Summary heading
B4717 Army Militia records, dossiers of PMF (Permanent Military Forces) and Army Militia personnel, alphabetical series.
Function and purpose
This series consists of service records for individuals (men and women) serving with the Australian Military Forces in several different capacities. Personnel covered generally fall within the following categories:
(1) members of the militia forces enlisting in the period 1919 to1940;
(2) members of the Permanent Military Forces 1901 to circa 1945;
(3) representatives of philanthropic organisations (eg the Australian Red Cross, the YMCA, and Salvation Army) holding honorary ranks from 1939 to 1945;
(4) accredited journalists and war correspondents (1939 to circa 1945); (5) and commissioned officers in the Cadet Corps (inter-war and Second World War period).
The records are held in separate dossiers corresponding to their individual subjects. The arrangement of dossiers is alphabetical by subject’s surname, which appears on the outside of the dossier’s envelope together with given names or initials, and often a service number. The composition of particular dossiers varies considerably, both in terms of the quantity of records (often a single attestation form for militia personnel), and in the types of records present. Common pro-forma include:
Form A7 militia attestation forms
Form A5 Permanent Forces attestations
Form B199 Officers Record of Service, and
Form A97 Personal Record Card – Permanent Forces.
Other records found include conduct sheets, medical history records, identity photographs and negatives, proceedings of discharge, and correspondence concerning aspects of the subject’s service or appointment. In a number of dossiers concerning members of the Permanent Forces there are documents relating to service with the pre-Federation colonial military forces.
Using the series
The series is arranged alphabetically, then by given name/s. This is how the records were arranged and controlled before they were transferred to the National Archives, and it appears that each file was known by the surname and given name/s of the person it contains information about.
The National Archives began a project to enter B4717 dossiers into RecordSearch at item level and digitisation of described items was also commenced. About 20% of items were listed during the project (surnames commencing with A to C). Contact National Archives’ Reference Service if a particular individual’s dossier cannot be located using RecordSearch.
To make it easier for people to locate the dossier that they are looking for, each item’s original name-based title has been enhanced with the following additional information: service number (SERN), and where possible, reference to organisation, unit, or corps. For example: Smith, Joseph Allen, 3/12525, Salvation Army. This additional information, however, does not form part of the item title for citation purposes.
The series has been allocated a standard date range of circa 1884 - circa 1970 in order to streamline the data entry process and facilitate public access to the dossiers. Actual date ranges of the dossiers will vary within this standard range.
Note that if you are seeking a service record for a person who served in the Permanent Forces during World War I and before and/or after World War I, then:
if the person served before World War I and during World War I then there will often be two files for the person, one in this series and one in B2455, First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920;
if the person served during World War I and then after the war, then often the World War I file (from B2455) will be amalgamated with their permanent forces file in this series, but sometimes there will be two files for the person, one in this series and one in B2455.
Therefore, it is advisable to check both this series and B2455 for a person who served in the Permanent Forces. As mantioned, as only about 20% of items for this series are listed on RecordSearch, contact National Archives' Reference service if you cannot find reference to a file in this series using RecordSearch.
Physical characteristics
Dossiers in B4717 generally consist of loose papers and forms that were originally housed inside brown paper envelopes. The National Archives repackages items into archival quality folders to ensure that the records are properly preserved and that therefore their lifespan is extended as long as possible for the benefit of future generations.
System of arrangement and control
This series is arranged alphabetically by surname (ranging from AARON to ZURGAS) then by given name/s or initials. This preserves the way the records were originally controlled prior to being transferred from the Central Army Records Office.
Relationships with other records
Although there is a degree of overlap in the subject matter of B4717 and that of B4747 Army Militia service records, attestation documents (Form A7), alphabetical series 1901 - 1940 the exact relationship between the two series is not clear. There is evidence that the present contents of B4747 may have been separated from B4717 by Central Army Records Office prior to transfer to archives.
Custodial history
B4717 was first transferred from the Central Army Records Office (Melbourne) to the Australian War Memorial in 1986. In 1989, the series was transferred to the National Archives’ Melbourne office.
Disposal history
As mentioned above, before transfer from Central Army Records Office, dossiers in B4717 were subject to culling with many of the attestation documents known as Form A7’s separated into a new series (now controlled as B4747).
As part of the current repackaging, item entry and digitising initiative for B4717, the National Archives is removing certain records from the dossiers in B4717 for reasons of preservation and/or to facilitate public access to the records. Records being removed are post-1970 correspondence involving the provision of information services, such as requests to Central Army Records Office for access to records; x-rays, and photographic negatives.