There are two ways of researching Australian Military Service Records which we will discuss here, via the Australian War Memorial site of via the Australian National Archives site.
Method 1
Australian War Memorial
To retrieve a host of information about Military Service in Australia, navigate to the Australian War Memorial website. To make it easy the information you should try to have at hand is:
- Full name
- Service number
- Unit in which he/she served.
The most useful resources in achieving that tend to be:
- Ask for information from family members or other local sources
- Check the Biographical Databases available on the Australian War Memorial website
- If necessary you can enquire of the Research Centre staff for assistance
Biographical Databases
Research on personnel who served with the Australian armed forces during various conflicts may be found here
The database is broken down into three categories.
- Those who served.
- Those who died while serving.
- Honours and Awards.
Nominal Rolls (Click here)
- Pre-First World War Conflicts
- Details of personnel serving in pre-First World War conflicts.
- First World War Embarkation Roll
- Details of approximately 330,000 AIF personnel, recorded as they embarked from Australia for overseas service during the First World War.
- First World War Nominal Roll
- Details of approximately 324,000 AIF personnel, recorded to assist with their repatriation to Australia from overseas service following the First World War.
- Department of Veterans' Affairs nominal rolls
- Second World War
- Korean War
- Vietnam War
- Gulf War
In addition to viewing this service record, you can also
- Produce a certificate of this service record
- Get help with the certificate
- View an explanation of the service record details
- Request a full service record from the National Archives of Australia.
An example of a WW2 service certificate.
Method 2
Researching in the National Archives of Australia is a useful tool in tracking down service records also, in particular the Name Search link in the top right corner. Note: Clicking the Name Search will require to login (as a guest or by registering) before allowing you to search by family name.
