Service records Discovering Anzacs – The National Archives of Australia and Archives New Zealand commemorate the Centenary of Anzac. The National Archives holds records about service in the Australian defence forces from Federation in 1901. Find out how to access the records we hold relating to service with the: Australian Army (Army) Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) We also hold other records relating to wartime service, including: civilian servicecourts-martial filesmerchant navymunitions workerssoldier settlementveterans’ case fileswar gratuities Under the Archives Act, you have a right of access to Commonwealth government records that are in the open access period. For wider research, you may also want to consult the Archives records about defence administration and policy or unit, operational and administrative records held by the Australian War Memorial. See also the list of abbreviations used in some service records.
Anzac Story Canada offered 30,000 men, Australia pledged 20,000 and New Zealand already had compulsory military training. For the war In Europe, Australia raised a new army of volunteers - the Australian Imperial Force (the AIF). Recruiting began within days of the declaration of war. Those who were too young raised their ages - and most were accepted.(See 'Boy Soldiers') In little over a month, marches were held in the main capital cities hoping to encourage others to join them. They were called "six bob a day tourists" because their pay was considered high and many thought the war would soon be over - when Britain's navy and army would tackle the German enemy. The convoy with the Australian Division assembled in late October, and they were then joined by the New Zealanders. The Russians who were fighting on Germany's eastern front, wanted the British and French to tackle the Turks to reduce pressure on Russia. Anzac Cove April 1915 (Click to enlarge) The British Government ordered an evacuation.
First World War 1914–18 Australian troops in the Lone Pine trenches. A02022 A02022 Australian troops in the Lone Pine trenches. AWM A02022 Australia’s involvement in the First World War began when Britain and Germany went to war on 4 August 1914, and both Prime Minister Joseph Cook and Opposition Leader Andrew Fisher, who were in the midst of an election campaign, pledged full support for Britain. The first significant Australian action of the war was the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force’s (ANMEF) landing on Rabaul on 11 September 1914. On 25 April 1915 members of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) landed on Gallipoli in Turkey with troops from New Zealand, Britain, and France. Throughout 1916 and 1917 losses on the Western Front were heavy and gains were small. The Middle East campaign began in 1916 with Australian troops taking part in the defence of the Suez Canal and the allied re-conquest of the Sinai Desert. Australians also served at sea and in the air. Sources and further reading: J.
Australian War Heroes - Australian War Heroes Song Digitised WWI Victorian newspapers | State Library Victoria A major project commemorating World War I has digitised 216 WWI-era Victorian community newspapers and made them available online via the National Library of Australia’s Trove portal. Victorians everywhere can now explore the stories of their communities and family and friends who lived and fought through the Great War. This digitised collection contains thousands of stories waiting to be found. These newspapers of the day provide, in their original format, news and public debate; letters from soldiers, sailors and nurses; death notices, images and more. The newspapers can be freely and easily searched by anyone at anytime and anywhere, using keywords, dates or geographical regions. The digitised newspapers cover the period 1914–19. The digitisation of these newspapers has been supported by the State Library of Victoria, National Library of Australia, Public Libraries Victoria Network, local councils and historical societies.
Gallipoli and the Anzacs Australian War Memorial - homepage Anzac Connections Bringing historic documents from the Australian War Memorial’s archive to all Australians Anzac Connections is a major web development project that not only progressively delivers new digitised collections to the website but also aims to improve search and discovery on the site, providing new ways for people to interact with our collections. The project was originally established to mark the 2015 centenary of the Gallipoli campaign but has since expanded to include collections relating to the Western Front and Sinai/Palestine. The private record collections of hundreds of individuals who served in the First World War are now online and hold a wealth of stories: a young soldier on the Somme, freezing and up to his knees in mud, using a brief lull in the fighting to pen a letter to his parents at home; a nurse in one of the many field hospitals, exhausted and desperately trying to treat the mass of incoming wounded. One hundred years on, their stories are now ours. Daily Digger Feedback
Trove - Pictures, photos, objects Search photographs, negatives, artworks, drawings, posters, postcards and other pictures, as well as physical objects such as puzzles, instruments and clothing. Contribute your photos to Trove! Find out how to do it. 1,256 photos have been contributed to Trove via Flickr this month. Trove's Pictures, photos, objects zone owes much of its existence to one of the National Library's first discovery services, Picture Australia. Picture Australia was originally launched in September 2000 and, at that time, was a unique and ground breaking service, bringing together digitised images from cultural heritage collections around Australia for not only all Australians to see but also the world. It began with less than half a million images from seven institutions and, over the years, grew to two million images and more than 70 contributors. Picture Australia has been absorbed into Trove.
Essendon Historical Society Australians on the Western Front 1914-1918 BBC Three - Our World War - Our World War: Interactive Episode