A blog by Campaspe Regional Library to talk about genealogy and family history, ask questions, highlight useful sites and share tips.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Monday, November 13, 2023
National Archives of Australia Military Records
The National Archives of Australia recently announced they had digitised over 1 million World War II military records.
Army records from World War II usually include:
- attestation (enlistment) form, setting out personal details such as age, next of kin and former occupation
- service and casualty form (Form B103), giving details about units and postings, injuries and disciplinary charges
- discharge form, summarising the person's service (not included in all cases)
- head-and-shoulders photograph may be included
- other documents or correspondence sometimes included
The Archives also hold other record sets related to wartime service and defence, many of which have also been digitised and made available free on their website.
These record sets include:
- civilian service
- courts-martial
- merchant navy
- munitions workers
- soldier settlement
- veterans’ cases
- war crimes
- war gratuities
- war graves
- defence administration and policy
These are in addition to the World War I military records which have already been digitised and available on the NAA site.
World War I service records usually include:
- an attestation paper – completed on enlistment, listing next-of-kin, employment, marital status, age, place of birth and a physical description
- a service and casualty form – 'Form B103', showing movements and transfers between units, promotions and details of injuries and treatment
- military correspondence – between the Department of Defence and the soldier's next-of-kin notifying of wounds or death, awards and medals and asking questions on the whereabouts of a service member
So take a look at all these records (and MORE) that are availabe FREE through the National Archives of Australia.
Friday, November 10, 2023
Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day, once known as Armistice Day, is one of our most important commemorative dates. On 11 November 1918, the guns on the Western Front fell silent, and the armistice with Germany to end the fighting on land, in the air and at sea was signed.
Each year on 11 November we pause as a nation at 11am for one minute of silence to honour all those who have suffered and lost their lives during wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.
A wonderful resource for hosts of a Remembrance Day service, or those commemorating at home, is available from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Through their ANZAC Portal, they have a free Remembrance Day Kitbag. It includes the order of service, music, making a speech, the Ode of Remembrance, a brief history, suggestions for a personal commemoration, guidelines to making a paper poppy, and more.
This year my home town hopes to finally have a normal Remembrance Day service, after being impacted by Covid in 2020 and 2021 followed by a major flood in 2022 which saw a number of army personnel deployed to the area to assist with sandbagging, evacuations and cleanup.
So wherever you are at 11am this 11th of November, take a minute to pause and remember those who have served to protect our freedoms.
Lest We Forget.Sunday, November 5, 2023
For Evermore - Stories of the Fallen
For Evermore - Stories of the Fallen is a new site to honour those from the Commonwealth forces who lost their lives in the world wars.
Part of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the site allows members of the public to submit stories about those who gave their lives during the world wars, and link the story to the individual's casualty page within the CWGC database.
As you submit your story, you can identify the conflict in which the person lost their life, their role (Army, Navy, Air Force, Merchant Navy, Civilian Casualty), Nationality, and even a theme (Women at War, Post Office, Art and Literature, and more). You can add images and even video to enhance your story if you wish.
The site even has a tutorial with an instructional video and step-by-step manual to help you post your story.
You can browse submitted stories by conflict, role, nationality or theme, or you can use the search box to search by name, role, conflict etc.
Friday, October 27, 2023
WW2 Medal Recipients Online
The details of thousands of civilians who were recommended for and awarded medals for bravery in the Second World War including George Cross recipients, are now available to search for free online.
The names are taken from the records of the Treasury Committee which decided on the recipients of honours including the George Cross, the George Medal, the OBE and the MBE. The records are now held at The National Archives (TNA) in Kew.Adding the complete collection of about 6,500 individuals from 166 files to TNA’s online catalogue Discovery took a team of staff and volunteers two years.
Searching for each name brings up a short description of why the person was commended, what their action was, and what medal they received, if any.
Awards for agents in the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a secret organisation that carried out espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe during the Second World War, are also included in the newly digitised collection.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
More WW1 Records Digitised
The National Archives of Australia and Ancestry.com have collaborated to digitise 95,000 First World War records, preserving them for the future.
The project digitised a series of records for individuals who applied to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), and were either rejected, discharged while still in training, or went on to serve within Australia only.
