Defence Society members practice shooting

Four women, all members of the Defence Society, at shooting practice at Carrick Hill.

With considerable foresight, the Defence Society in Adelaide was founded in February 1933 by schoolteacher and union activist Natalia Davies. By the commencement of World War II, the Society with Davies as President had a membership of 130, mainly women.

'From 1940 ... evening classes on first aid, home nursing, motor engineering, elementary electrical work and fire drill [were held]. ... the society taught hundreds of women to shoot and maintain a rifle. In 1942, after Japan entered the war, classes extended to pistol shooting, map-reading and unarmed defence. Each night members went on duty at a roof-watching post in the city'.[Australian Dictionary of Biography Online: Davies, Natalia (Nat) (1907 - 1951)]

Permission to use this item for any purpose, including publishing, is not required from the State Library under these conditions of use.

Buy a high resolution copy.