Australian Military Commemorative Rolls & Rolls Of Honour plus Queensland Soldier Portraits
Anzac week is a busy time for Your Family Genealogist. So much so that I forgot to post about Findmypast's new resource for researching Australian military ancestors. According to Findmypast, the Military Commemorative Rolls & Rolls Of Honour are extracted from a growing list of sources which are searchable in one place for the first time. The collection currently includes records from:
The Australian Imperial Expeditionary Forces Roll of Honour;
The Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll;
The Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour;
New South Wales Government Railways & Tramways Roll of Honour 1914-1919;
Northern New South Wales Honour Roll.
When searching these records, I also came across another Findmypast collection I hadn't noticed before, Queensland Soldier Portraits, 1914-1918. Here I found a record with a link to a photo of Leslie William Roney in his Army Uniform. Leslie was my first cousin, twice removed. Originally born in Tungamah, Victoria, he moved with his family to Queensland and enlisted in Toowoomba in 1916. It was the first photo I have seen of him. He started as a Driver (of horses rather than motor vehicles) as did many boys from the country who could ride. He then moved to one of the Machine Gun Squadrons and served out the War in the battlefields of France.
Leslie William Roney, aged 23.
Transcript of Leslie William Roney's record attached to his WW1 photo. Search the database.
Findmypast's release of these records is very timely as our thoughts often turn to our Australian military ancestors at this time of year. But it doesn't stop there. I counted 18 different record sets when I searched their catalogue for "World War 1" records in Australia.
For more military history resources see my earlier blogs at:
In the meantime, happy ancestor hunting.
Therese
Your Family Genealogist
Pictures : Findmypast
Gif: Wix