WW1 service records online

Records of men and women who served with the Australian army in World War 1 are preserved in the National Archives. In a three-year preservation project, it has recently completed digitising 376,000 of these service records. As a gift to the nation, all of these records became available on the National Archives web site during the month, at www.naa.gov.au/the_collection/gift-to-the-nation.html.

Holding on to our history – that’s what the National Archives of Australia does. We care for valuable Commonwealth government records and make them available for present and future generations to use. Our recordkeeping standards help government to account to the public, ensuring that evidence is available to support people’s rights and entitlements and that future generations will have a meaningful record of the past.

The launch of the new collection received a great deal of media publicity and the site has since been attracting heavy traffic. This will settle down in due course, but in the meantime you may experience delays.

How do I find a WW1 service record?
Go to NameSearch. Enter the family name of the service person - make sure it is the name used at enlistment. Select World War I from the dropdown menu. Search. Display the results of your search. If there are too many, you can refine this search result, and then enter the person's given names and/or service number. Use the link to 'View digital copy'.

The range of records online includes those for the First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF), Australian Flying Corps, Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force, Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train, Australian Army Nursing Service, as well as Home or Depot units for personnel who served within Australia during WW1.

Typical contents of a file are the attestation paper completed at enlistment, giving a deal of personal and family information; the service and casualty form, showing details of the soldier's service, including movements, transfers, promotions, sickness, injuries etc; and military correspondence with a soldier's next-of-kin, including notification of wounds or death, awards and medals, etc.

You can of course print yourself a copy of an online record of interest, without charge. Alternatively, you can order online a complete photocopy from the National Archives, for a standard price of $25 ($28 for purchases from outside Australia). The originals of any relevant records can also be viewed, at the National Archives reading room in Canberra.

Much more detail about service records is available on the National Archives site, which is continually expanding. Family historians will find it worth a regular visit, to re-check for family names of interest.

© Commonwealth of Australia 2006

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