Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force Nominal Roll

Detail from cover of the nominal roll of the ANMEF to New Guinea, 1914-1918, military component.  AWM AWM190 [4]

Yesterday I had cause to have a look at the WW1 Nominal Roll for the AIF, but noticed while tracking it down that a new roll had been added to the digital records - the ANMEF Nominal Roll which I had gone looking for about 4 years ago, but it was not then available on the AWM website.   I originally sought to find local men who had embarked in 1914 with the ANMEF.  I found a newspaper article naming the 104 men from Victoria who had departed with the Force, but they are not included in this nominal roll, presumably because they were Naval reservists.


The details included in the ANMEF nominal roll are Regimental Number, Rank, Full Name, Birthplace, Place of Enlistment, Date of Enlistment, Date of Embarkation, and Disposal (usually discharged at end of agreement.)  The record also contains annotations of subsequent AIF service.

Here is a link to the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force [Military Component] Nominal Roll, 1914-1918.

Bita Paka Commemoration 11 September

Staff of the Royal Australian Naval Brigade, Australian Navy and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF), after the operations against the Germans, September 1914. AWM A04003.

The Battle of Bita Paka, the first engagement of the Great War, will be commemorated in Papua New Guinea on Thursday 11 September, and the ABC TV will broadcast the ceremony live from PNG at 8 am (AEST).

Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force Commemoration

Flinders Street Station, advertising the 7th War Loan Bond.  Australian War Memorial Collection H02355.

The Victorian Government invites you
to the following free event:

Flinders Street Station departure of Australian
Naval and Military Expeditionary Force
(AN&MEF) Commemoration

When: 11am, Sunday 17 August 2014
Where: Flinders Street Station
Registration: Not required

More than one hundred naval officers and sailors departed Flinders Street Station by steam train in August 1914 on their way to Sydney before ultimately departing for German New Guinea where they were the first Australian servicemen to see action in the war. Among the AN&MEF troops was a young Victorian, Able Seaman Billy Williams, who was the first member of the Australian forces to be killed in World War One.

See also: The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force - First to Fight, 1914  Royal Australian Navy

Coconut Lancers in New Guinea, 1914

Staff of the Royal Australian Naval Brigade, AN&MEF, after the operations against the Germans,  September 1914. (AWM A04003).

Robert Curwen was one of the Victorian Contingent of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force which left for New Guinea shortly after the outbreak of the war, involved in securing the various German radio stations and bases in that area.  Rod Martin has explored Curwen's interesting naval and military experiences, and what he did after the war.   And explains just who the Coconut Lancers were.

Missing Embarkation Roll, N&MEF, 1914 - Updated! Updated again

Going Ashore: Naval Reserve drawn up on Rabaul wharf. Source unknown.

Rabaul, New Guinea, circa 1914.  German Headquarters after capture by the Australian Navy and Military Expeditionary Force.  The photo shows a New Guinea Guard lined up outside.   (AWM.  P00595.157)

The following list of men who volunteered for the Naval and Military Expeditionary Force in 1914 is not included in the AWM lists of Embarkation Rolls, nor do the men have a service record at the National Archives of Australia unless they re-enlisted after their return to Australia in 1915.   Later embarkation rolls for the NMEF exist, but this first one appears to have been lost.

This list includes the first casualty in the First World War, Able Seaman William George Vincent Williams.*  His death was described in a letter by Leading Seaman Robert Curwen, published in the Essendon Gazette on 15 October 1914, p.3.  (See update below)

A handful of men from the Essendon and Flemington district are noted in the list below.  Further research is being done on these men.



"VICTORIA'S QUOTA.
VOLUNTEERS NOW ENGAGED.
INTERESTING LIST

The following official list shows the ranks, names and addresses of Victoria's naval contribution to the successful Expeditionary force now in German New
Guinea -

