Military records

Generally the military history of Australia can be considered under three headings.

Imperial Garrison 1788-1870

The marines (they were not then Royal) who accompanied the First Fleet were followed by a succession of British Regiments until they were withdrawn form Australia in 1870.

Brigadier M. Austin's paper The British Army in Tasmania published in Tasmanian Ancestry Vol 3, No 4 (Reprinted in Vol 12, No 1. May 1991) is an excellent article giving details of the records which are available through the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) for the British Army regiments in Tasmania.  These are available on microfilm in the Hobart izone.

When researching members of the Imperial Garrison it is important to remember that:

• all records were held on a regimental basis, including the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers, and it is therefore difficult to proceed unless the number or name of the regiment is known.
• regiments consisted usually of only one battalion, but it was not unusual to raise a second battalion of the same regiment when circumstances required. The battalions were then designated 1/12th or 2/12ths, to differentiate between the various battalions of the same regiment.

Colonial Volunteer Forces 1871-1901

British regular troops garrisoned the colonies until the 1850s when local forces began to be recruited. By early 1860 most suburbs and towns in Australia supported a volunteer unit, usually a rifle corps. After the last British regiment left in 1870, the colonies were obliged to assume responsibility for their own defence. The administration of colonial military forces passed to the Commonwealth on 1 March 1901, following Federation.

For background, see:

• DM Wyatt, A lion in the colony:an historical outline of the Tasmanian Colonial Volunteer Military Forces, 1859-1901
• EM Dollery, The military history of Tasmania:an outline of the period 1803-1903

Commonwealth Armed Forces

See the resources listed below and also the following Archives Office of Tasmania subject guides:

Brief guide 31: records relating to defence

Brief guide 32: regiments of the British army serving in Tasmania, 1803-1870

Related links: Recommended websites

Listed here is a selection of further resources.

Tasmania

Date range	Title	Resource type
1899-1902	Tasmanians in the Transvaal War / [by John Bufton]	CD-ROM
1899-1975	The Tasmanian war memorials data base / compile by Fred Thornett	Print
1899-1975	The Tasmanian war memorials data base / compiled by Fred Thornett	Microfiche
1914-1918	St. Leonard's roll of honor	Print
1914-1918	Tasmania's war record, 1914-1918	CD-ROM
1914-1917	The story of the twelfth: a record of the 12th Battalion, A.I.F. during the Great War of 1914-1918 / by L.M. Newton	Print
1914-1918	History of the 15th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force: war 1914-1918 / by T.P. Chataway; revised and edited by Paul Goldenstedt	Print
1914-1918	The Fortieth: a record of the 40th Battalion, A.I.F. / by F.C. Green	Print
1914-1918	Index to photographs of WWI servicemen and women in the Tasmanian weekly magazines: Volume 1: The Weekly Courier / compiled by Wendy K.Knolle	Print
1914-1918	Index to photographs of WW1 servicemen and women in the Tasmanian weekly magazines: Volume 2: The Tasmanian Mail / compiled by Wendy K. Knolle	Print
1914-1918	Index to news items and obituaries of WWI servicemen and women in the Tasmanian weekly magazines: Volume 1: The Tasmanian Mail / compiled by Wendy K. Knolle	Print
1914-1918	Index to news items and obituaries of WWI servicemen and women in the Tasmanian weekly magazines: Volume 2: The Weekly Courier / compiled by Wendy K. Knolle	Print
1939-1945	Tasmania's war effort: a brief outline of the part played by Tasmanians in aiding the war effort of Australia in the World War, 1939-45 / written and compiled by Matt O'Brien; additional notes and index prepared for the Australia Remembers Committee, Tasmania, by Gillian Winter	Print
1939-1940	Index of news items, obituaries and photographs of World War 2 Tasmanian servicemen and women published in The Examiner Launceston, ... from 23 September 1939 to 31 December 1940 / comp. by Wendy K. Knolle	Print
1941	Index of news items, obituaries and photographs of World War 2 Tasmanian servicemen and women published in the Launceston, Tasmania, newspaper The Examiner 1941 / compiled by W.K. Knolle	Print
1942-1943	Index to news items, obituaries and photographs of World War 2 Tasmanian servicemen and women published in the Launceston, Tasmania, newspaper The Examiner from 1 January 1942 to 30 June 1943 / compiled by W.K. Knolle	Print
1943-1946	Index to news items, obituaries & photographs of World War II Tasmanian servicemen & women published in the Launceston, Tasmania, newspaper, The Examiner, from 1 July 1943 to 9 March 1946 / compiled by Wendy K Knolle	Print

