Shooting Range / Carreira de Tiro

The need for a shooting range had long been recognized, one that would simultaneously serve to provide target shooting training for the recruits of the garrison in this district, to improve the training of those who had previously been incorporated, and also to provide training for the members of civilian shooting associations that might be organized among us. Several attempts were made, but they were entirely fruitless. The rugged terrain, the intensity of agricultural cultivation, and the difficulties created by certain influential elements were not insignificant reasons that hindered the realization of this important improvement, not to mention the obstacles raised in the Ministry of War for the allocation of the necessary funds for the same improvement.

The engineering captain Carlos Roma e Maia and later Captain Eduardo Pereira, together with Lieutenant Jorge Camacho, organized two shooting range projects, carrying out various fieldwork, but both attempts yielded no appreciable results.

By 1904, the military commander, Colonel Joaquim Maria Alves, obtained a subsidy from the General Assembly in the amount of three thousand réis, and later the War Department, at the instigation of that officer, ordered the study of a shooting range, appointing a special commission for this purpose, composed of Colonel Abreu Nunes, Colonel Bernardino Pereira, Lieutenant Colonel Eduardo Pereira, Captains Candido Gomes and Ricardo de Andrade, Lieutenant Alberto Sarmento, and Artillery Lieutenant Antonio Joaquim dos Santos Pimenta. This commission, after various studies and work, definitively resolved that the shooting range should be built in the Varzea area of the parish of São Martinho, but did not carry out significant work, much less draw up the respective projects and budgets due to the obstacles raised by various local influences to the realization of this desired improvement. This was the situation in 1909.

It was in June 1911 that the Minister of War ordered the urgent study of the construction of the shooting range, appointing a commission composed of Captains Candido Gomes and Ricardo de Andrade, and Lieutenant José Betencourt da Camara, who immediately and with the greatest zeal and activity dedicated themselves to various tasks, having chosen the Varzea area of the parish of São Martinho as the appropriate location for that purpose and organized the respective project without great delay, which received the approval of the higher authorities.

In October 1912, the War Department authorized the start of the construction, and finally Madeira was to be equipped with a shooting range for the military training of its garrison.

Recognizing that the developed project needed to undergo some modifications, a new commission was appointed, composed of Major Ricardo de Andrade, Captain Antonio Agostinho Camara, and Lieutenant Carlos Ribeiro Pestana, who prepared the final project and budget, which served as the basis for the construction, with the expenses then estimated at 18,739,000 réis.

It is worth noting that it was mainly due to the distinguished officer and compatriot Candido Gomes that this improvement was achieved. Serving in the War Department and closely aware of the need for the shooting range, to the study of which he had devoted himself tirelessly, he obtained the necessary funds for the purchase and expropriation of the land essential for the start of the construction work, never failing to provide his valuable cooperation and good offices in favor of the creation and operation of this military establishment.

The construction work began in March 1917 under the proficient direction of Infantry Captain Antonio Agostinho Camara and has continued with the utmost activity, and should be completed shortly.

The shooting range is 450 meters long, with targets at distances of one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, and four hundred meters, with firing lines and the firing being done from south to north. It is located in the Varzea area of the parish of S. Martinho, and as the site is quite populated, the construction of many works of art became indispensable to completely protect the surrounding population from any danger that might occur during target practice. We are informed that it will be one of the best shooting ranges in the country.