How to Find Your WWI Ancestors in Australia: Free Records Step by Step

More than 416,000 Australians enlisted during the First World War, from a population of fewer than five million. Almost every Australian family with roots in the country before 1914 has someone who served, and many families lost someone. More than 60,000 Australians died, and tens of thousands more came home wounded or ill.

The good news for family historians is that Australia's First World War records are among the best in the world, and almost all of them are free to search online. With a name and a little patience, you can often trace a soldier's enlistment, training, voyage, battles, wounds, letters and homecoming, sometimes almost day by day. This guide shows you how.

Before you start: what you need to know

You can begin with just a name, but the following details make searching much easier:

• Full name, including middle names, which can help separate men with common names.
• Approximate year of birth.
• Where they lived when they enlisted.
• Service number, if you have it. It may appear on medals, photographs, letters or a headstone.
• Next of kin. Service records list next of kin, which is how you'll confirm you have the right person.

Look through family papers, photographs and medals first. A photograph of a soldier in uniform can reveal a unit badge, and medals are often engraved with a name, number and unit.

Step 1: The AIF Project

A great first stop is The AIF Project, run by UNSW Canberra. It brings together key details for each member of the First Australian Imperial Force: name, service number, unit, enlistment details, next of kin, fate and sources. It's free, fast to search, and gives you a summary to guide the rest of your research.

Step 2: The full service record at the National Archives of Australia

The single most important source is the soldier's service record, held by the National Archives of Australia (NAA). First World War service records for the AIF have been digitised and are free to view through the NAA's RecordSearch database. They're also linked from the "Discovering Anzacs" website.

A typical service record includes:

• Attestation papers: the enlistment form, with date and place of birth, occupation, marital status, next of kin, physical description and signature.
• Casualty forms: a running record of movements between units, hospital admissions, wounds, illness, promotions, punishments and leave.
• Correspondence: letters between the army and the family, often about medals, personal effects or, sadly, the circumstances of a death.
• Medal and discharge details.

Search RecordSearch by name, then look for files in the WWI service record series. Service records can be dozens of pages long, so take your time with each page. The abbreviations can be challenging; the AWM and NAA both publish guides to common military abbreviations.

Step 3: The Australian War Memorial's databases

The Australian War Memorial (AWM) website offers a wealth of free databases. The key ones for First World War research are:

Embarkation rolls

These list each member of the AIF as they embarked from Australia, with their unit, the ship, the date of departure, their address, next of kin, religion, occupation and age. They're a great way to confirm a soldier's details.

Nominal rolls

Compiled at the end of the war, the AIF nominal roll records each soldier's fate, whether they returned to Australia, died, or were discharged elsewhere.

Roll of Honour

If your ancestor died in the war, the Roll of Honour records their death, and the circulars that families completed in the 1920s can include biographical details such as schooling, sporting achievements and other family members who served. Some families also supplied photographs.

Honours and awards

Records of gallantry and distinguished service awards, often including the citation describing what the soldier did.

Red Cross Wounded and Missing files

These are among the most moving records of the war. The Australian Red Cross gathered eyewitness statements from fellow soldiers about men who were wounded, missing or killed, often to answer desperate letters from families. They can describe how and where a soldier died, in the words of the men who were with him.

Unit war diaries

Each unit kept a war diary recording its daily activities, movements and actions. Once you know your ancestor's unit and the dates they served with it, the war diary tells you what they were doing, sometimes in great detail, with maps and reports. Digitised war diaries are available through the AWM.

Step 4: If your ancestor died, the CWGC

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) records the graves and memorials of Commonwealth service personnel who died in the two world wars. Its free online database shows where a soldier is buried or commemorated, with the cemetery, plot reference and often additional family information. For soldiers with no known grave, it shows the memorial where they're named, such as the Menin Gate in Ypres or the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.

Step 5: Newspapers on Trove

Local newspapers followed the war intensely. Search Trove for your ancestor's name and town, and you may find:

• Reports of enlistment and farewell functions.
• Letters from the front, which many families sent to local newspapers for publication.
• Casualty lists naming those wounded, missing or killed.
• Memorial notices placed by family, often on anniversaries.
• Welcome home reports.

