Resources
Finding soldiers & nurses
There are a number of excellent databases and guides online.
Australians
- Search for a person – Australian War Memorial
- Discovering Anzacs – National Archives of Australia
- The AIF Project database – The AIF Project
- Red Cross Wounded and Missing – Approximately 32,000 individual case files of Australian personnel reported as wounded or missing
- Beyond 1914 – The University of Sydney and the Great War – an extensive, searchable database of biographies and archival information of members of the University community involved in the First World War
New Zealanders
- Cenotaph Database – Auckland War Memorial Museum
British
- How to find records of soldiers of the British Army of 1914-1918 – The Long, Long Trail
- Researching a nurse – Scarlet Finders
- UK World War One Collections
Airmen
- Australian Society of WW1 Aero Historians – the Society offers an extensive database of airmen, an oral history collection, photo galleries and aviation research expertise
- RAF, RFC and RNAS personnel after 1913 – The National Archives (UK)
- Flight magazine archives – useful reference for airmen in the RFC, RNAS and RAF, including the date of commissions, promotions, awards, resignations
- RFC/RAF personnel database – officers and other ranks who flew can be traced by casualty reports, promotions, etc
- Billy Stutt and the Richmond fly boys : a history of the New South Wales State Aviation School : 1915-1918 and beyond / by Neville F Hayes ; [compiled by Barry Hayes] – several Mosman men were graduates of the NSW State Aviation School at Richmond
- No empty chairs : the short and heroic lives of the young aviators who fought and died in the First World War / Ian Mackersey – a recent publication that gives a good account of aviation in the Great War
- Fire in the sky : the Australian Flying Corps in the First World War / Michael Molkentin – the story of the AFC
- Aircraft of World War I : 1914-1918 / Jack Herris and Bob Pearson – recent publication, copiously illustrated, that covers the development and use of aircraft very well, with narrative, statistics & photographs
Commonwealth War Graves
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission – the definitive database
War Memorials
Search newspapers
- Australian Newspapers Online – Trove – National Library of Australia
- Papers Past – National Library of New Zealand
- London Gazette
Maps
- Finding your Anzacs on a map
- Great War British Trench Map Coordinates Converter
- British First World War Trench Maps, 1915-1918 – overlays on Google Maps
Forums, groups & societies
- Great War Forum – a wealth of information & expertise
Research tools
- Tim’s Buildathon links
Introduction
Linked open data
Narratives and interfaces
Tools - Zotero – collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources – Mosman1418 Zotero group
Abbreviations & acronyms
- Glossary – Australian War Memorial
- Abbreviations used in World War I and World War II service records – National Archives of Australia
- Common British military abbreviations – The Long, Long Trail
Dates, timelines & chronologies
- History of the great war, based on official documents : principal events, 1914-1918 – Committee of Imperial Defence, Historical Section, 1922
Mosman
Honour rolls & other listings
Search all sheets to get a picture of a person’s links with schools, clubs and congregations. Read more
Their Name Liveth for Evermore — Mosman’s Dead in the Great War 1914-1918
The Sydney suburb of Mosman was grievously affected by World War One. From a population of 15,980 in 1914, it is estimated that 1500 men and women, residents of Mosman or with Mosman affiliations, enlisted, almost all in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). The females who volunteered were nursing sisters. At least 335 of these persons were killed in action or died of wounds or disease.
The author, George Franki, lived in Mosman from 1962 until 1994 and is a Life Member of the Balmoral Beach Club. He served in the R.A.N. and A.R.A and is a member of the Mosman RSL Sub-Branch.
Far from Mosman Oval — Members of Mosman Cricket Club who served in war and those who did not return for a second innings
Founded in 1908, the MCC has a proud record of honouring the military service of its members and local residents. 52 members served during the First World War. Their names are recorded on an honour board in the club’s pavilion, while a special plaque commemorates the eight men who died at war. As part of the Club’s local contribution to the Centenary, the MCC has produced Far from Mosman Oval a publication commemorating the MCC players who have served their nation in in times of War.
Mosman-Neutral Bay Rifle Club
In the fervour of the early days of WW1, over 700 Mosman and Neutral Bay men joined the Mosman-Neutral Bay Rifle Club, and from those members who received their initial military training with the Club, more than 240 enlisted in the armed forces with 16 of those losing their lives in the conflict.
21st Australian Auxiliary Hospital
By 1918 the hospital at Georges Heights was the third largest military hospital in Australia. Men returning from the trenches of the Western Front were treated here. Some were awaiting discharge, others were convalescents returned from overseas, and some were able to perform light duties.
A large staff of over 100 military personnel as well as nursing sisters and masseuses kept the long-term rehabilitation hospital running smoothly. Lieutenant Colonel W. H. Read, an experienced wartime medical veteran, ran a disciplined hospital of 450 beds.
By 1921 the hospital was closed but its wards were converted to barracks and offices and continued to be used by the military. Today many of these original hutted buildings still remain and have been carefully conserved by the Harbour Trust. They are the only WWI military hospital buildings to survive in NSW and are a rare example of a WWI hospital complex.
Soldier settlement
A Land Fit for Heroes? A History of Soldier Settlement in New South Wales, 1916-1939
Vast tracts of our state were settled by returned servicemen and women in the aftermath of the Great War: the rural communities they established lie at the heartland of regional Australia. But the story of soldier settlement has yet to be told. We know little of the experience of soldier settlers and their families as they battled to ‘make a go of it’ on the land.
‘A Land Fit for Heroes?’ will examine the history of soldier settlement in NSW reclaiming a virtually untouched field in the state’s environmental, social, political and cultural history. It will record the forgotten stories of a generation of men and women who survived the Great War and restore history to the communities that made it.