges; two of the younger women were described as "handling their rifles as steadily as the men, and they bid fair to make as good shots as their brothers".[3] In 1901 the QRA held the first full-bore Ladies Matches in Australia. Lizzie Savage was the winner of Ladies Matches in 1901, 1902, and 1903.[4] Lizzie Savage was also the first female member of the Queensland Rifle Association. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rifle_clubs_in_Queensland