Kids HQ Glossary

AIF

The Australian Imperial Force (AIF) was raised in August 1914 as a volunteer force to serve beyond Australia's shores in the First World War. A Second AIF was formed at the outbreak of the Second World War.

Additional Information

 

For more information, look at this link:

http://awm-public/atwar/structure/army.htm

Before Federation each of the Australian colonies had their own armies composed of a mixture of regular (paid full-time soldiers), militia (paid part-time soldiers) and volunteer (unpaid part-time soldiers) units. In March 1901, the Commonwealth Government became responsible for defence matters and the colonial armies were combined to form the Commonwealth Military Forces. For the next 47 years the Australian Military Forces, as they soon became known, were mostly a part-time force of citizen soldiers. They could only serve on Australian territory. A special volunteer force, known as the Australian Imperial Force, was formed for service overseas during each of the two world wars. Citizens' force units did, however, serve in Australian and Australian-controlled territory in the Pacific during the Second World War.