Almost a million Australians served during the Second World War from 1939 to 1945. Australia’s proximity to the war in the Pacific forced us to question our relationships with the rest of the world.

The National Archives holds a wide range of records which deal with Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War.

Records disposal freeze: Records related to the Vietnam War - Details of the records disposal freeze

See the sketches of Rex Julius, a little-known war artist commissioned by the Australian War Memorial and Australian Military History Section in 1944.

This document explains the purpose and scope of the War Precautions Bill, introduced just weeks after the outbreak of the First World War.

Information on how to find records related to civilian service in the Second World War.

Information on National Archives records about national service and war, 1939–45.

This is a black-and-white poster from the Second World War encouraging readers to serve Australian produce at their dinner tables to support the war effort.

Find images of Australian servicemen from the First World War.

From 1914 to 1918, over 324,000 Australians served overseas in the First World War, with two-thirds becoming casualties. Their experiences had long-lasting effects on them, their families and society.

We have digitised around 1,060,000 Second World War service records as part of our large-scale World War II Digitisation Project.

Stories of Australia's returned World War I (WWI) service personnel have been brought to life in new videos produced by the National Archives of Australia.
Repatriation records held by the National Archives of Australia reveal the impact of war on the mental and physical health of returned service personnel and the experiences of their families.

This page identifies records of World War I internees, aliens and prisoners of war held in Canberra.

The First World War was fought on many fronts, but it was in France and Belgium that the war started and ended – and it was there that the largest number of Australian troops saw action.

When troops returned from the First World War and disembarked at docks across Australia, they carried the effects of their experiences in this terrible and destructive war.

The National Archives holds records of Australian servicemen and women from the First World War.

More than 2000 Australian nurses served in the Australian Army Nursing Service during the First World War.

Commemoration played an important role in helping Australians to come to terms with the physical and emotional costs of the First World War.

This is a poster produced in August 1914, as a souvenir of the declaration of World War I.

This fact sheet provides information on National Archives records about radar production and use in World War II.