Nominal roll of Australian Imperial Force who left Australia for service abroad

Accession Number AWM133
Collection type Official Record
Object type Official Record
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright

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Description

The nominal roll was compiled in London in 1919. It shows regimental number, last rank, name (including honours), unit at the end of the war, date of enlistment, non-effective entry (killed in action, died of wounds, date of discharge or return to Australia). Some post 1919 handwritten annotations (to 1943) give date of subsequent death. The roll is known to have a number of inaccuracies and omissions, including errors in the alphabetical order.

The nominal roll was compiled in October 1919, probably at Australian Imperial Force (AIF) Administrative Headquarters, London as a record of members of the AIF who served overseas during the 1914-18 War. It includes those who served with the Australian Flying Corps and medical units, but not the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force to New Guinea (see AWM190). Two sets of the roll are held.

The sources on which the roll was based are not known. However, the Memorial is aware of several errors of fact and omission in it
Individuals are listed in the nominal roll in alphabetical order by surname. However, the alphabetisation is not strictly maintained and should be treated with caution.

Some pages are out of order, sometimes a surname may be incorrectly spelt, and in other cases only one Christian name is given. If you are unable to identify an individual's name, you should also check alternative spelling of names.

The roll records the following information for each individual:
1) regimental number
2) last held rank
3) name (including honours)
4) unit of service at the time of death or at the end of the war
5) date of enlistment
6) non-effective entry, ie
Killed in action (KIA)
Died of wounds (DOW)
Discharged abroad
Returned to Australia (RTA)

Post 1919 handwritten annotations (to 1943) in Set 1 of the roll may give date of subsequent death. It should be noted that the date for return to Australia is usually the date an individual left the United Kingdom, not the actual date of arrival in Australia. The latter date may be 6-8 weeks later.

Similarly, a given unit may not be the one to which an individual was attached at the time of enlistment or embarkation. This information may be found in AWM8, Unit embarkation nominal rolls, 1914-18 War

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