Letters from the front can be extraordinary: first-hand descriptions of Gallipoli, the Western Front or the Middle East, in your ancestor's own words.

Step 6: Local memorials and honour boards

Most Australian towns, churches, schools, workplaces and sporting clubs erected honour boards and memorials listing those who served. Projects such as the NSW War Memorials Register and similar registers in other states record and photograph these memorials. Finding your ancestor on a local honour board can confirm where they lived and the communities they belonged to.

Women who served

Around 3,000 Australian women served overseas as nurses with the Australian Army Nursing Service, and many others served in voluntary roles at home and abroad. Nurses' service records are also held by the NAA, and the AWM has resources specifically about nurses. Many more women supported the war effort through organisations such as the Red Cross and comforts funds, which are documented in newspapers and organisational records.

Soldiers who served with other forces

Not every Australian served with the AIF. Some served with the British Army, the Royal Navy, the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Flying Corps, or New Zealand forces. If you can't find your ancestor in the AIF records, check:

• The NAA for Royal Australian Navy records.
• The UK National Archives for British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Flying Corps records. Note that a large share of British Army service records were destroyed by bombing in the Second World War, but medal index cards and many other records survive.
• Archives New Zealand for those who served with New Zealand forces.

After the war

For those who came home, the war rarely ended neatly. Records that can help you trace the post-war years include:

• Repatriation files, held by the NAA, documenting pensions, medical treatment and support for returned servicemen and their families. These can be extensive and very personal.
• Soldier settlement records, held by state archives, for veterans granted land after the war.
• RSL and local newspaper records of reunions, Anzac Day marches and community life.

Repatriation files in particular can reveal the long shadow of the war: injuries, illness and the struggles many men and their families faced for decades afterwards.

Understanding the records: a worked example

Imagine you find a service record for Private Thomas Hughes of Bendigo. The attestation papers show he enlisted in July 1915, aged 23, a miner, with his mother as next of kin. The embarkation roll shows he sailed later that year with reinforcements for an infantry battalion.

His casualty form shows he joined his battalion in Egypt in early 1916, moved to France, was wounded in July 1916, recovered in England, returned to his unit, and was killed in action in 1917. The Red Cross file contains statements from two men in his company describing what happened. The CWGC shows he has no known grave and is commemorated on a memorial. Trove has a farewell report from Bendigo, a letter he wrote home, and his family's memorial notices.

The war diary of his battalion for the day he died describes the attack he took part in. Put together, these records tell a complete, deeply human story, all from free sources.

Tips for tricky searches

• Try spelling variations and middle names. Some men enlisted under a different name, a shortened name or a false age.
• Search by service number if you have it. It's unique within the AIF.
• Use next of kin to confirm identity when several men share a name.
• Check enlistment place, which wasn't always the soldier's home town.
• Look for brothers and cousins. Families often enlisted together, and their records can fill gaps.

Keep track of what you find with our free research log.

Using DNA alongside war records

If your soldier ancestor is part of a puzzle, for example a man who died young and left an unknown child, DNA can help. DNA matches with descendants of his siblings can confirm biological connections that records don't make clear. For Australians, AncestryDNA's large Australian, British and Irish user base makes it the best choice for this. See our guide to the best DNA test in Australia.

Preserving what you find

War records, letters and photographs are precious. Download copies of the service record and other documents, and back them up in at least two places. If your family holds original letters, medals or photographs, store them carefully, away from light and damp, in acid-free materials. Our guide to scanning and preserving old family photos explains how. Consider sharing scans with the AWM or a local historical society, so your ancestor's story is preserved for others too.

Frequently asked questions

Are WWI service records free?

Yes. AIF service records have been digitised by the National Archives of Australia and are free to view online through RecordSearch and Discovering Anzacs.

How do I find out which battles my ancestor fought in?

Use the service record to identify his unit and dates, then read that unit's war diary on the AWM website, along with published unit histories.

My ancestor isn't in the AIF records. What now?

He may have served with the Navy, the British forces or another Commonwealth force, enlisted under a different name, or his record may be filed under a variation of his name. Try the other archives listed above and search with spelling variations.

Can I find WWII records the same way?

Many WWII service records are held by the NAA too, along with the WWII Nominal Roll from the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Some WWII records are digitised; others can be requested.