How to Request War Records from the National Archives of Australia

Somewhere in your family there's a story that's never been fully told. Your grandfather's handwriting on a faded enlistment form. Your great-aunt's service number stamped onto a card she never spoke about. The dates, the unit names, the abbreviations, all of it sitting in an archive, waiting.

The National Archives of Australia (NAA) holds more than 1.5 million First World War and Second World War service records. Most of them are now digitised and available to view online, free of charge, from your kitchen table. This guide walks you through exactly how to find and request those records, step by step, whether you're starting from scratch or you already have a name and a service number.

What you need before you start

The more information you bring to your search, the faster you'll find the right record. At a minimum, you need a surname. But if you can gather any of the following before you sit down at the computer, your results will be significantly more accurate:

• Full name - including any middle names or initials. Spelling variations are common on older records, so note any alternative spellings your family has used.
• Service number - this is the single most useful identifier. If you don't have it, the DVA Nominal Rolls (covered below) can help you find it.
• Approximate dates of service - even a rough idea of which conflict helps narrow the search.
• Service branch - Army, Navy (RAN), or Air Force (RAAF). Different branches have different record series.
• Place of birth or enlistment - these details are often included in NAA item titles and can help distinguish between people with the same name.

If all you have is a name on a medal, a photo with a unit patch, or a family story about "he served in New Guinea", that's still enough to start. You'll just need to cross-reference across multiple sources.

Where Australian war records are held

Australian military service records aren't held in one single place. Three organisations hold the bulk of the records, and each holds different types:

National Archives of Australia (NAA)

The NAA is the primary repository for individual service records. This is where your ancestor's personal file lives, their enlistment form, service and casualty form, discharge papers, and any correspondence. The NAA holds records for all branches (Army, Navy, RAAF) across all conflicts from 1901 onwards.

Key record series you'll encounter:

• B2455 - First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) Personnel Dossiers, 1914–1920. These are the WWI Army records. Fully digitised and free to view online.
• B883 - Second Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1939–1947. The main WWII Army series for those who enlisted in the AIF.
• B884 - Citizen Military Forces Personnel Service Records, 1937–1947. WWII records for militia and home defence personnel.
• A9300 - RAAF Officers Personnel Files.
• A9301 - RAAF Non-Commissioned Officers and Other Ranks Personnel Files.

As of 30 June 2024, the NAA has digitised approximately 1,058,000 Second World War service records, 99% of the total. The remaining 1% are available on request, free of charge.

Australian War Memorial (AWM)

The AWM doesn't hold individual service records (those are at the NAA), but it holds resources that complement them: the WWI Embarkation Roll (approximately 330,000 AIF personnel), the Roll of Honour for those killed in service, unit war diaries (Army), and Reports of Proceedings (Navy). The AWM also holds the Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau files for soldiers reported wounded or missing after July 1916.

The AWM People search page lets you search several of these nominal rolls simultaneously. It's an excellent starting point if you don't yet have a service number.

Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA)

DVA publishes online Nominal Rolls for four conflicts: World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the First Gulf War. A Nominal Roll provides a snapshot of each veteran's service, their service number, rank, dates, and unit. The WWII Nominal Roll alone covers over one million personnel.

These rolls are the fastest way to confirm a service number if you don't already have one. Once you have the number, you can go straight to the NAA's RecordSearch to find the full service record.

Step-by-step: How to find a service record on RecordSearch

RecordSearch is the NAA's online collection database. It contains descriptions and digital copies of records across the entire federal government collection, not just military records. For military service records specifically, you'll use the NameSearch function within RecordSearch.

Step 1 - Go to RecordSearch

Visit recordsearch.naa.gov.au. You can begin searching without registering. However, if you want to save your searches, submit access applications, or order records for delivery to a research centre, you'll need to register with a name, contact details, and password.

Step 2 - Select NameSearch

Once in RecordSearch, select the NameSearch tab. It's the purpose-built search for finding records about individuals.

Step 3 - Enter search details

Enter the person's surname in the Family Name field. If you know it, enter the given name, but be aware that given names don't always appear on record titles, and abbreviated forms are common.

From the Category of records dropdown, select the relevant conflict and service branch. For example:

• "World War I Army personnel records" for AIF service (Series B2455)
• "World War II Army personnel records" for 2nd AIF and CMF (Series B883/B884)
• "Navy personnel records" for RAN service across all conflicts
• "RAAF personnel records" for Air Force service

If you have a service number, enter it without spaces (e.g. NX12345). You can also use wildcards, so if you only know part of the number, enter the known portion followed by an asterisk (e.g. NX123*).

Step 4 - Review results

Your search will return a list of matching records. Each result shows the person's name, service number, series number, and whether the record has been digitised. Look for the digitised item icon (a small image of pages) next to the listing, which means you can view the record immediately.

If multiple people share the same name, use the place of birth, place of enlistment, or date range in the item title to identify the correct record.

Step 5 - View or request the record

If the record is digitised, select "View digital copy" to open it. You can view each page of the service record online and save individual pages by right-clicking the image.

If the record is not yet digitised, select "Request copy" on the right side of the screen above the item title. The NAA will digitise the record and make it available to you. Fees may apply depending on the series, so check the NAA's copying charges page for current pricing.

If the record's status shows "not yet examined", that means it hasn't yet been cleared for public access. You'll need to submit an access application through RecordSearch requesting the record's release. This process can take up to 90 business days, so submit your request well in advance if you're working to a deadline.

