How to Research Your WWI Ancestor's Service History

Maybe it started with a medal in a drawer, a name on a family headstone, or a story your grandmother told about her father going to France. Now you want to know more. Who was he? Where did he go? What happened to him? And how do you find out, more than a century later?

The good news is that Australia's WWI military records are among the best-preserved and most accessible in the world. Every First AIF service record has been digitised and is free to view online. The embarkation rolls, nominal rolls, unit war diaries, and Red Cross files are all available from your computer. You don't need to visit an archive or pay for a subscription.

This guide walks you through the full research pathway, step by step, from a name on a medal to a complete picture of your ancestor's wartime service.

Step 1 - Gather what you already know

Before you touch a database, collect everything you can from family sources. Even fragments are useful:

• Full name (including any middle names, nicknames, or alternate spellings)
• Service number or regimental number (if known - check medals, discharge papers, or old letters)
• Unit name or number (e.g. "7th Battalion", "3rd Light Horse")
• Approximate dates of service
• Place of birth, place of enlistment, or state of residence
• Any medals, photographs, letters, or documents in the family
• Stories about where they served, whether they were wounded, or how they came home

Don't worry if you've only got a name and a rough date. That's enough to start. Every other detail will come from the records themselves.

Step 2 - Find the regimental/service number

The service number is the key to everything. In WWI, soldiers received a regimental number (not unique across the army - each battalion had its own sequence). If you don't already have it, here's where to look:

AWM Embarkation Roll - Search by surname at the AWM's step-by-step guide. This covers approximately 330,000 AIF personnel and shows their regimental number, unit, age, occupation, address, and next of kin at the time they departed Australia.

AWM Nominal Roll - An alphabetic list of about 324,000 AIF members who served overseas. It shows whether they returned to Australia (RTA), were killed in action (KIA), died of wounds (DOW), or were discharged.

AIF Project - The AIF Project at UNSW Canberra is a searchable database of the entire First AIF. It pulls data from multiple sources and can be easier to search when you've got limited information.

Family documents - Check discharge certificates, medals (sometimes engraved with the number), pay books, identity discs, and old correspondence.

Step 3 - Find and download the service record

With the name and number, go to the National Archives of Australia's RecordSearch database. Use the NameSearch function, enter the surname, and select "World War I Army personnel records" from the category dropdown. If you've got the service number, enter it without spaces.

All WWI Army service records are in Series B2455. They're fully digitised and free to view. Select "View digital copy" to open the record. You can view each page online and save individual pages by right-clicking. For a detailed walkthrough of how to use RecordSearch, see How to Request War Records from the National Archives.

A typical WWI service record includes:

• Attestation paper - The enlistment form. Contains age, occupation, religion, address, next of kin, physical description, and the person's signature. This is usually the easiest page to read and the most genealogically rich.
• Service and casualty form - The chronological record of everything that happened during service: unit postings, embarkations, hospital admissions, promotions, disciplinary matters, and discharge. This page is dense with abbreviations and handwriting challenges.
• Correspondence and other papers - Letters, medical reports, letters of reference, and sometimes a discharge summary.

Step 4 - Check the Embarkation Roll for departure details

The Embarkation Roll fills in details that aren't always on the service record. It shows:

• The date your ancestor departed Australia
• The name of the troopship (HMAT) they sailed on
• Their unit at the time of departure
• Their age, occupation, and address at enlistment
• Their next of kin's name and address

Search the Embarkation Roll through the AWM Collections Search or the People search on the AWM website. The roll entries have been digitised as scanned images, so you'll see the original handwritten or typed record.

Step 5 - Use unit war diaries to find out what happened

This is where the research gets powerful. The service record tells you where your ancestor was posted and when. The unit war diaries tell you what was happening there on those dates.

War diaries were maintained by units on operations and record daily activities: movements, engagements, weather, casualties, and orders received. They're held by the AWM in the AWM4 series and have been digitised for WWI. They're not indexed by individual names - they record unit activities, not personal stories. But by matching the dates on your ancestor's service record to the diary of the unit they were serving with, you can reconstruct what they experienced.

