Genealogy: Finding Your Ancestor’s Australian Military Records

With ANZAC Day 2021 on our minds, and the colder weather creeping in, many genealogists (family historians) turn their attention to military family history research.

Australian military records are a rich source of information about the men and women who served in the armed forces and may include information about family members.

The most useful military record for family history is the personal service record or file. These files document an individual’s military career. Often this is the only official documentation about a person who served in the armed forces. The content of service records and the amount of detail varies with each conflict.

Two national government agencies, located in Canberra, hold most of the records about Australian service men and women:

• National Archives of Australia: https://www.naa.gov.au/
• Australian War Memorial: https://www.awm.gov.au

State archives also have records before Federation (1901) relating to the Boer War.

To start researching you need to know the name of the person who served in the Australian armed forces. It’s also helpful to know:

• the person’s date and place of birth
• when the person served – Boer War, First World War, Second World War, Vietnam and so on.

However, you can still search with just a name and the conflict in which your family member served. Sometimes researchers use a military record to find a person’s date and place of birth.

To take your research further you might need to know information such as the person’s service number and unit name. You can find this information in their service record.

• Topics:

• ANZAC Day
• History