What you'll find inside a service record

Service records were administrative documents, created to manage personnel, not to tell a story. But they contain a remarkable amount of information if you know what to look for.

A typical Australian service record includes:

• Attestation (enlistment) form - personal details including age, occupation, religion, next of kin, marital status, and place of birth. This is often the most genealogically rich page in the entire file.
• Service and casualty form (Form B103) - a chronological record of units, postings, promotions, injuries, hospitalisations, and disciplinary matters. It's the backbone of the record and typically the hardest page to read due to abbreviations and handwriting.
• Discharge form - a summary of the person's total service (not included in all records).
• Correspondence - letters from or about the service member, sometimes including letters of reference from employers supporting their enlistment.
• Medical documents - brief medical classifications and, in some cases, more detailed medical records.
• Identity photograph - approximately 40% of WWII Army and Air Force records include a photo. Most WWI Army and Navy records don't.

Common issues and how to solve them

You can't find the record at all

Try alternative spellings. Names on service records were often transcribed phonetically or abbreviated. Use the wildcard search, and enter the first three or four letters of an unusual surname followed by an asterisk (e.g. Chin* to capture China, Chinese, Chinnery). If NameSearch returns no results, try a Basic Search in RecordSearch using the full name as a keyword.

Multiple people with the same name

This is extremely common. Use the place of birth, place of enlistment, or service number to distinguish between them. The DVA Nominal Rolls can help confirm which record belongs to your ancestor.

The record is too difficult to read

War records are full of military abbreviations, handwritten entries, and administrative shorthand that can be impenetrable to modern readers. The Australian War Memorial publishes a glossary of common abbreviations that can help. For a comprehensive decode of every abbreviation, notation, and date on a record, translated into plain language and mapped to actual historical events, that's exactly what Decode My Digger does.

Post-WWII records (Korea, Vietnam, and later)

Service records for conflicts after World War II are generally still held by the Department of Defence, not the NAA. If you're a former serving member or next of kin, you can request records directly from Defence. For all other requests, submit a "Defence service after World War II" enquiry through the NAA website.

Beyond the service record: Other sources worth checking

The service record is the starting point, not the finish line. Once you have your ancestor's unit and dates of service, several other sources can fill in the gaps:

• Unit war diaries (AWM) - daily operational records kept by Army units. They describe what the unit did on each day of service, including movements, engagements, and casualties. Available through the AWM research guides.
• Embarkation Roll (AWM) - records of approximately 330,000 AIF personnel as they departed Australia during WWI, including their age, occupation, address, and next of kin at the time of enlistment.
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) - if your ancestor was killed in service, CWGC maintains records of 1.7 million graves and memorials across 150 countries. Search at cwgc.org.
• Red Cross Wounded and Missing files (AWM) - approximately 32,000 files for soldiers reported wounded or missing after July 1916, often containing eyewitness accounts.
• DVA Nominal Rolls - available for WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the First Gulf War at nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au.

Quick reference: Key links

Once you have the record - then what?

Finding the record is the first step. Understanding it is the harder part. Military service records are dense with abbreviations, handwritten notations, unit codes, and dates that mean nothing without historical context. "TOS 2/1 Bn" isn't a typo, it means "Taken On Strength, 2nd/1st Battalion", but you wouldn't know that just by looking at it.

Decode My Digger takes the images from the National Archives and runs them through a multi-layered process: extracting the handwriting, deciphering every abbreviation, researching the historical context, mapping your ancestor's movements against actual events in the war, and producing a personalised narrative that brings their service to life. You receive a comprehensive Excel spreadsheet with a literal line-by-line decode and a formatted Word document with the full contextualised story.

Find out more about how Decode My Digger works →

Frequently asked questions

Are Australian war records free to access?

Yes. All First World War Army service records (Series B2455) are fully digitised and free to view online through RecordSearch. As of 30 June 2024, 99% of Second World War service records have also been digitised and are available online at no cost. The remaining 1% are available on request, free of charge.

How do I find my grandfather's war records in Australia?

Start by gathering what you know: full name, approximate dates of service, and service number if available. Then search the NAA's RecordSearch database using the NameSearch function. Select the relevant conflict category and enter the surname. If you don't have a service number, check the DVA Nominal Rolls first at nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au.

What information is in an Australian war service record?

A typical record includes an attestation (enlistment) form with personal details, a service and casualty form (Form B103) listing units, postings, and injuries, and sometimes a discharge form, letters of reference, medical documents, and an identity photograph. Approximately 40% of WWII records include a photo.

How long does it take to get war records from the National Archives?

If the record has been digitised, you can view it immediately online. If it hasn't been digitised, you can request a digital copy through RecordSearch. If a record's status is "not yet examined", you'll need to apply for its public release. This can take up to 90 business days.

What's the difference between RecordSearch and NameSearch?

RecordSearch is the NAA's full collection database covering all government records. NameSearch is a specialised search function within RecordSearch designed specifically for finding records about individuals. NameSearch lets you filter by conflict category, service branch, and service number, making it the best starting point for family history research.

Where are post-WWII service records held?

Records for service after World War II (Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, and later) are generally held by the Department of Defence, not the National Archives. Former serving members or next of kin can request records directly from Defence. Others should submit a "Defence service after World War II" enquiry through the NAA.