Individuals, especially young men, who did not enlist were often stigmatised for failing to 'do their bit', with the infamous white feather presented to many to symbolise their perceived cowardice. Yet many of these individuals tried to enlist only to be rejected. Their stories are often left untold.
Many of those rejected were sent home on medical grounds, even though many appeared physically fit. Examples of reasons for a person's rejection include : poor hearing or eyesight, insufficient chest measurement, issues with feet including poor veins or hammer toes, alcoholism, and poorly healed injuries such as a previously broken arm which had healed crooked. Others tried to enlist over or under age and were sent home when their deception was discovered.
Rebecca Britt, National Archives Director of Digitisation Services said the partnership allowed for a sharing of knowledge and resources to ensure records were digitised to a world-class standard.
‘We welcomed Ancestry.com staff to our East Burwood, Victoria repository to support the project, and alongside National Archives staff, the Ancestry.com team digitised the records. This meant that the records never left the repository, ensuring security and best practice for the project.’
This series of records now joins more than
376,000 First Australian Imperial Force service records which have
already been fully digitised. All these records are accessible to the public via The National Archives of Australia's free RecordSearch site and through the Ancestry.com family history platform.
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
UK Military Records
There has been some good news about accessing post-1922 military service records for the United Kingdom.
- You’re next of kin to the person in the record
- The person died over 25 years ago
- You only want basic information about someone who died within the last 25 years e.g. dates of their military service
Records from World War 1 are held by The National Archives rather than the Ministry of Defence (MOD).
If the person you are researching served in World War 1, you will need to request a Freedom of Information (FOI) paid search. You’ll be quoted a search cost (normally around £25 - complicated searches cost more) and results usually arrive within 20 working days.
Friday, November 11, 2022
Remembrance Day 2022
Remembrance Day, once known as Armistice Day, is one of our most important commemorative dates. On 11 November 1918, the guns on the Western Front fell silent, and the armistice with Germany to end the fighting on land, in the air and at sea was signed.
Each year on 11 November we pause as a nation at 11am for one minute of silence to honour all those who have suffered and lost their lives during wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.
A wonderful resource for hosts of a Remembrance Day service, or those commemorating at home, is available from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Through their ANZAC Portal, they have a free Remembrance Day Kitbag. It includes the order of service, music, making a speech, the Ode of Remembrance, a brief history, suggestions for a personal commemoration, guidelines to making a paper poppy, and more.
This year, after two years in a row of Remembrance Day being impacted by Covid, my home town is still being impacted by a major flood which saw a number of army personnel deployed to the area to assist with sandbagging, evacuations and now with cleanup. Their help through this natural disaster has been invaluable to the entire community.
So wherever you are at 11am this morning, take a minute to pause and remember those who have served to protect our freedoms.
Lest We Forget.Wednesday, June 8, 2022
#52Ancestors - Week 22 - Conflict
Russell Nicholas Clark, WW2 |
Ernest Green, WW2 postcard from Egypt |
Monday, April 25, 2022
ANZAC Day
It is April 25th again, and once more I find myself reflecting on the meaning of ANZAC Day. While I stand and say the Ode today, I will be remembering not only my father and several uncles who served in WWII, and those of my family who went before them, but all of those men and women who have served, as well as those who serve today. I will remember especially those who did not come home and all of those who came home forever changed, as well as those who did not see fighting, but served in different ways both at home and abroad.
There are many resources available for those researching their family military history. The Australian War Memorial has several databases available, including the Roll of Honour, Commemorative Roll, WW1 Embarkation Rolls and Nominal Roll, the Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Files, WW2 POWs and Missing Persons, and more. The National Archives of Australia have the military records of many Australian military personnel from World War 1 and earlier digitised online, and researchers can order copies of many World War 2 dossiers as well. The Commonwealth War Graves site commemorates the men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died in the First and Second World Wars, ensuring they will never be forgotten. There are many other websites and resources available as well.
Sunday, April 24, 2022
National Archives of Australia Digitisation
The National Archives of Australia has over 1 million records documenting the service of Australian men and women during World War II. These include service records for the Army, the Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal Australian Navy.
Over the past 15 years the NAA has digitised more than 200,000 WWII records and made them available to view online through RecordSearch, and in 2019 the Australian Government announced funding of $10 million to help digitise the remaining 850,000 records.
