THE National Archives of Australia continues its World War I project with the news today that the UK’s Imperial War Museums website has now incorporated Australian Anzacs into its ‘Lives of the First World War’ website.

David Fricker, Director-General of the Archives, said today, ‘We realised that this international collaboration with IWM would provide far greater international access to the 376,000 Anzac records that we hold in our own collection.’

Diane Lees, director general of Imperial War Museums, explained, “The website is a permanent digital memorial, preserving all the stories of British and the Commonwealth troops for future generations. Now anyone with Australian or British heritage can use Lives of the First World War to discover and remember their First World War connection.”

Fricker noted that the Australian records were already online through the Archives’ “Discovering Anzacs” website, as were those of New Zealand servicemen and women, but said he believed this new collaboration provided much greater international access to the collection.

Stories now online include Oswald Samuel Blows of the 28 Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, who served and was injured during the Battle of the Somme in 1916; Hugo Vivian Hope Throssell, whose courage at Gallipoli earned him the Victoria Cross and John Simpson Kirkpatrick, of Simpson and his donkey fame.

The data provided to the War Museums comes from the service files of those who served in the Australian Imperial Force during World War I. These personnel files include attestation papers, service and casualty forms and other military documents and correspondence. Each person’s name, service number, place of birth and enlistment, and next of kin are all included.

Visit https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/