Glenelg Air Raid ShelterPrint Page

The air raid shelter was restored in 1995 as part of the Australia Remembers Program which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the end of World War Two. A plaque on the shelter commemorates those who served in World War Two.

Before the Japanese attacks on Darwin, Broome and other parts of Northern Australia, a series of air-raid shelters were built by the South Australian government in preparation should war come to Adelaide.  Suburban sporting ovals, including Glenelg’s, were chosen because they had plenty of space, were known to the locals and considered unlikely targets. 

The Glenelg Air-Raid Control Shelter 1707 was built by the Engineering and Water Supply Department (as it was known then) for the Civil Defence Authorities as one of a number of shelters that formed part of a communication network.  

The head office was housed in the basement of the Savings Bank of South Australia, Adelaide.  The old northernmost grandstand basement was changed to a casualty clearing station and first aid post.  Electric light poles in the surrounding adjacent suburbs had signs with arrows pointing to the air-raid shelter and oval so that residents could find the facility at night.

The shelters served to store and protect emergency food, blankets and other supplies held there for distribution to citizens who, in the event of a bombing raid, were to assemble at the oval, be given emergency supplies from the store and bussed to Strathalbyn.  The shelters were also part of a secure communications centre with battery room to power the communications system should Adelaide’s main electricity system be destroyed. 

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