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Colonial Period
British settlement of Australia began as a penal colony governed by a captain of the Royal Navy. Until the 1850s, when local forces began to be recruited, British regular troops garrisoned the colonies with little local assistance. From 1788 marines guarded English settlements at Sydney Cove and Norfolk Island; they were relieved in 1790 by a unit specifically recruited for colonial service, and in 1810 the 73rd Regiment of Foot became the first line regiment to serve in Australia. From then unt -
Boer War
Between 1899 and 1902 more than 10,000 Australian soldiers sailed for South Africa to support British troops engaged in the war against the Boer Settlers. The first contingents were raised by the colonial governments and it was not until 1902 that the newly formed Commonwealth government raised the eight battalions of the Australian Commonwealth Horse. The records held in our collection and the Australian War Memorial's collection document the process of recruiting, training and shipping conting -
World War I
More than 330,000 Australians served overseas in World War I. Of these, nearly 60,000 died, 152,000 were wounded, and over 4000 were taken prisoner, of whom 395 died in captivity. For information about records of service for these personnel see Army – World War I. The National Archives holds few operational records of World War I, the main exceptions being courts-martial files and records of service. Most operational records are held by the Australian War Memorial. The National Archives holds -
World War II
Over 993,000 Australians served in the armed forces during World War II. Of those on active service, 27,073 were killed in action or died, 23,477 were wounded, and 30,560 were taken prisoner of war. Of those taken prisoner, 8296 died in captivity. -
Peacekeeper
With the end of the Second World War, the UN Security Council took responsibility for the collective defence of member states against aggression. However, with conflicts since 1945 being the result of Cold War tensions and internal civil wars, another more practical way was needed to ease conflict. This desire to keep the peace led to the concept of employing a minimally armed force to monitor an emerging peace between two parties recently at war, either opposed nations or internal factions. In -
The Malayan Emergency
In June 1948 the British colonial government in Malaya declared a state of emergency in order to combat violence and unrest, set against a background of political, racial and industrial conflict. Over the next 12 years, British, Malayan and Commonwealth armed forces were to fight against an insurgency led by the Malayan Communist Party, which was to become known as the Malayan Emergency. The state of emergency was not completely lifted until 1960, three years after the Federation of Malaya had a -
Korean War
On 25 June 1950, the North Korean Army invaded South Korea. Elements of the Australian Navy, Army and Air Force, still with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, were quickly committed to the war in Korea. These were supplemented by additional forces sent from Australia. The war lasted until 1953, by which time total Australian casualties were 1584, with 339 killed and 29 taken prisoner of war. -
Indonesian Confrontation
Confrontation was a small, undeclared war fought from 1962 to 1966 through which President Sukarno of Indonesia sought to destabilise and destroy the new Federation of Malaysia which had emerged in 1963. Sukarno argued that the creation of Malaysia was a means of maintaining British colonial rule in South-East Asia behind a guise of independence for its former colonial possession, Malaya. In early 1963 military activity increased along the Indonesian side of the border in Borneo, with small par -
Vietnam War
When the last Australian troops were withdrawn from Vietnam in December 1972 Australians had been fighting in Vietnam for more than 10 years. By that time more than 50,000 Australians had served in Vietnam. Battle casualties were 521 killed and 2398 wounded, of whom 43 percent were national servicemen. -
First Gulf War
Iraq invaded its rival oil-exporting neighbour Kuwait on 2 August 1990. The invasion was widely condemned, and four days later the United Nations (UN) Security Council unanimously approved a trade embargo against Iraq. A blockade of Iraq's access to the sea followed within weeks, as the United States assembled a large multinational task force in the Persian Gulf, while another was formed in Saudi Arabia. By the end of 1990 this force numbered some 40,000 troops from 30 countries, though the Unit
