This guide focuses on Australians serving in World War 1. It also includes some information relevant to Great Britain, other Commonwealth nations and other combatant nations. There is a section on nurses and women's war occupations.
All World War I service records have been digitised and are available to view on the National Archives of Australia website. This includes army, navy, medical personnel and airforce records.
To find the service record of an individual serviceman, go to the National Archives of Australia website, click on Search the Collection and then RecordSearch. On the RecordSearch page, click on NameSearch. You can then search by name and category of records: World War I.
NameSearch provides digital images of the full World War I service record and other documents on servicemen's files.
The AIF Project website has a searchable database of AIF members. It gives basic personal information about each member and his war service. Click on the name of his unit to see a list of other members of the unit and their records. The full service records are digitised and available on the National Archives of Australia website.
To research Australians serving in the British Army, or any British service person, try the National Archives UK website.It has a guide to research on the First World War.
Some items have been digitised, but others need to be requested. State Library Victoria no longer subscribes to the National Archives UK Discovery database.
The unit embarkation and nominal rolls for individual Australian servicemen and women can be searched through the Australian War Memorial website on the Researching Australian Military Service page. These rolls are also held by State Library Victoria on microfilm (See the heading Records held at State Library Victoria on microfilm below for more information on these rolls).
This Weekly Times photograph also appears in the Australian military journal, Jan 1915, page 48.
State Library catalogue record:
Held in the State Library Newspapers & Family History Reading Rooms on microfiche at GMF 13. [AWM 8 is not part of the title: it is an Australian War Memorial series number].
The unit embarkation roll details approximately 330,000 AIF personnel, recorded as they embarked from Australia for overseas service during the First World War. It was produced in 1915-1916.
Details given on unit members include name of serviceman, regimental number, rank, trade or calling, marital status, address, next of kin, date of enlistment, military units previously served in and pay details. The Embarkation roll gives the first unit the soldier served in.
Held on microfiche in the Newspapers & Family History Reading Rooms at GMF 15. Includes an index at the front of the sequence.
Details of approximately 324,000 AIF personnel, recorded to assist with their repatriation to Australia from overseas service following World War I. The nominal roll includes the service number, name, rank, battalion, date enlisted and date discharged. The roll was compiled at the end of the war, and lists the last unit each soldier served in.
You will find it quicker to use the online rolls on the Australian War Memorial Researching Australian Military Service web page.
During the First World War, commanders issued despatches outlining military operations. These were published in the London Gazette.
Details of soldiers performing gallant acts might be mentioned by name in these despatches.
The references below will help you locate soldiers mentioned in despatches.
See also the Medals tab above.
Anzac transport halted in a captured village, H33781/4 The back of the postcard says: 'Our boys at the front. Anzac transport halted in a captured village. From official photographs by special permission of the Department of Defence. Proceeds to the Australian Comforts' Fund.'
These are additional lists of soldiers from particular organisations, professions or areas.
They are useful if you are unsure of a name but know some other details of a person (for instance if they worked for the National Bank).
There is also an index to people registered as aliens.
Some World War I unit histories held by the State Library which are out of copyright have been digitised. You can read some of the out-of-copyright unit histories on our website
All the unit histories held by the State Library are listed on the catalogue on the Search & Discover page. Search the catalogue by the name of the unit or battalion to find books held by the library.
There were physical requirements put in place for potential recruits.
As the War dragged on these were relaxed. More details can be found in the Encyclopedia on the Australian War Memorial website, under the heading Enlistment Standards.
Some Australians served in the British army during World War I. These records are held by the National Archives, UK. Some records can be found on the Ancestry.com Library Edition databases and FindMyPast.
To find these databases on the State Library website, go to the Search & Discover page, then down the page to the heading Top Databases. Click on the link More Databases. Go to the heading Family history & biography to find the links for Discovery (National Archives UK), Ancestry.com and FindMyPast databases.
The National Archives UK Discovery website has research guides on its World War I resources. Searching Discovery via the State Library website gives you access to more resources than going directly to Discovery on the Internet. A major guide is British Army soldiers after 1913, but there is much more. Some of the resources have been digitised, but other resources are only available at the National Archives UK.
Discovery can be searched free from home if you have a State Library barcode and live in Victoria. Ancestry.com and FindMyPast are free only within the library.
The State Library holds some army lists relating to officers in the British army during World War I.
The Quarterly Army list is a compilation of names of officers, organised by regiment and rank. It covers the World War I period. The quarterly Indian Army list is a list of British army officers stationed in India. It gives the ranks and dates of promotion of each officer. Soldiers who were not officers are not listed.
Staff can request the quarterly army lists from our offsite store if you phone 8664 7002. This information may also appear on Ancestry.com and FindMyPast.
We also hold the Monthly Army list for 1919 on microfiche at GMF 81 Box 3 in the Family History/Newspapers room.
Some Australians served in the armed forces of other nations, so their war service records will not appear on Australian records.
Neil C. Smith has compiled a list of Australians who served in the land, sea and air forces of allied nations. See his book
