Australian War Memorial Logo
Search

Donate Today

  • Collection Open Information Close Information
    • Official Histories & Unit Diaries
    • Understanding the Collection
    • Research at the Memorial
    • Donating to the Collection
    • National Collection Loans
    • Projects
  • People
  • Visit
  • Commemorate Open Information Close Information
    • Last Post Ceremony
    • Honour Rolls
    • Anzac Day
    • Remembrance Day
    • Customs & Ceremony
    • Speeches
  • Learn Open Information Close Information
    • Schools & Teachers
    • Memorial Articles
    • Encyclopedia
    • Understanding Military Structure
    • Podcasts
    • Glossary
    • Magazine
  • Get Involved Open Information Close Information
    • Donations & Bequests
    • Corporate Partnership
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Volunteer at the Memorial
    • Friends of the Memorial
    • eMemorial Newsletter
    • Grants, Scholarships & Residencies
    • Research Papers
  • Shop Open Information Close Information
    • Memorial Shop
    • Images, film and sound
    • Lone Pine Seedlings

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Memorial Articles
  3. blog
  4. Australian Naval Force (ANF) Engagement and Servic...

Main navigation

  • Our People
  • Our Work
  • Our Organisation
  • Media Centre
  • Memorial Articles
    • Australians and Peacekeeping
    • Australians at war
    • Gulf War 1990-1991
    • Journal of the Australian War Memorial
    • Korean War 1950 - 1953
    • NAIDOC Week
    • RAAF Centenary
    • Victory in the Pacific Day
  • Speeches

Australian Naval Force (ANF) Engagement and Service Records now online

Meagan Nihill

23 September 2014

The Research Centre has now digitised and made available online the series AWM266 Australian Naval Force (ANF) Engagement and Service Records, 1903-1911.

The records in this series relate to men and boys – mainly residents of Australia and New Zealand – who served in the Australian Squadron of the Royal Navy under the terms of the Naval Agreement Act of 1903. Similar to attestation papers of soldiers in the First World War, they contain information on each individual engaged in the ANF between 1903 and 1911.

You can browse these files here, or you can search the Memorial’s collections to determine if an individual has an entry in the series.

 

Collection Item C1419309

Accession Number: RCDIG1072073

 

Above is the first page of the Form of Engagement for Niels Peter Henry Nielsen, containing information such as his date and place of birth, a personal description, including trade or occupation, and the fact that he had no distinguishing wounds, scars or marks. Additionally, at the bottom of the page, are his answers to questions regarding details like citizenship and previous service (and - apparently as an afterthough, but perhaps most importantly - whether or not he was able to swim).

For those individuals engaged as boys (those younger than 18 years of age), these engagement forms are accompanied by letters from parents or guardians giving permission for them to join the ANF, and occasionally copies of birth certificates to prove their age.

Niels Nielsen would later go on to serve in the Royal Australian Navy in the First World War, and was serving on HMAS Sydney during her encounter with the German raider SMS Emden on 9 November 1914 (you can read his account of that action in his digitised Private Records here).

AWM266 dates from the period between Federation in 1901 and the formation of the RAN in 1911. During this period, responsibility for the protection of Australian waters was still primarily under the control of the Royal Navy’s Australian Squadron, assigned to the Australia Station.

At the time, the Royal Navy’s activities in Australia were partly funded by the newly formed Commonwealth government, although it had no suitable ships of its own.  The arrival in Sydney in October 1913 of seven new ships, which were to form the fleet of the RAN, brought the Royal Navy’s responsibility for the Australia Station to an end.

The Imperial ships remaining in Australasian waters, and administration for the Royal Navy’s activities in the Pacific region, were transferred to New Zealand. It is likely that these service records were also transported to New Zealand before being sent back to England, where they were kept by the Ministry of Defence. The records were then handed to the Australian High Commission in London in September 1994, forwarded to Australia, and donated to the Australian War Memorial by the RAN in December of the same year.

 

Author

Meagan Nihill

Last updated: 30 March 2021

  • Back to Articles
1 The Donations and bequests

Donations & Bequests

Your generous donation will be used to ensure the memory of our Defence Forces and what they have done for us, and what they continue to do for our freedom remains – today and into the future.

Find out more
2 Visit Transcribe.awm.gov.au

Transcribe

Help preserve Australia's history by transcribing records from the National Collection. Enhance accessibility and discoverability for all Australians.

Find out more
The placesofpride

Places of Pride

Places of Pride, the National Register of War Memorials, is a new initiative designed to record the locations and photographs of every publicly accessible memorial across Australia.

Find out more
Visit the Australian War Memorial

Visit the Australian War Memorial

The Australian War Memorial is open for visitors as we work to expand our galleries. Entry is free and tickets are not required.

Find out more
Canberra Highlands in Grayscale

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF
TRADITIONAL CUSTODIANS

The Australian War Memorial acknowledges the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia. We recognise their continuing connection to land, sea and waters. We pay our respects to elders past and present.
Location map of The Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial building

The Australian War Memorial

Fairbairn Avenue
Campbell ACT 2612
Australia
View on Google Maps (opens in new window)
Google Map data ©2025 Google
Australian War Memorial Logo
  • Go to AWM Facebook
  • Go to AWM Trip Advisor
  • Go to AWM Instagram
  • Go to AWM Youtube

Footer

  • About
  • Contact
  • Venue Hire
  • Media
  • WM Magazine
  • Donate Today

The Australian War Memorial

Fairbairn Avenue

Campbell ACT 2612

Australia

 

Opening Hours

10 am to 4 pm daily (except Christmas Day)

 

In preparation for the daily Last Post Ceremony,

galleries are progressively closed from 3:40 pm.

 

Public entrance via Fairbairn Avenue, Campbell ACT 2612

Sign up to our newsletter

Subscribe

Legal

  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility
  • Freedom of information

Copyright 2025 Australian War Memorial, Canberra. All rights reserved