This project was planned to take place over 4 years, with work starting in July 2019. Since is commenced the NAA has digitised 200,000 additional records, with over 3 million pages made available online.
Large-scale digitisation of the remaining WWII service records began in October 2020.
Army records
Records are being digitised by place of enlistment.
- Citizen Military Forces personnel service records (Series B884) – digitisation began in October 2020
- Second Australian Imperial Force personnel dossiers (Series B883) – digitisation due to begin mid-2022
Air Force records
Records are being digitised alphabetically by surname (Series A9300) and by service number (Series A9301).
- Royal Australian Air Force Non-Commissioned Officers and other ranks personnel files (Series A9301) – digitisation began in July 2019
- Royal Australian Air Force Officers personnel files (Series A9300) – digitisation began July 2021
Batches of records in these series will be temporarily unavailable to the public while they are being digitised. As records are digitised, the digital copies will be added to RecordSearch and made available free of charge.
The table below provides specific updates on the progress of records being digitised. The NAA updates this table regularly as work progresses.
Series | Batch | Progress |
B884 | Northern Territory Tasmania Western Australia | Completed |
B884 | South Australia Queensland New South Wales Victoria | In progress |
B884 | Papua New Guinea | Early 2022 |
A9300 | AARONS to PEAD | In progress |
A9300 | ABBOTT to ZUCKER | In progress |
A9301 | Service number 1183 to 1495 Service number 14448 to 21142 | Completed |
A9301 | Service number 21889 to 37057 Service number 21090 to 27054 Service number 60141 to 90337 | In progress |
B883 | All states | Mid-2022 |
So take a look at the National Archives of Australia and see if there is new information available for you about your WW2 Australian ancestors.
Saturday, February 5, 2022
The Ogilby Muster
Over two million historic documents from First World War regiments are free to search on the new website The Ogilby Muster, which was launched by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust last November.
The Trust holds over two million records, photographs, letters, diaries and more from 75 participating collections, with more scheduled to join in 2022.
The Hon. Mrs Katherine Swinfen Eady, Trustee of the Army Museums Ogilby Trust, said: “With the opening of the TOM Platform, we are given a wonderful key to unlock history. As historians this is an invaluable gift, as family members researching their beloved lost relatives, it is equally as important. TOM allows us to piece together the truth left behind by the subjects, to build up that wonderful pattern of a jigsaw and find the missing fragments of information. It is especially important as it will help us all further our knowledge and understanding of not just the military side of the First World War, but the social aspect of an event in history that affected and shaped this country and the world.”
The Ogilby Muster allows researchers to search the website’s collections for free, with images of each document available for purchase, usually at a fee of £4 for non-commercial use. Documents on the website date from 1900 to 1929, but the primary focus is on the ordinary men and women who served in the British Army during the First World War.
Thursday, November 11, 2021
Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day, once known as Armistice Day, is one of our most important commemorative dates. On 11 November 1918, the guns on the Western Front fell silent, and the armistice with Germany to end the fighting on land, in the air and at sea was signed.
Each year on 11 November we pause as a nation at 11am for one minute of silence to honour all those who have suffered and lost their lives during wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.
For the second year in a row, Covid will impact our Remembrance Day commemorations around the country and the world, but like ANZAC Day many will still gather to remember and thank those who have served.A wonderful resource for hosts of a Remembrance Day service, or those commemorating at home, is available from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Through their ANZAC Portal, they have a free Remembrance Day Kitbag. It includes the order of service, music, making a speech, the Ode of Remembrance, a brief history, suggestions for a personal commemoration, guidelines to making a paper poppy, and more.
So wherever you are at 11am this morning, take a minute to pause and remember those who have served to protect our freedoms.
Lest We Forget.
Thursday, April 22, 2021
ANZAC Day
As
April 25th approaches again, I find myself reflecting on the
meaning of ANZAC Day to me, to my family and to the community. And while we
say the Ode on Sunday, I will be remembering not only my father and several uncles who
served in WWII, and those of my family who went before them, but all of those
men and women who have served. I will
remember especially those who did not come home and all of those who came home
forever changed, as well as those who did not see fighting, but served in
different ways both at home and abroad. Russell Clark, WW2
Leonard Clark, WW2 |
For those in my familywho served in Australian forces, the National Archives of Australia has been invaluable in my research, providing military dossiers of many family members. The Australian War Memorial has also been a fantastic resource, with Embarkation Rolls, Red Cross files, Unit Diaries and general information about the battles in which family members fought. Researching newspaper reports in Trove has also been a gold mine, with news of enlistments, farewells, news from the front, even a few letters home were published in local papers.
