Australia, Army Militia Service Records, 1901-1940

General Collection Information

This collection contains Australian Army Militia Service records from 1901 to 1940..

The database includes attestation forms for members of the Commonwealth’s Militia; also known as the Citizen Military Forces. These forms were completed by the person on enlistment.

Using this Collection

Australian Army Militia Service records provide valuable information for researching your family member’s military service. These records also contain important genealogical information, such as marital status, residence, next of kin, birthdate, and birthplace.

You can search the database using the indexed fields.

The records in this collection contain a wide variety of detail, including the following:

History of the Collection

Before the Federation of Australia in 1901, each colony was responsible for its military defence. These typically consisted of regular (paid full-time soldiers), militia (paid part-time soldiers), and volunteer (unpaid part-time soldiers) units. The Commonwealth Government assumed responsibility for defence matters and the colonial armies were merged to form the Commonwealth Military Forces, later known as the Australian Military Forces. The Australian army remained a conscripted militia force with only a small regular component. These forces were restricted to service on Australian territory, and two special volunteer forces, both known as the Australian Imperial Force, were formed for service overseas during the two world wars. Citizens' force units did, however, serve in Australian and Australian-mandated territory in the Pacific during the Second World War.

Bibliography

Army.gov.au. "How to Research Family History." Accessed February 1, 2021, https://www.army.gov.au/our-heritage/history/how-research-family-history.

National Archives of Australia. "Series Details." Accessed February 01, 2021, https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/SeriesDetail.aspx?series_no=B4747.