Lieut. R G Bowen, Naval Staff Office, Port Melbourne
S. Lt. Chas Webber, 51 Dundas place, Albert Park, V
S. Lt. Avenal Hext, 42 Findlay street, Albert Park, V
Gnr. Young, N S Office, Launceston
Mid. Chas Wm Hicks, 11 Mitchell street, Northcote
Mid. Richards Stanley Veale, 17 Findlay street, Albert Park
Mid. Reg Langdon Fuller, 2 Chester street, Moonee Ponds    SEE BELOW
Mid. Colin Laurence, care of W N Edgar, Woodleigh, South Gippsland
Eng. Mid. Harry Alexr. Willian, Victoria street, Williamstown
Eng. Mid. Charles Matthew Cock, Mount Alexander road, Moonee Ponds
Ag. Yeo. Sig. Cyril Motton Urquhart, 47 Page street, Albert Park.
Ag. Yeo. Sig. Wilfred Jamieson 330 Montague street, Albert Park
L.S. Percy Collier, 188 Albert street, Port Melbourne
Acting Artif. Francis Geo Caborne, 8 Johns street, Footscray.
First Writer Ronald Fowler, 105 Verdon street, Williamstown V
A.B. Robert Williamson Goldie, Port Fairy North.
A.B. Frederick Horace Hale, 274 Russell street, Melbourne.
O.S. Geo Archd. Allen Guthrie, 125 Adams street, North Williamstown
O.S. Ed. Michael Smith, 86 Sutherland street, North Brunswick
O.S. Oswald Geo McLaren 11 Nerford place, Albert Park.
O.S. William Nathaneul Gothard, care of Jenkins, Arthur street, Fairfield.
O.S. Charles Craig Philpot, 50 Davis street, North Carlton.
Second Writer Leslie William Trickey, 124 Lord street Richmond.
O.S. Alfred Henry Holmes, Golf Links avenue, Oakleigh
Sto. 1 Alex Joseph Congues, 31 Cruickshank street Port Melbourne.
Second Ck. Albert William Hudson, 136 Thistlethwaite street, South Melbourne.
O. Sig. Oscar Vincent, 4 Isabella grove, Hawthorn.
Second SS William Charles Parlett, 13 Launder street, Glenferrie
Sto. 2 George Jarrett, Percy street, Portland
Act. Art. Raymond S. Hammerburg, 300 Ross street, Port Melbourne
O.S. Frederick Jackson Sinel, 17 Leek street Yarraville.
O.S. Sydney Lewis Patterson, Gawler street, Portland
O.S. William Higgie, 21 McGregor street, Middle Park
Blacksmith's Mate, Percy Reginald Harrison, 16 Railway street, Footscray.
P.O. Henry Richd Orpen, 10 Sydney road, Moreland.
A.B. Rupert Leslie Bourne, Rossville, Speight street, Northcote
A.B. George Revington Spunner 20 Bruce street, Kensington
L.S. William George Redfern, Allestree, Portland
L. Sto. Edward James Butler, 50 Ireland street, West Melbourne
A.B. Vivian Pithouse, Pentinok street, Portland
A.B. John Stubbs, 56 Chetwynd street,West Melbourne
R.M.L.I. Alfred Mitchell, 9 Winter street, Malvern
A.B. Joseph Henry Watford, 13 Princes street, North Williamstown.
A.B. Cyril Frank Hall, Falstaff Restaurant, Spencer street Melbourne
R.M.L.I. Sydney Edward Bunelow, 36 Ridgway avenue, Kew.
A.B. Thomas McCarron, 60 Lorne street, Moonee Ponds.
L. Sig. (R.N.V.A.R.) William Arthur Vale, 4 Sturt street, Collingwood
T.S. Fred Knight, 219 York street, South Melbourne
A.B. Frank Caulton, 117 Stevedore street, Williamstown.
A.B. Herbert Campbell, Dover street, Williamstown
A.B. Charles Burgess, Park crescent, Williamstown
A.B. Leslie Miles, 359 Rae street, North Fitzroy
A.B. George Royston McDonald, 100 Langridge street, Collingwood.
A.B. Theodore Sydney Hooks, 181 Pelham street, Carlton
O. S. Frank Melbourne Robertson, 208 Albert road, Albert Park
C.P.O. George Robert Palmer, 60 Fitzgibbon street, Parkville
A.B. Harry Mumford, 7 William street, Yarraville
A.B. Sidney Edward Staines, 103 McIlwraith street, North Carlton
A.B. George Henry Elkine, 74 Francis street Ascotvale.
A.B. William Walter Allen, Hurd street, Portland
A.B. Nelson Blair Beglin, Hurd street, Portland
A.B. James Dumbleton, 17 York, street Yarraville.
A.B. William Thomas Tonkin, 9 Evelyn street, Brunswick
A.B. Arthur William Robinson, Cramer House, Cramer road, Beaumaris.
