Bill Perreau! Who was he?
The project to write this article has been going on for many years, with lots of backtracking through old Pistol Australia Bulletins and talking to anyone who knew Bill, but not much writing activity. So I would be interested to hear from anyone who can give me any further information about him.
I first met Bill at Open Shoots around South East Queensland when I was a young keen novice shooter. I guess about 1967-68-69. At that time Bill was past his prime as a shooter, but he was always prepared to help other shooters in the lower grades. We were both in D and C grade, but back then C grade for Free Pistol was only 400 and B grade was 450.
Bill Perreau came to Australia from Kenya in East Africa. I'm not sure if he was born there or in Britain and I have been told different stories of his time in Kenya, one that he was in a high Government position (a High Commissioner or similar status) another story I heard is that he was a Game Warden. It is almost certain that he was connected with the Kenyan Olympic Shooting Team, possibly as a Free Pistol shooter, but almost certainly as a coach and/or manager.
It always struck me that Bill was what I would call a "proper gentleman", white hair and moustache, tall with a very erect stance and prepared to talk to anyone in his crisp firm voice.
In 1966 Bill was living in Rosewood, Queensland where he was a member of the Ipswich Pistol Club. I don't know if he was in other parts of Australia. It was here that he began the Postal Competition in 1966.
The earliest notice I have is in the PA Bulletin, July 1968, showing that the Competition would run from 31st August to December 1st 1968.Matches would be Slow (now called 50m Pistol), Rapid, Centre, Standard Pistol and Ladies Match. The Aggregate was for Slow, Rapid and Centre Fire scores. There was no mention of a Ladies Aggregate - but since Air Pistol competition had not been invented, I guess there was no need.
Entry fee was $2.00 and Teams were of four persons and there was an entry fee of $2.00 per team.
I'm proud to say I won a Gold Medal for C grade Free Pistol in 1970 with a score of 486. The medal is quite large (about 40mm) and sits in the middle of our medal showcase. The logo being used now incorporates some of the design Bill had on those medals. He had the kangaroo surrounded by the Southern Cross, similar to the old "penny" from pre-decimal days.
Sadly Bill Perreau passed away on Christmas Eve 1971, after a short illness.
Subsequent organizers.
The results of the 1971 Postal had not been finalised when Bill took ill, so a team of Ipswich Club members finished off and published the results.
This was the start of a new era.
Doug McMillan, another Ipswich club member took on the role of organiser and instigated the new name of Bill Perreau Memorial Postal Championship.
Doug carried on in this position until mid 1978 when he reluctantly gave it up to concentrate on his new business as a commercial photographer. During his time Doug introduced several promotional ideas, including a lucky draw of entries to win an Air Pistol or a Standard Pistol. (I can't see that ever happening again.) There was also a large silver tray as a Perpetual Bill Perreau Memorial Trophy, the whereabouts of which is unknown, though I have asked through the PA Bulletin if anyone knows its location.
After Doug left, there was an announcement in the July 1978 Bulletin saying that Peter Murphy of Bunbury, Western Australia was the new organiser. Then things started to get a bit hazy. Over this side of the country we heard nothing about what was going on. The May 1979 Bulletin then mentioned the new controller was Alex Ligeti and there were scores in the September 1979 issue.
March 1983 had a half page on the Postal under the organisers, Robert Palmer, Garry Stewart and Graham Flemming, of Western Australia. There were scores in the July 1983 issue and then the next mention was more scores in May 1985!
By this time the fee was $3.00 for your first entry and $2.00 for each subsequent entry in each match. You could put in as many entries as you liked in each match.
Next mention in the PA Bully was September 1987 with the final scores for - wait for it - 1985, saying that the trophies and medallions for 1985 would soon be distributed. It also mentioned that Anne and Peter Sutherland of Bundaberg in Queensland were the new organisers.
There were regular reports in the PA Bulletin from Anne and Peter during 1988 and 1989 but then these became less regular - none in 1990 - one or two in 1991, until Anne advised that they would also have to quit the job.
Then in came the Cavalry! In late 1991, muggins me, stuck my hand up and said I would do it. I started off in fine form, answering letters immediately, writing to all 311 Clubs in Australia, sending entry forms and writing articles for State Newsletters and the PA Bulletin. Soon I found I did not have the time to write letters to everyone, most state newsletter editors did not find room to publish what I had written, and some hassles with the PA Bulletin still means I don't know when to send them any copy.
This is basically the story of the Bill Perreau Memorial Postal Championship. There may be more details in the stuff I have read, and I would like to make contact with some of those West Australians who were organisers for a few years, to see if they can fill in some of the blank spaces.
So, who am I?
My name is Ian Gilligan. I'm a true blue Queenslander, born in Warwick and grew up in Toowoomba, lived in Dalby and now on the Gold Coast.
My years as a pistol shooter began in October 1966 when I joined the Dalby Pistol Club. In February 1967 we (my wife Lynette and I) moved to the Gold Coast and lived in Southport, just a stones throw from the Broadwater, and we transferred our membership to the Gold Coast Pistol Club. We now live in Ashmore less than 2 kilometres from the Club.
After moving to the Gold Coast I joined the South Coast Fire Brigade as a professional firefighter in April 1967, and have only recently retired after 35 years of service.
For a year or so I was busy as a shift worker, working two jobs and with a young family, which meant my weekends were tied up and shooting was just an idea. Then we began competing at Open Shoots around South East Queensland, which was where I first met Bill Perreau. These shoots eventually led to Lyn being selected in the Queensland State Team in 1970 and we began going to National Championships.
Sometime during those early years I found I had a fascination for scoring and was club scorer for many years and was often involved with helping score at other club Open Shoots and State Championships. Then I became Classification Officer for National Championships and the biggest I think I will ever score was the World Masters Games in 1994.
After Bill Perreau passed away and Doug McMillan withdrew as coordinator of the postal competition, there was a period of instability and coordinators came and went quite rapidly. During this time I often considered applying to do the job but it seemed to be a lot of work and I would not be able to do a good job. Anne and Peter Sutherland seemed to have the competition back on track while they were coordinators and it was not until they resigned as coordinators in 1991 that I wrote to Pistol Australia offering to take on the position as coordinator.
What of BPMPC now?
We seem to have reached a plateau where the number of competitors have leveled out and unfortunately I am not an "ideas man" who can wave a magic wand to instantly attract more shooters to compete in more matches. Perhaps this web site will introduce the BPMPC to the shooters of the World!?!
May all your troubles be tens,