Australian Army Casualties & VCs

Australian Army Casualties and VCs

Calculating precise casualty figures for events such as battles, campaigns and wars is a difficult undertaking even for modern armies. The wide range of figures encountered in various official or academic sources provides ample evidence of the problem. Many issues contribute to these discrepancies. For example, deciding to list a casualty as Killed in Action (KIA), rather than as Died of Wounds (DoW) or Missing in Action (MiA) can change that set of statistics quite significantly. Without knowing the full details of each casualty included, the Died of Wounds classification can induce significant errors into casualty assessments of particular campaigns. There are many instances of soldiers surviving for months before succumbing to their injuries and it is difficult to link these to the battle or campaign in which the wound was received. Non battle casualties, especially accident victims and those caused by sickness, are particularly difficult to categorise and induce differences in statistics. The administration of casualties included additional capacity for error and confusion. The casualty, often unconscious, could be mis-identified, counted more than once or treated and moved on without being recorded. Records could be lost or destroyed, particularly in retreats or rapid advances. Other factors also affect figures – men being discharged as medically unfit, re-enlisting later and again being discharged for a recurrence of the original injury (apparently not an uncommon phenomenon during World War One).Much of the material written about Australia’s military history uses casualty figures to illustrate the scale of Australia’s involvement and sacrifice.

Unfortunately, as mentioned, the figures vary widely between sources and discrepancies are often the focus of unjust criticism of the material. The Army History Unit has been checking casualty figures included in some material on military history intended for issue to Australian Schools. To assist in that task, the Unit compiled a list of casualty figures from the usual sources used by Army for historical research. That list is set out in the attached paper. It is provided for general use as an aid to research. The Army History Unit does not certify the accuracy of any or all of the figures in the attached tables, nor does it suggest that any one of the consulted sources is more or less likely to be "more accurate" than any of the others. The Unit does not have the resources to undertake a research task of the magnitude required to underpin such a judgement.

SOURCES

‘The Australian Army … A brief history’ AABH
‘Army Australia An Illustrated History’
- George Odgers GO

‘Australian Defence: Sources and Statistics’
– Joan Beaumont JB

Oxford Companion to Australian Military History.
[Dennis, Peter, et al.] South Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1995. OCAMH

Australian War Memorial Web Site AWM

‘A Military History Of Australia’ JG
- Jeffrey Grey

THE BOER WAR 1899-1902

AABH - A total of 16,175 men and 16,314 horses left Australia in the various contingents to serve in South Africa.

Casualties:

AABH

251 killed in action or died of wounds
267 died of illness
43 missing in action
Five Victoria Crosses were awarded to members of the Australian colonial and national contingents.

JB - Army Australian Total
Deaths 251 251
(One nurse was killed in the Boer War JB 367)

OCAMH
16,175 left Australia

251 KIA or DOW
267 Died of Disease
43 missing
5 VCs awarded

KIA/DOW		Died of Disease		Wounded		PoW	Missing	Total
Officers	ORs	Officers	ORs	Officers	ORs	Officers		Officers	ORs
29	222	9	258	77	658	5	43	120	1280

WORLD WAR 1

Gallipoli

AABH - 26,111 Total Army Casualties = 1,007 officers, 25,104 other ranks

362 officers and 7,779 men total Army deaths.
Australian casualties for the Gallipoli campaign were 26,111 – 1,007 officers and 25,104 other ranks.
Of these, 362 officers and 7,779 men were killed in action, died of wounds or succumbed to disease.

AABH: Nine Victoria Crosses were won by soldiers in Australian units.

JB -

Deaths		Wounded		Missing		Total
Officers	ORs	Officers	ORs	Officers	ORs	Officers	ORs
359	7800	664	17260	0	11	1023	25071

Western Front

AABH - The AIF strength in France was maintained at some 117,000 men.
- Battle casualties for the three years of trench warfare between 1916 and 18 were over 181,000, including 46,000 dead.

114,000 were wounded, 16,000 gassed and nearly 4,000 were taken prisoners of war.
In terms of total deaths per 1,000 men mobilised, the AIF figure was 145 - the highest of all the British Commonwealth armies.

Sinai, Palestine and Syria

AABH - Total battle casualties for the AIF in this campaign were 416 officers and 4,435 other ranks, with 96 officers and 1,278 enlisted men dying from all causes.

World War 1 Totals

GO - 330,000 served
- 59,342 died
- 152,171 wounded

JB - Army Australian Total
Deaths 58355 58637

AIF:

Theatre	Deaths	Wounded	PoW
MEF	8159	17924	102
Western Front	46960	131406	3853
Egyptian Exp Force	1282	2617	129
UK	1938	1	N/a

JG
JG
AIF:

Theatre	Deaths	Wounded	Gassed	PoW	Totals
MEF
Officers	362	639		6	1007
ORs	7779	17261		64	25104
BEF (Western Front)
Officers	2261	4778	583	148	7770
ORs	44058	109654	15904	3713	173329
Egyptian Exp Force
Officers	96	304		16	416
ORs	1278	3047		110	4435
UK
Officers	107
ORs	2191	1

TOTALS
Officers	2826	5721	583	170	9300
ORs	55306	129963	15904	3887	205060

AWM

Enlistments	Deaths	Wounded	PoW	Totals
416809	61,720	155000	4044
Includes AFC	199 RAN		397 died
324000 served O/S
No figs for RAN

WORLD WAR II ARMY CASUALTIES

AABH - over 724,000 enlistments, with almost 400,000 serving outside Australia

over 18,000 deaths
22,000 wounded
over 20,000 prisoners of war, mainly from the early stage of the war with Japan.

