Australia and New Zealand, as self-governing regions within the British Empire, played vital roles in the First World War. Over 400,000 men enlisted in the Australian armed forces, whilst many more men and women did essential war work at home.
New Zealand forces initially helped capture German colonial possessions in the Pacific. As mobilisation continued they went on to participate in campaigns in Gallipoli, the Middle East and the Western Front.
Australians fought by land, sea and air and were involved in almost all of the major campaigns. Through our First World War collection it is possible to create a picture of these battles, such as Gallipoli.
However, there are also other ANZAC stories, those of the individuals caught up in the conflict that can be uncovered from our files.
Exploring ANZACs
Find out why Mexican coins were presented to Australian seamen in our video.
You can:
- read more personal stories in our blog
- discover more about the Cocos battle, 1914
- learn about the New Zealand and Australian support for the imperial war effort
- listen to our podcast ‘Marjories War: four families and the great war’
- explore Discovering Anzacs from The National Archives of Australia and New Zealand
Gallipoli
Find out more about the Gallipoli landings from the newly digitised War Diary of Indian Army Captain C A Milnard. Our partner Findmypast has also released over 43,000 records relating to prisoners of war,including Gallipoli, records that form part of a wider collection held at The National Archives.
Explore photos of Gallipoli in our Flickr gallery.
Gallipoli Peninsula, Ottoman Empire, 1915 (catalogue reference: WO 317/1 (25) )
Browse a wide selection of Gallipoli titles in our online bookshop and read our blog for an overview of these titles.
Stephen Prince, head of the Naval Historical Branch, Ministry of Defence, also blogs about the Gallipoli landings on the History of Government blog.