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The Gallipoli campaign claimed around 8,000 AIF deaths in the First and
Second Division. Deaths in all further Divisions, including the reinforced
earlier First and Second Divisions, resulted in the approximate final
number of 62,000 deaths in World War 1. This meant that nearly 54,000
deaths had occurred in Northern European campaigns.
Whilst it should be remembered that the overall casualty rate of roughly
64.8% made the AIF one of the worst sufferers in regard to casualties.
Ironically, another major sufferer with regard to percentage of the losses
of the soldiers participating was Australia’s ANZAC partner, New
Zealand.
Remember that casualties include both soldiers killed and wounded and
because of their wounds unable to participate in any offensive. Therefore,
you can see why many AIF battalions had to wait for reinforcements
before being involved in the fighting again. The number is also an
indication of the heavy casualties suffered by the Australians in any
battles they fought in. All numbers and percentages are taken from the
AIF Project resourced from the Australian War Memorial.
What do statistics from the War Memorial tell us about the
composition and sacrifice of the AIF?
Most of the next information is taken from the Commonwealth Bureau of
Census and Statistics No 12, 1919 that stated that the 1919 Australian
population was approximately 4.9 million. E. Scott in “Australians During
The War” stated that approximately 420,000 Australians enlisted. This
represented roughly 39% of the Australian male population between the
ages of 18 and 44. While the Redhead contingent were mostly aged
around 18 to the early 20’s, a significant number of older men volunteered
in their 40s in the later phases of the war.
We should not forget that A.G. Butler in
Special Problems and Services
cites a total of 2,861 nurse volunteers in the Australian Army Nursing
Service. Imagine the horrors faced by these nurses.
Two other statistics are particularly relevant to the service of our local
soldiers. The first statistics relate to the casualty outcomes by the War’s
end. Again the numbers are taken from A.G. Butler’s
Special Problems
and Services
and the Australian War Memorial’s Roll of Honour.
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