World War One
Following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne, Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August 1914, and two days later invaded France through Belgium. As a consequence, Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August. Australia was drawn into the massive conflict of 1914-1918 through its ties with Britain; on 31 July 1914, Prime Minister Cook had declared, 'Remember that when the Empire is at war, so is Australia at war' ('Statement by Mr. Cook', Argus, 1 August 1914, p. 20, col. c).
The State Library of South Australia holds a vast amount of material dealing with the many facets of the First World War. It has particularly rich holdings of material giving first hand personal accounts of the impact of war.
34,959 enlisted in South Australia during World War One (source: Australian War Memorial). 5,565 South Australians were killed in World War One, representing 9.2 percent of the total Australian casualties (source: RSL Virtual War Memorial)
The First World War officially ended on 28 June 1919 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles by the Allied powers and Germany.
Themes on this website
- South Australia at the outbreak of World War One
- Recruitment and enlistment
- South Australians at Gallipoli
- South Australians at the Western Front
- South Australian Aboriginal service personnel in World War One
- World War One maps
- On the home front during World War One
- Commemoration of World War One
- State Library of South Australia's contribution to World War One
Other State Library of South Australia resources
- Explore the records of the South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau which researched over 8,000 enquiries from family and friends of missing Australian Imperial Force personnel fighting in World War One
- Browse our Flickr WW1 Album - selection of First World War images from State Library of South Australia collections
- View our Flickr South Australians of World War I Album - selection of First World War portraits from State Library of South Australia collections
- Look at other Flickr albums with World War One content - War Memorials of Adelaide, South Australian children and war and South Australia in 1914
- Identify our unidentified World War 1 soldiers within our South Australians of World War 1 Flickr group
- See our Military Records Library Guide for more resources about World War One, including resources for researching/finding a person
- Transcriptions of many letters and diaries which give firsthand accounts of experiences of World War One are available online via our catalogue
- Delve into the experiences of South Australians during World War One on the A World Away - South Australia's War website, presented by History Trust of South Australia in partnership with the State Library of South Australia
- Explore our World War One related datasets
Service records
The National Archives of Australia have digitised many service records of Australian soldiers who served in World War One. Search RecordSearch for service records or see their Discovering Anzacs website for further information.
Details of all AIF personnel can also be found at The AIF Project: Australian ANZACs in the Great War 1914-1918.
Official history
The Australian War Memorial has digitised the Official history of Australia in the war of 1914-1918 and has an extensive World War One resources.
AIF unit histories
See our list of World War One AIF units, comprised wholly or in part of South Australians, with published histories available at the State Library or online.
AIF unit war diaries
The Australian War Memorial provides digitised images of selected original war diaries recording the daily activities of Australian Army units in World War One.