HOW TO SEARCH FOR A WORLD WAR 1 SOLDIER

1.   Search the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour databases.  Open the PDF file on the right hand side of the page and you might find more information that was provided by his next-of-kin.

2.   There is information on all those who served in the First World War in the First World War Nominal Roll. You will need to find the exact page with your soldier’s last name.  They are in alphabetical order.

3.   The First World War Embarkation Rolls will give you the date your soldier left Australia and the name of the ship.  The PDF file on the right will give other details like past occupation and the daily rate of pay.  If you do a Google Search you might be able to find a photo of the ship to save in your folder.

4.   Search for your soldiers’ cemetery in the WW1 Cemetery Register  Most of them have a photo you can save in your folder to later add to your finished research.

5.   If you search for your soldier in the Colonial Family Database you can click on the number link beside the name and probably find his parents, brothers and sisters.

6.   You can find absolutely everything there is to know by doing an Australian National Archives Records Search.  Log in as a Guest and search. The soldier’s name and the dates 1914 – 1918 should be all you need to get to the next screen. If you are lucky your soldier's entire military file will be there.  You can see his own handwriting, a physical description, medical records, disciplinary measures and a list of his belongings that were returned to his next-of-kin.   Click the “Display” button and hopefully on the next screen you will see a link that says “View Digital Copy”. Then you have it all!  Save at least two of these scanned photos into your research folder to print later.

7.   In the Australian War Memorial Collections you can select your soldier’s Battalion number for more information. Sometimes it’s even possible to find a photo.

Grade 5/6 Page                           Orford Primary School Website