Information sheets

Researching Australian military service: First World War

Nominal rolls
Personal service records
Those who died while serving
Where they served
Medals and awards
Where to look for photographs
Further Memorial sources

Nominal rolls

For information on requesting service records, try the following resources:

  • First World War nominal roll: lists the majority of those who served overseas with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF).
  • First World War unit embarkation roll: includes nominal rolls of the AIF, including the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) and the Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train (RANBT), and the military component of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF), as they embarked for overseas service. For information about the content of the Embarkation Roll, please read the detailed description.
  • Name search: select Australian Defence Force personnel records from the drop-down menu and search using surname.

Other sources

Do you know the individual's unit?

Search by name of unit in:

Was the individual an officer?

Check the annual volumes of Staff, regimental and gradation list of officers: Australian Imperial Force, held by the Research Centre.

Was he in the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force to New Guinea (ANMEF)?

Personal service records

First World War service records are held by the National Archives of Australia (NAA). For information regarding viewing or obtaining copies of these records please visit the NAA information page Australian Service Records from World War I.

If a soldier saw service in both the First and the Second World Wars, the record has usually been amalgamated in the Second World War service record.

Those who died while serving

The Roll of Honour records the names of servicemen and women who died during or as a result of service with Australian military forces. The Roll of Honour introduction provides detailed information about Roll of Honour eligibility.

The Commemorative Roll commemorates Australians who died during or as a result of wars or warlike operations in which Australians have been on active service but who were not eligible for inclusion on the Roll of Honour. The Commemorative Roll introduction provides detailed information about Commemorative Roll eligibility.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Debt of Honour register lists all British Commonwealth soldiers who died in the First and Second World wars only. The register provides details about where the individual is buried or commemorated, and includes plans and photographs of the cemetery or memorial.

Details of circumstances of deaths or wounding

  • Australian Red Cross Society, Missing and Wounded Enquiry Bureau files: displays the digitised files for 23,000 servicemen reported missing or wounded after July 1916, including additional information, such as where and how the person died, physical description, and initial burial details; not all casualties have a file
  • Official casualty lists issued by the Australian Military Forces, available in the Reading Room, are arranged by military districts within each list, then by categories (e.g. killed in action, wounded, prisoners of war); gives name, rank, unit, and date of death only
  • Enquiry lists issued by the British Red Cross and Order of St John, available in the Reading Room, are arranged by unit and give name, service number, and dated report of wounded, missing, or killed
  • Published unit histories and unit war diaries may provide information on location and general circumstances of the unit on the date of death.

Where they served

Medals and awards

The recommendations for gallantry awards from the First World War have been digitised and are available on Honours and awards (Recommendations: First World War). Please note that not all those recommended for an award received one. For more details on gallantry, campaign, and service medals refer to the information sheets Campaign and service medals and Australian military honours and awards.

Where to look for photographs

  • Collections Search gives access to images displayed online.
  • Picture Australia has images held by a range of major Australian libraries, archives, and other cultural institutions.        
  • State libraries and archival repositories. F or contact details see our information sheet Addresses.
  • There are a number of memorial volumes containing brief biographies and photographs issued during and after the First World War. Most of these were state based. Only some of those who enlisted are included and details were usually provided by relatives. Some titles are:
    • The all-Australia memorial: a historical record of national effort during the Great War: Australia's roll of honour: history, heroes and helpers (Melbourne: British–Australasian Publishing Service, 1917–19)
    • Owen Wildman, Queenslanders who fought in the Great War (Brisbane: Besley & Pike, 1919).
    • Australia's fighting sons of the Empire: portraits and biographies of Australians in the Great War (Sydney: B. Jackson & Co., 1919)
    • Australia 's fighting sons of the empire: portraits and biographies of Australians in the Great War (Perth: Palmer & Ashworth, 1919).

Further Memorial resources

First World War official history biographical files

Biographical information on individuals, sometimes including post-war information, collected by the official historian. The following official record series are both arranged alphabetically by surname:.

  • AWM140 biographical cards microfiche in the Research Centre
  • AWM43 biographical and other research files individual names indexed on RecordSearch. Search using the person's name.

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