Military and defence

Introduction

Find records on the defence forces and Tasmania in times of war.

See also more about Tasmania and World War I.

Notes

British Regiments 1803-1870

• The Marines (later Royal Marines) who came with the First Fleet to Australia were followed by other British regiments until 1870.
• The Regiments kept civil law and order and were convict guards and overseers.
• For a list of regiments in Tasmania see the Australian Army Museum Tasmania’s Information Sheet 11 (PDF 128KB)
• Regiments took their records as they travelled – see the United Kingdom National Archives for holdings.
• The State Library of Tasmania collection holds microform copies of pay lists and some British regiment muster rolls (Australian Joint Copying Project WO12), reel numbers 3719-3917. See also pay list index in History Room. To find the regiment number, see The British Army in Australia Index of Personnel (with regiment number) by James Hugh Donohoe.

Military pensioners

• Military pensioners came to Tasmania in the late 1840s, often as guards on convict ships
• Pensioners received a grant of 5 acres near a town in return for being available for service at short notice.
• The most used records are the returns filed in the records of the Colonial Secretary’s Office. They are sorted by ship arrival dates. Details include the name, age and religion of the pensioner, whether a wife arrived, and the sex and ages of any children.

Defence forces of Tasmania 1824-1901

• The Colonial (later Chief Secretary’s) Departments contain most accounts of Tasmania’s military
  • For the period 1824-1874 search headings such as “ military”, “batteries”, “artillery”, “gunpowder”.
  • For later times, try terms such as “torpedo” and “defence” etc.
• In the late 1850s a volunteer movement began in Tasmania. A Corp started in Hobart in 1859 and another in Launceston in June 1860.
• In 1885 the Defence Act repealed all previous ‘Volunteer’ Acts. Col. H Barnard commanded a reserve force of four companies in Hobart and one in Launceston.
• After the last British regiment left in 1870, the colonies were responsible for their own defence.
• Colonial military force administration passed to the Commonwealth in 1901, following Federation.

What is online?

• 1804-1870 Military index-alphabetical index to those serving in regiments in Tasmania (NS436/1/17)
• The Tasmanian War Memorials database World War 1 and World War 2 by Fred Thornett
• Registers of volunteers enrolled in the Southern Tasmanian Volunteer Artillery, with details of equipment issued and history, 1879-1899
  “A” Battery (COM1/20)
  “B” Battery (COM1/21)
• 1887-1903 Registers of volunteers enrolled in the Southern Tasmanian Volunteer Artillery with details of equipment issued and subsequent history, Reserve Battery (COM1/22)
• Hart’s Annual Army List – incomplete (Internet Archive). See also below.
• Commemorating the centenary of ANZAC.

Boer War and World War 1 records

• Search the Tasmanian Names Index for photographs of World War 1 soldiers
• WWI diaries of William Edward Lodewyck Hamilton Crowther, army medical officer
• WWI photograph album of Dudley Ransom, soldier (NS4785)
• WWI letters of Cyril Allen, soldier (NS5539 and NS933/1/1)
• Partial transcription of the World War 1 Diary of Private McWatt (NS2769/1/8)
• WW1 Oral history transcripts (NS5775)
• Most Boer and World War 1 records are with the National Archives or the Australian War Memorial

What else is there?

• Hart’s Annual Army Lists (Indexed) to 1911 (See also sources online above)
• 1863-1885 Volunteer Forces (TA1105)
• 1885-1901 Defence Force of Tasmania (TA676)
• 1877-1912 Records of Officers’ Services, Tasmania Command (COM1/15)
• 1877-1922 Index to Records of Officers Services (COM1/16)
• 1878-1921 Register of Officers of the 12th Australian Infantry Regiment with details of their Appointments and Services (COM1/17)
• 1878-1884 Nominal Roll of Volunteers, Launceston Artillery (COM1/46)
• 1889-1916 Nominal Roll Books, 16th Battery AFA Launceston (COM1/47)
• 1899-1903 Register of volunteers in the Southern Tasmanian Volunteer Artillery (COM1/23)
• 1804-1870 Index to Military Officers in Tasmania (NS436/1/3)
• 1804-1870 List of Commissariat Officers and Royal Engineers (NS436/1/6)

Boer War

Tasmania sent eight contingents with 36 Officers and 821 men to South Africa.

• 1899-1901 Correspondence about the South African War (CSD26)

The Commonwealth became responsible for defence after federation.

World War 1

• 1914-1918 Tasmania’s War Record (CD-ROM). Copy of a book by L. Broinowski and Sir John Gellibrand
• World War 1 standard issue pocket wallet to carry letters and pocket book – contains pressed flowers, Gospel according to Matthew, train ticket, poetry, mementos and miscellaneous diaries of C J Allen (NS933/1/5)
• Photographs and postcards from our collection
• Australia in World War 1 (NFSA and AWF film)
• 1914-1918 Australian Imperial Force Unit War Diaries (Australian War Memorial)
• Accounts of Tasmanian’s participation in World War 1
• Personal narratives of Tasmanians in World War 1

Civil Defence Legion 1939-1945

Some useful records include:

• Civil Defence Legion agency (TA206)
• General correspondence (CB27/1)
• Index to general correspondence (CB27/2)
• List of persons offering special services to the Legion (CB27/40)
• Organisation chart of the Civil Defence Legion (CB27/37)
• Map of Tasmania showing priority invasion areas (CB27/49)
• Plans showing priority target areas in Hobart and surrounds (CB27/50)
• Plans showing target areas in Launceston and surrounds (CB27/51)

See also these Tasmanian diaries and notebooks in Launceston (LMSS) and Hobart (NS).

World War 2 and Beyond

See the National Archives. Diaries, reminiscences and an interesting collection of private records.

Some published library resources

• The British Army in Australia 1788-1870 Index of Personnel (with regiment number) by James Hugh Donohoe.
• 1770-1870 Dress and Insignia of the British Army in Australia and New Zealand by R.H. Montague
• Tasmanian military
• Tasmanian military history
• The Boer War
• The World Wars

Related

• The Soldier Settlement Scheme is a complex set of records beyond the scope of this brief guide. See the records of the Closer Settlement Board (TA372) and Agricultural Bank of Tasmania (TA53).

What is available from other organisations?

Boer War and World War 1 records

The National Archives of Australia has many personnel dossiers online.

• Visit the NAA website
  • Select “Boer War” or “World War 1”
  • Select the entry for dossiers
  • Select “Name Search” from the menu and enter details
• 1914-1918 Australian Imperial Force Unit War Diaries (Australian War Memorial)
• ANZAC Connections Biographies (Australian War Memorial)
• Australian Anzacs in the Great War 1914-1918
• Australian War Memorial
• Commonwealth War Graves’ Commission
• National Archives of Australia – Defence and war service records
• Australian Army Museum Tasmania
• The Unofficial History of the Australian and New Zealand Armed Services
• The National Archives of the United Kingdom
• 1754-1879 British Annual Army Lists (WO65) – National Archives U.K. (free download)