X-Nico

unusual facts about Australian Imperial Force



Allan Ashbolt

He was born in Melbourne and attended Caulfield Grammar School, and served with the Australian Imperial Force in World War II.

Amiens, Queensland

The name Amiens refers to the World War One battlefield in northern France, of special importance to the Australian Imperial Force in March–April 1918.

Arthur Wesley Wheen

Shortly after turning eighteen, he decided to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force and, soon thereafter, was posted to Egypt where he served as a signaller for the 54th Battalion at a military base near the Tel-el-Kebir.

Aubrey Abbott

He joined the New South Wales Police Force and on 1914 enlisted in the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force, and then transferred to the Australian Imperial Force, and served in New Guinea, Gallipoli, and Sinai.

Bert Main

He served in the Australian Imperial Force and the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II, but later returned to zoology, qualifying as a Doctor of Philosophy in 1956, and becoming a Professof of Zoology in 1967.

Birdwood, South Australia

The new name honoured Sir William Birdwood, the Australian Imperial Force general who led the ANZACs at Gallipoli.

Cecil Elphinstone

During World War I he was involved in several business ventures and served in the Australian Imperial Force for a few months in 1918.

Cecil McVilly

In World War I he was commissioned as second lieutenant into the Australian Imperial Force on 9 December 1915 and was posted to 'B' Company, 40th Battalion.

Clifford Sadlier

He was 26 years old, and a Lieutenant in the 51st Battalion, Australian Imperial Force during the First World War when the following deed took place during the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux for which he was awarded the VC.

Colin Rankin

During World War I Rankin served briefly in 1915 with the Australian Imperial Force in Egypt before appointment to command the 11th Brigade in the newly formed 3rd Division, as temporary brigadier general from 1 May 1916.

Cyril Connell, Snr.

Connell was born in Sydney, New South Wales and in his youth he served with the Australian Imperial Force in World War I in France.

David Fenbury

On 29 October 1941 Fenbury joined the Australian Imperial Force, where he was commissioned lieutenant and posted to the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit, during this period he led geurrilla operations, reconnaissance, and fighting patrols in Japanese-held territories.

Frederick Hamilton March

When the First World War started, March enlisted as a private in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in September 1915, giving his occupation as chauffeur.

Harold Hardwick

He later became a colonel in the Australian Imperial Force.

He joined the Australian Imperial Force in August 1917 and served in World War I with the No.2

History of Wagga Wagga

The town was the starting point of the "Kangaroo March", one of a series of snowball marches conducted in New South Wales during the war where groups of recruits would march toward Sydney and appeal to men in the towns along the route to join them and enlist in the Australian Imperial Force.

Jim Gerald

Fitzgerald enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 5 May 1916 and served in Mesopotamia as a driver with the 1st Australian and New Zealand Wireless Signal Squadron.

Joe Lamaro

He served in the Australian Imperial Force's 18th Battalion from 1916 to 1917 in the signals unit, seeing action at Ypres and the Somme.

Leonard Mann

He served in the Australian Imperial Force during World War I, and with the Department of Aircraft Production in World War II.

Lewis McGee

As a sergeant in the Australian Imperial Force, McGee was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in the Battle of Broodseinde—part of the Passchendaele offensive—on 4 October 1917.

Marich Buildings, Fremantle

In 1917 he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, serving in the 11th Infantry Battalion during World War I.

Mick Frawley

Frawley served with the 1st Australian Imperial Force in on the Western Front during World War I.

Mount Clarence, Western Australia

Albany is associated with the Desert Mounted Corps in that the mounted troops and the rest of the first detachment of the Australian Imperial Force and the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (later know collectively as ANZACs) left Albany in a convoy of ships in November 1914 to join World War I.

No. 69 Squadron RAF

To avoid confusion with No. 3 Squadron, RAF, it was known to the British military as "No. 69 Squadron", although this terminology was never accepted by the squadron or the Australian Imperial Force.

William Amiet

He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 2 May 1916 and set sail for England in October, seeing active service in France from June 1917.


see also

Chauvel

Harry Chauvel GCMG, KCB (1865–1945), senior officer of the Australian Imperial Force who fought in the First World War