Australia

Date range	Title	Resource type
1788-1870	The British Army in Australia 1788-1870: index of personnel / James Hugh Donohoe	Microfiche
1800-1865	The deserters: a complete record of military and naval deserters in Australia and New Zealand, 1800-65 / [Rae Sexton]	Print
1850-1880	The veterans: a history of the Enrolled Pensioner Force in Western Australia 1850-1880 / by F.H. Broomhall	Print
1852-1900	Ships' deserters, 1852-1900: including stragglers, strays and absentees from H.M. ships / J. Melton	Print
1899-	National Archives of Australia	View Online
1899-1902	Official records of the Australian military contingents to the war in South Africa / compiled and edited for the Department of Defence by P.L. Murray	Print
1899-1902	Official records of the Australian military contingents to the war in South Africa / compiled and edited for the Department of Defence by P.L. Murray	CD-ROM
1899-1945	Australian War memorial database	View Online
1914-1917	The story of the twelfth: a record of the 12th Battalion, A.I.F. during the Great War of 1914-1918 / by L.M. Newton	Print
1914-1918	History of the 15th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force: war 1914-1918 / by T.P. Chataway; revised and edited by Paul Goldenstedt	Print
1914-1918	A nominal roll of the First Queensland contingent A.I.F. to the Great War 1914-18 / T.A.D. Truswell	Print
1914-1918	Digging for diggers: a guide to researching an Australian soldier of the Great War, 1914-1918 / Graeme Hosken	Print
1939-1945	Name[s] and particulars of all Australian prisoners of war and army of occupation soldiers buried in Yokohama War Cemetery, Japan / James McClelland	Print
1939-1945	World War Two Nominal Roll	View Online
1950-1956	Nominal Roll of Australian Veterans of the Korean War	View Online
1962-1975	Nominal Roll of Vietnam Veterans	View Online
-	How to trace your military ancestors in Australia and New Zealand / R.H. Montague	Print
-	Roll call: a guide to genealogical sources in the Australian War Memorial / compiled by Joyce Bradley...[et al.]	Print
-	Shaping history: a bibliography of Australian army unit histories: including army formations, establishments, associated organisations and a selection of campaign and area histories / Syd Trigellis-Smith, Sergio Zampatti, Max Parsons	Print
-	A soldier in the family: a source book for Australian military genealogy: the First Fleet to the Gulf War / Allan Box	Print

New Zealand

Date range	Title	Resource type
1899-	Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph database	View Online

United Kingdom

Date range	Title	Resource type
1640-1945	In search of the "forlorn hope": a comprehensive guide to locating British regiments and their records (1640-WWI) / by John M. Kitzmiller, II	Print
1772-1870	British Army pensioners abroad, 1772-1899 / Norman K. Crowder	Print
1914-1918	Army service records of the First World War / William Spencer	Print
1914-1918	First World War army service records: a guide for family historians / William Spencer	Print
1914-1918	The location of British Army records, 1914-1918 / Norman Holding	Print
1914-1918	World War I army ancestry / Norman Holding; revised and updated by Iain Swinnerton	Print
1914-1918	Tracing your First World War ancestors / Simon Fowler	Print
1939-1945	Tracing your Second World War ancestors / Simon Fowler	Print
-	Army records: a guide for family historians / William Spencer	Print
-	Tracing your naval ancestors / Bruno Pappalardo	Print
-	Using army records	Print
-	Using navy records	Print
-	My ancestor was in the British Army: how can I find out more about him? / by Michael J. Watts and Christopher T. Watts	Print
-	Air Force records: a guide for family historians / William Spencer	Print

Worldwide

Date range	Title	Resource type
1758-1993	Armies of the Crown: the bibliography of their regimental histories: Great Britain, the Empire and the Commonwealth / originally compiled by Arthur S. White and Roger Perkins; CD-Rom development by AUMS Ltd	CD-ROM
1914-1918	The great war: a guide to the service records of all the world's fighting men and volunteers / Christina K. Schaefer	Print
-	War memorials on the web / Stuart A. Raymond	Print