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 7 - Military Service
Russell Nicholas Clark |
Leonard Rupert Clark |
For a family with 4 brothers serving in the war, they were extremely lucky to see all 4 come home safely. Mostly they saw active service in the Middle East, with 3 surviving the siege of Tobruk - brothers David, Leonard and Russel. Gladys' eldest son, my uncle David Pummeroy, also served in World War 2, a pilot in the Air Force. He would also return home uninjured.
Having heard many family stories over the years about the various war experiences of these men, and the home experiences of the women in the family (none of my female ancestors were nurses, etc), it surprises me how many of them, including my father, saw the war as a chance to travel, see a bit of the world, give the 'enemy' a black eye and all be home by Christmas. My father was always rather disappointed he never actually made it out of Australia during his time in the Air Force. His brother Ernest (known as Squib) sent the postcard below to their sister Nancy from Egypt.
Squib's WW2 postcard from Egypt |
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Operation War Diary
- to enrich The National Archives' catalogue descriptions for the unit war diaries,
- to provide evidence about the experience of named individuals in IWM's Lives of the First World War project
- to present academics with large amounts of accurate data to help them gain a better understanding of how the war was fought
Thursday, May 2, 2019
Saluting Our Military History
In a joint release from Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Darren Chester, the pair announced that ‘digital records will make them easier to access so Australians can discover the as yet untold stories of their relatives and how they defended our nation during times of war’.
The government has also announced the expansion of the Saluting Their Service grants program, providing an extra $10 million in funding. The program is designed to preserve Australia's wartime heritage and to involve people throughout the nation in a wide range of projects and activities that highlight the service and sacrifice of Australia's servicemen and women in wars, conflicts and peace operations, and promote appreciation and understanding of the role that those who served have played in shaping the nation.
Two categories of grants are available under the STS program:
- Community Commemorative Grants (CCG) — Grants up to a maximum of $4,000 are available for community-based commemorative projects and activities. This includes, for example, the building of community memorials and the preservation of wartime memorabilia that is significant locally but is not necessarily nationally significant.
- Major Commemorative Grants (MCG) — Grants are available for projects and activities that are significant, from a national, state or territory perspective and that contribute to Australia’s understanding of its wartime heritage and honour the service and sacrifice of its servicemen and women.
Thursday, April 25, 2019
ANZAC Day
Thursday, November 29, 2018
First World War Shipwreck Database
During the 2014–2018 centenary of the First World War, 322 volunteers spent 1,821 days working on the project, including diving on wrecks, conducting fieldwork and surveys, and recording more than 700 new artefacts. The project also carried out outreach sessions to schools and the general public, and organised 44 different exhibitions, which were attended by over half-a-million people.
Now, members of the public can search the map or click on the colour-coded dots to find out more information about the wrecks. The website lists details of each location, such as the type of vessel; her launch year; the flag she sailed under; the departure port and destination; the cargo; the name of the master; the number of crew; the date of loss; and the number of fatalities. Information about the vessel and how she was wrecked is available too, along with an archaeological site report ; where available there are photos of the wreck and of artefacts recovered, videos and 3D site reports.
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Week 42 - Conflict - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
My family was certainly more fortunate than many, with few injuries and even fewer deaths during military service, but I do not doubt that all who served - and those who waited at home for them to return - were profoundly and permanently changed by the events they witnessed.
For those who served in Australian forces, the National Archives of Australia has been invaluable in my research, providing military dossiers of many family members. The Australian War Memorial has also been a fantastic resource, with Embarkation Rolls, Red Cross files, Unit Diaries and general information about the battles in which family members fought. Researching newspaper reports in Trove has also been a gold mine, with news of enlistments, farewells, news from the front, even a few letters home were published in local papers.
With so many commemorations and activities surrounding the centenary of World War 1, the last few years has seen an explosion of information become available about military ancestors and the conflicts in which they served, and I an sure I am not the only family history researcher who has found out so much about various family members as a result.