GO - 726,543 served

18,713 died

JB - Army Australian Total
Deaths 18675 30445

JG

SERVICE	KIA/DOW	Wounded	Gassed	PoW	Totals
RAN	2004	579		263	2846
AMF	21558	177049		20920	219527
RAAF	10264	3236		1876	15376
ALL SERVICES	33826	180864		23059	237749

War Against Germany

SERVICE	KIA/DOW	Wounded	PoW	Totals
RAN	876	26	26	928
AMF	3539	8578	7055	19172
RAAF	5116	529	1459	7104
ALL SERVICES	9531	9133	8540	27204

War Against Japan

SERVICE	KIA/DOW	Wounded	PoW	Totals
RAN	953	553	237	1743
AMF	15136	13275	13865	42276
RAAF	1331	253	417	2001
ALL SERVICES	17420	14081	14519	46020

Non-Battle Casualties:
all theatres and Australia

	Killed	Injured	Totals
RAN	175		175
AMF	2883	155196	158079
RAAF	3817	2454	6271
ALL SERVICES	6875	157650	164525

AWM

	Enlistments		Deaths	Wounded	PoW
				All Services	All Services
	Men	Women			Germany	Japan
AIF & Militia	691400	35800	26097	66553	8184 Germany	22376 8,031 died
RAN	45800	3100	2208
RAAF	189700	27200	11061

THE WAR IN KOREA 1950-53

AABH - Australian Army casualties totalled 276 killed in action or died of wounds, 1210 wounded in action and 23 prisoners of war.
GO - 293 killed - 1210 wounded
JB - Army Australian Total - Deaths 293 339
OCAMH Total, all services Deaths Casualties POW 339 1584 29
JG

SERVICE	KIA/DOW	Other Deaths	Wounded	PoW	Totals
RAN	2	3	6		11
ARA	276	17	1210	23	1526
RAAF	28	13		6	47
ALL SERVICES	306	33	1216	29	1584

AWM

	Enlistments	Deaths	Wounded	PoW

ARMY	10657	339	1216	29
				1 died
RAN	4507
RAAF	2000 (approx)

MALAYAN EMERGENCY 1955-60

AABH - approximately 7,000 served
13 killed in action (KIA)
24 wounded (WIA)
21 non-operational deaths
111 cases of non-operational other casualties.
The Emergency was declared officially ended on 31 July 1960.

JB - Army Australian Total - Deaths 345

OCAMH Total, all services Deaths Wounded 51 (15 in opns) 27

JG

Service	Operational		Non-operational		Totals
	Fatal	Non-fatal	Fatal	Non-fatal
RAN			4	43	47
ARA	13	24	21	111	169
RAAF	2	3	11	18	34
ALL SERVICES	15	27	36	172	250

AWM

	Enlistments	Deaths	Wounded	PoW
ARMY	7000	36	20
RAN	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
RAAF	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

AQwhat????CONFRONTATION********************

JB - Army Australian Total

Deaths 17 23

Service	Operational		Non-operational		Totals
	Fatal	Non-fatal	Fatal	Non-fatal
RAN		1	2	83	86
ARA	7	6	10	14	37
RAAF		1	4	3	8
ALL SERVICES	7	8	16	100	131

AWM

	Enlistments	Deaths	Wounded	PoW
ARMY	3500	15	9
RAN	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
RAAF	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

VIETNAM WAR 1962-72

AABH - Army casualties in Vietnam were

413 KIA/DoW
two MIA
2,026 WIA
64 non-battle deaths and
999 other casualties.

415 killed
2348 WIA
59 NBD (non-battle deaths)

Australian Defence Totals

425 KIA
2398 WIA
71 NBD

JB - Army Australian Totals

KIA/DOW 413 423
Missing presumed dead 24
NBD 64 74
Total deaths 479 501 (on p349 gives these as 478/500)
WIA 2026 2069
Other 999 3632

OCAMH ARMY NAVY RAAF

KIA/DOW 415 46
NBD 79 4 11
Wdd 2348 20 30
Civilian Deaths 7

Casualties Vietnam War: 1962-1972

Service	KIA/DOW	Missing presumed dead	Non-battle deaths	Wounded	Other	Totals
RAN	6		2	13	37	58
ARMY to April 66	28	1	7	154	30	220
From MAY 1966
ARA	200		42	986	567	1795
NS	184	1	15	880	399	1479
CMF	1			6	3	10
RAAF	4	2	8	30	26	70
ALL SERVICES	423	4	74	2069	1062	3632

AWM

	Enlistments	Deaths	Wounded	PoW
ARMY	42700	520(incl 4 missing)	2398
RAN	2825
RAAF	4443

VICTORIA CROSSES

93 Victoria Crosses have been awarded to members of the Australian Army, 3 to RAAF.This covers the period 1900 (Neville Howse) to 1969 (Vietnam). It includes those who had served in Australian forces either before or at the time of their award, or who had lived in Australia for ‘a significant period’ before receiving the award.

OFFCUTS

Gallipoli

JB - Deaths Wounded Missing

Officers ORs Officers ORs Officers ORs

359 7800 664 17260 0 11

Total Casualties

Officers ORs

1023 25071