Stories of service

In the lead up to Anzac Day, we are sharing the usual, and occasionally unusual, records of war service and activity found in our collection. State Records’ collection can enrich any research about war events, beyond the military records held by the National Archives of Australia (NAA). State and local government agencies were involved in managing a variety of domestic impacts from international conflict. In some cases, agencies handled additional services which were not part of their usual business.

This post points to various fact sheets and series that may help with further research.

If any of these series catch your interest, we welcome you to Plan your Visit, or send us an enquiry.

[Click on the any of the below image thumbnails to take you to a high quality copy of the image.]

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Recognition of service

Military records

There is a small collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century records about South Australian Military Forces (GRG149) (external site) (external site). These include records of:

Volunteer Military Forces (1850s-1880s)
South Australian Volunteer Contingents for South Africa (1890s-1900s), and
a handful of rolls of various South Australian regiments of the Light Horse during World War One.

Photographs of Soldiers, Sailors and Nurses

Coinciding with the establishment of the archive in 1919, a call-out was made to preserve a special collection of World War One Soldier, Sailor and Nurse Photographs 1918 - 1952. Nearly 3000 photographs were submitted by the public along with ‘particulars sheets’ that provided information about the soldier, sailor or nurse.

Copies of the photographs are available on State Records’ Flickr page (external site) (external site). The particulars sheets have been digitised and can be requested free of charge.

Rolls of Honour

Following the end of World War One the women of the 9th and 11th Light Horse Regimental Club donated regimental rolls listing men who served in the regiments to the Public Library of South Australia (now State Records) as a permanent memorial (external site) (external site).

There are also rolls listing employees of various government agencies who died whilst serving in the military.

For examples of honour rolls see GRG 15/12 (external site) (external site) and MRG 8/18 (external site) (external site).

Local community impact

Civil Defence Commission

A Civil Defence Commission and Force was established in South Australia prior to the declaration of World War Two. The main activities of the Civil Defence Force included establishing Air Raid Casualty Services and Air Raid Precautions, as well as preparations for other civilian services connected with the war.

The main correspondence series (GRG9/1) (external site) (external site) includes interesting reports from local coordinators in townships and districts across South Australia. Individual files may contain unindexed lists of personnel deployed for civil defence activities.

Search the catalogue (external site) (external site) for town names or districts and “+GRG9” to identify files to order and view in the Research Centre.

Soldier Settlement

The Soldier Settlement Scheme assisted in the settlement of returned servicemen between 1915 and 2009.

Applications for land, assistance and relief for soldier settlers were administered across a range of departments including the Department of Agriculture, Lands and Survey Department, a specific branch for the Superintendent of Soldier Settlements. Some related activities were also managed through the various departments responsible for Irrigation, ‘Closer settlement’ and housing.

There is no centralised index covering the full administration of the scheme, as each department managed its own correspondence. However, a register exists for most of the World War One era settlements outside the Riverland, and it references key record series. A copy can be found on our Soldier Settlement webpage.

Employment

Public sector employment was impacted by military recruitment. Most departmental correspondence and employee records will make mention of arrangements for staff.

Records of the South Australian Railways include specific series about staff war service, but it is also reflected within the multiple collections of employee sheets.

State commitment

The State War Council and State Recruiting Committee

The State War Council of South Australia (external site) (external site) was established in 1916 to “act in conjunction with the Federal Parliamentary War Committee on questions arising out of the war.”

One of the functions carried out by the State War Council was to publish a series of recruitment and war effort posters which can be viewed on State Records’ Flickr page.

The State Recruiting Committee was to oversee and co-ordinate all recruitment efforts within the State. In South Australia, it closely co-operated with the State War Council. Papers of the State Recruiting Committee can be found in GRG7/131. (external site) (external site)

Support for these two bodies was often provided by the Immigration, Publicity and Tourist Bureau.