Australian Army WWII Service Numbers

WWII in Australia
Written By John Casey

Men of the 2/33rd Battalion, landing on a beach at Balikpapan

For those who may have had relatives who served in the army during WWII or even if you have done some research, you would have come across a person’s service number. This number was unique to WWII. So, what did it all mean? The Australian War Memorial in their article “Army Numbers” has the details.

 

“The Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) was raised as a separate army and introduced its own numbering system. Numbers were allocated according to the military district in which the soldier enlisted, commencing from 1. The number was prefixed with an index letter for the district and an “X” to indicate enlistment in the Second AIF (for example VX12843). The district indexes were:

  • Q - 1st Military District (Queensland)

  • N - 2nd Military District (New South Wales)

  • V - 3rd Military District (Victoria)

  • S - 4th Military District (South Australia)

  • W – 5th Military District (Western Australia)

  • T – 6th Military District (Tasmania)

  • D – 7th Military District (Northern Territory)

Additional prefixes were introduced as the war progressed. These included:

  • P – Papua

  • NG – New Guinea

  • F – Female

The prefix “F” was added to the other prefixes (for example VFX3596).

Army numbers for CMF (Citizen or Part time Military Forces) and PMF (Permanent Military Forces) used the same district prefixes. PMF soldiers’ numbers also included a “P” to indicate they were serving with the permanent force (for example VP3596).

Initially, members of the CMF who had volunteered for service in the Second AIF had an “M” inserted into their service number (for example VMX1234). Due to tension between the forces and confusion over duplication of numbers, the practice was discontinued in 1942. New AIF numbers (without an “M”) were issued to all soldiers who were transferred to the AIF.

After the Second World War, Australian troops joined the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) in Japan on the 21 February 1946. Members of the Second AIF serving in Japan kept their original service number. The Second AIF officially ceased to exist on the 30 June 1947. All Second AIF personnel still on full-time duty were transferred to the Interim Army on 1 July 1947.”

 

Source:

Australian War Memorial, Army Numbers, Retrieved 15th September 2024, from https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/numbers/army

John Casey
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