Ballarat historian Weston Bate says in Lucky City that Colonial Victoria 'welcomed the Boer War as an opportunity to prove their mettle as well as their loyalty. It was noteworthy that Ballarat sustained a voluntary militia of over 400 men in a population of 40 000 at the turn of the century. This commitment compared most favourably with Melbourne and Sandhurst. [pp 258-9]
Ballarat is the oldest Infantry Battalion in Victoria
The Australian War Memorial and the Australian National Archives are invaluable online resources for all enlisted personnel and their records of service.
Ballarat Military Research References
The Ballarat Star newspaper, digitised and on Trove 1855-1924, reported regularly on activities of Volunteer Rifle Rangers.
The Society has access to an index of 5562 names of Ballarat Volunteer Rangers 1858-1901, courtesy of Neil Leckie Manager of Ballarat Ranger Military Museum.
http://www.ballaratmilitarymuseum.org.au
We also liaise with Military History and Heritage Victoria Inc for enquires. For tours of the Ballarat Old and New Cemeteries research is continuing into burials of ex-service men and women.
Ballarat Officers and Men who Served in South Africa 1899-1901 - list of 100 names and their contingents. Indeed on the bronze panels added later to the base of the Boer War statue are the names of all Victorians who served in the African Campaign.
McCallum's Ballarat District Citizens and Sports by M M McCallum, 1916 mentions military exploits in the biographies.
Dinkum Oil : Letters published in the Ballarat Courier During the Great War, Amanda M Taylor, self published, 2006
Please request lookups via the Research page.
They Answered Their Country's Call : Short accounts of service and sacrifice from Ballarat General Cemeteries, by Garry Snowden, Ballarat Heritage Services, 2015. Produced to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the beginning of The Great War 1914-1918, this is a most valuable contribution to our collection of resources as it provides information on around 1350 WW1 servicemen and women who are buried or memorialised in the Ballarat Old Cemetery and the Ballarat New Cemetery.
Australian Ex-Prisoner of War Memorial Ballarat
http://www.powmemorialballarat.com.au/index.php/media-and-photos/virtual-tour
Home Front Ballarat WW1
To commemorate the centenary of ANZAC the Ballarat & District Genealogical Society compiled a database of people and what we could discover about their contribution to the war effort. A Commonwealth Government grant from the Department of Veterans' Affairs enabled us to publish this electronically. Our project began with the tree planters in the Avenue of Honour who planted trees for all soldiers, sailors, airmen and nurses from Ballarat and District who enlisted in World War 1. Their names were cross-referenced with others who were in involved in the war effort through various businesses, churches and community organisations.
Home Front Ballarat WW1 was the winner of the Commemoration of World War One category at the 2016 Victorian Comunnity History Awards.
The Avenue of Honour extends for 22k along the Western Highway from Ballarat to Burrumbeet. There are almost 4000 trees with bronze plaques showing the name, tree number and battalion. Our Research Team is able to do lookups for individuals and their ~4000 trees. These were planted in order of enlistment. Even numbers on the south side and odd numbers on north. Please lodge requests for information via the Research page or our online request form here.