For example, if the service record shows "TOS 7 Bn" on 1 March 1917 and "evac GSW" on 15 April 1917, the 7th Battalion's war diary for March-April 1917 will tell you where the battalion was, what operations they were involved in, and what the conditions were like. That's how you turn a line of abbreviations into a story.

Step 6 - Check the additional sources

Once you've got the service record, embarkation roll, and war diary entries, there are several other sources that can add depth:

Red Cross Wounded and Missing files

If your ancestor was reported wounded or missing after July 1916, the Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau may have a case file. These contain eyewitness accounts from soldiers who knew them, physical descriptions, burial details, and correspondence with the family. Approximately 32,000 files have been digitised and are searchable through the AWM "People" tab. These are extraordinary documents - raw, personal, and often deeply moving.

Roll of Honour

If your ancestor was killed in service, the AWM Roll of Honour records their name, date of death, unit, and cause of death. Many entries include digitised Roll of Honour circulars with additional personal details provided by the family at the time.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The CWGC at cwgc.org records the burial location or memorial for those who died in service. Records include the cemetery name, location, and often photographs of the grave or memorial.

Trove newspapers

Search Trove for your ancestor's name. Wartime newspapers published enlistment notices, casualty lists, obituaries, letters from the front, and homecoming reports. Regional newspapers are particularly rich - small-town papers often published detailed accounts of local soldiers' experiences. These can include photographs that don't appear in any official record.

Honours and awards

The AWM's honours and awards database records citations for gallantry and service awards. The service record itself may reference awards, but the AWM database often has the full citation text.

Step 7 - Build the complete picture

By this stage, you've got the raw material for a remarkably detailed account of your ancestor's service. The attestation paper tells you who they were before the war. The service and casualty form tracks their journey through it. The embarkation roll shows when they left. The unit war diaries describe what they experienced. The Red Cross files, Roll of Honour, and CWGC records complete the story for those who didn't come home. And the Trove newspapers add the personal and community context.

The challenge is putting it all together. The service record is written in abbreviations and military shorthand. The war diaries reference map coordinates and operational code names. Dates need to be cross-referenced across multiple sources. It's detective work - and it's deeply rewarding, but it takes time and a working knowledge of military administrative systems.

Or have it done for you

Decode My Digger does exactly this process. It takes your ancestor's service record images, deciphers every line of handwriting, decodes every abbreviation, cross-references the dates against unit war diaries and campaign histories, and produces a comprehensive decode in Excel and a contextualised narrative in Word. The result is a document your whole family can read and share - every posting explained, every date mapped, every abbreviation translated into plain language.

Frequently asked questions

Where do I start researching a WWI Australian soldier?

Start with what you know: any names, dates, or family stories. Then search the AWM's Embarkation Roll or Nominal Roll to find their service number and unit. With the number, search RecordSearch for the full service record.

Are all Australian WWI service records available online?

Yes. All First AIF Army service records (Series B2455) are fully digitised and free to view online through RecordSearch. Navy service cards for 1911-1970 have also been digitised.

What information is in a WWI Australian service record?

A typical record includes an attestation form with personal details (age, occupation, religion, address, next of kin), a service and casualty form tracking every movement, posting, and hospitalisation, and sometimes correspondence, medical documents, and a discharge summary. WWI Army records don't include photographs.

How do I find which unit my ancestor served in?

The AWM Embarkation Roll shows the unit at departure. The service record's casualty form tracks every unit they served with (through TOS and SOS entries). The Nominal Roll shows the unit at the end of their service.

How do I find out what happened to my ancestor during the war?

Cross-reference the dates on the service record with the unit war diaries (AWM4 series, digitised and free). These record what each unit did on every day of operations. Matching the dates tells you where your ancestor was and what was happening around them.

What if my ancestor was killed or went missing?

Check the AWM Roll of Honour for their death details. Search the Red Cross Wounded and Missing files (AWM People tab) for eyewitness accounts. The CWGC records their burial location or memorial. These sources often contain deeply personal details that don't appear anywhere else.