A.B. Frank Currie, 181 Pelham street, Carlton
O.S. Henry James Merrick, 37 Garden street, Port Melbourne.
Sto. Arthur William Bennett, care of Mrs Waters, Little Collins street, Melbourne.
Sto. 1 William John Looby, 55 Charles street, St Kilda.
Sto. 1 Frederick Taylor, 14 Stawell street, Farnley
P.O. 2 George Hunt, 401 Nicholson street, North Carlton
M.A.A. John Hartley Beaton, 174 Osborne street, Williamstown 
 Sto 1 Thomas Cardoe, Broadmeadows Hotel Broadmeadows
A.B. Mordicia Bower Smith, Allambee, Yarragon
A.B. Claude Bensley, 103 Kerford road, Albert Park
L.S.1 Ernest Robert Midley, 6 Gillman street, East Malvern.
Sto. Charles Allen Harris, 157 Cruikshank street, Port Melbourne.
A.B. William Robert Turner, 181 Pelham street, Carlton
Sto. Ralph Wickham, 33 Blair street, Brunswick East.
A.B. Robert Lawrence Martin, 49 Grieve street, North Fitzroy.
A.B. William Robert Hartwell, care of Parsons' Brooke street, Westgarth, Heidelberg
L.S. William McLoughlan, 66 Smith street, South Melbourne.
A.B. Charles Keiller, Hurd street, Portland.
A.B. John Webber, 8 Alexander crescent, South Yarra.
A.B. Gordon Dundstrom, (?), 39 Richardson street, Albert Park.
A.B. William Everest, 125 Stoke street, Port Melbourne.
Painter Harry Herbert Porfrey, 353 Coventry street, South Melbourne
A.B. Cecil Percy Thoresby, 110 Inkerman street, St Kilda.
L.S. Robert Curwen, 35 Primrose street, Moonee Ponds.
A.B. George Alford, 96 Raglan street, Port Melbourne.
Sto. Leslie Sinclair Eastman, 617 Brunswick street, North Fitzroy.
L. Sto. Neil McDonald, 480 Albert street, East Melbourne
Sto. 2 Walter Taylor, 747 Drummond street, North Carlton.
A.B. Frank Elliott, 151 Brighton street, Richmond.
Sto. P.O. William Geo. Thomas Richardson, 37 Railway place, Williamstown
Sto 1 Alexander Allison, 14 Gladstone place, South Melbourne.
A.B. Donald McLachlan, 83 Queen's parade, North Fitzroy.
Shipwright Robert Boyd, 76 North road, Newport.
A.B. Donald Ross, 230 Richardson street, Middle Park.
Sto. 1 Charles Arthur Cook, 209 Grant street, North Melbourne.
Sto. Thomas Smith, 59 Nelson place, Williamstown.
Sto. James Fraser, Sailor's Home, Melbourne.
A.B. William Geo Vincent Williams, 36 Beaver road, Northcote    * (see above)
Engr Thomas James Hughes, Port Fairy.
A.B. William Knox, 56 Murray street, Prahran".

[104 names of Victorians]

GERMAN NEW GUINEA. (1914, September 14). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 7. Retrieved March 3, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10806307

It is possible that a similar list can be found for a NSW contingent.

UPDATE:  Further information suggests that while the first Australian to be wounded in the Great War was AB Williams,   Captain Brian Colden Antill Pockley was the first to die of his wounds, aboard the Berrima, while Williams died of his wounds a little while later.

UPDATE:  I've just realised that the Midshipman Reg Langdon FULLER should be Reginald Langdon BULLER.

UPDATE: June 2020  Stoker 1 William John Looby is on my WW1 database, so I have added a link to his page.

Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force, 1915

Taken at the Liverpool Camp, NSW

These men were from the 'Victorian Quota' of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force which was formed quickly in 1914 and dispatched to Rabaul, New Britain, to seize and destroy German wireless stations in the south–west Pacific.  Private James Cason Livesay is seated at far left of the middle row.  Any further identifications would be welcome.  James left Victoria in December or November (his enlistment date and embarkation in his records date are incompatible!), and returned to Victoria in December 1915 at the termination of his engagement.  Photo courtesy of Geoff Haynes.