Abbreviations in Australian World War 1 Military Records
| 2LT | Second Lieutenant - Commander of a Platoon or equivalent sized unit [See also LT] |
| A/ | Acting, Assistant - eg Acting Corporal, Assistant Adjutant |
| A/A, A-A, AA | Anti-Aircraft (Battery, Regiment etc) |
| ALROC or LROC | [Australian] Light Rail Operating Company |
| ABGROC or BGROC | [Australian] Broad Gauge Railway Operating Company |
| ABDO | Abdomen/Abdominal |
| ADBD | Australian Division Base Depot - Numbered in accordance with the Division |
| AGBD | Australian General Base Depot |
| AIBD | Australian Infantry Base Depot |
| AIEF | Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force |
| AIF | Australian Imperial Force |
| AAH | Australian Auxilliary Hospital |
| AAMC | Australian Army Medical Corps |
| ACC | Accident, Accidental |
| ACH | Australian Convalencent Hospital |
| ADH | Australian Dermatological Hospital |
| ADJ, ADJT | Adjutant - Administrative officer in a unit |
| AGH | Australian General Hospital |
| AM | Albert Medal - Imperial Medal for Life Saving, in Gold (1st Class) or Bronze (Second Class), awarded for either Land or Sea and later replaced by the George Cross or George Medal to those still living. The modern Australian equivalent is the Cross of Valour (CV) |
| AMP | Amputated |
| AMT Coy | Australian Motor Transport Company |
| AN&MEF | Australian Navy and Military Expeditionary Force - The volunteer force sent in 1915 to German New Guinea and the to seize German property and possessions, destroy German wireless installations and act as an occupying force for the duration of the war. |
| ANZAC | Australian and New Zealand Army Corps |
| AOC | Army Ordnance Corps |
| AOR | At Own Request |
| ASC | Army Service Corps |
| AVC | Army Veterinary Corps |
| AWL, AWOL | Absent Without Leave |
| BAR | Bar - A medal awarded more than once, e.g. two awards of the MC are known as MC and Bar. |
| BATT, BTN, BN | Battalion - An infantry unit of up to four companies and an administrative headquarters, generally commanded by a LT COL |
| BDR | Bombardier - Artillery rank equivalent to Corporal. |
| BEF | British Expeditionary Force |
| BGROC | Broad Gauge Rail Operating Company |
| BRIG | 1. Brigadier or Brigadier-General - The commander of a Brigade or higher formation 2. Brigade - A formation of 3 or 4 Infantry Battalions with supporting arms and services. |
| BRIT | British |
| CAPT | Captain - Second in command of a company or acting company commander |
| CB | Confined to Barracks - Confinement to Barracks when not in the field was a punishment which permitted soldiers to perform their usual duties during normal work hours, but required them to report every hour, on the hour from 6:00am to start of work, at lunch time and between cessation of work and 10:00pm. It included morning and evening periods of drill on the parade ground and reporting in different forms of dress at different times. |
| CCS | Casualty Clearing Station |
| CdeG | Croix de Guerre - French gallantry award |
| C in C | Commander in Chief - Commander in a theatre of war |
| CO | Commanding Officer - of a battalion or equivalent unit [See also OC] |
| COMD |
1. Commander 2. Command - Geographical area of military control within Australia |
| CO, COY | Company- Sub-unit of a battalion, commanded by a Major or Captain. |
| COL | Colonel - Senior staff office or Commander of a brigade |
| CORP, CPL | Corporal - Commander of a section of 10 or so soldiers |
| CPT | 1. Captured 2. Captain |
| CQMS | Company Quartermaster Sergeant - Staff sergeant, second highest ranking NCO in a Company |
| CSM | Company Sergeant Major - Warrant officer class 2, the highest ranking NCO in a company |
| C'TOWN | Capetown, South Africa |
| CYC BN | Cyclist Battalion |
| DAC | Divisional Ammunition Column |
| DAH | Defective Aorta Heart |
| DCM | Distinguished Conduct Medal - Level 2 Imperial award for solders up to the rank of Warrant Officer. The modern Australian equivalent is the Star of Gallantry (SG). |
| DEF | Defective |
| DISCH | Discharge, Discharged |
| DIS | Disembarked |
| DIV | Division - Formation consisting of three brigades plus supporting arms and services |
| DOA | Died of Accident |
| DOI | Died of Illness or injury |
| DOW | Died of Wounds |
| DRO | Daily Routine Orders |
| DRS | Division Rest Station [For minor injuries, infections etc] |
| DSO | Distinguished Service Order - Level 2 Imperial award for officers. T. |
| DTN | Detention |
| DUS | Depot Unit Supply |
| DVR | Driver - Rank equivalent to Private |
| EEF | Egyptian Expeditionary Force |
| EC, E.C. E Comd etc | Eastern Command (Also known as 2 MD) |
| ENG | England |
| ENGR | Engineers |
| EVAC | Evacuated, Evacuation |
| FAB | Field Artillery Brigade |
| FCE | Field Company Engineers |
| FD | Field |
| FP1, FP2 | Field Punishment No 1 or No 2 - Field punishment was an award by a commanding officer or court martial for an offence committed on active service. FP1 consisted of heavy labouring duties whilst restrainedin handcuffs or fetters and being tied to a post or wheel. FP2 did not involve attachment to a fixed object. |
| FM | Field Marshal - Highest officer rank |
| FRACT | Fractured |
| GEN | General - Commander of an Army |
| GNR | Gunner - Artillery rank equivalent to Private |
| GOC | General Officer Commanding |
| GSW | Gunshot Wound |
| HMAT | His Majesty's Australian Transport - Troop ship |
| HMT | His Majesty's Transport - British as opposed to Australian |
| HQ | Headquarters |
| HS | Hospital Ship |
| ICC | Imperial Camel Corps |
| IHL | Incarceration and Hard Labour |
| IMP | 1. Imperial 2. Imprisoned |
| INJ | Injured - As oppposed to wounded |
| KIA | Killed in Action |
| LBS | Pounds weight (450gm) |
| LCPL, L/CPL | Lance Corporal - Second in Command of a Section |
| Ld'H | Legion d'Honneur - French gallantry award, with a number of diffefrent levels. |
| L of C | Line of Communications - the route that connects an operating military unit with its supply base. |
| LMG | Light Machinegun - belt or magazine-fed automatic section weapon, capable of firing bursts of multiple rounds as long as the trigger is pressed, normally supported by a bipod. (See also MG,SMG) |
| LROC | Light Rail Operating Company |
| LSGT, L/SGT | Lance Sergeant - A Corporal as the temporary 2IC of a Platoon, but wearing the same three stripes as a Sergeant |
| LTCOL, LT COL | Lieutenant Colonel - Commander of a battalion or equivalent unit |
| LT, LIEUT | Lieutenant - Commander of a platoon [See also 2LT] |
| LTGEN, LT GEN | Lieutenant General - Commander of a Corps of two or three Divisions |
| LTMB | Light Trench Mortar Battery |
| MAJ | Major - Commander of a company or equivalent unit |
| MAJ GEN | Major General - Commander of a Division of three Brigades |
| MC | Military Cross - Level 3 Imperial award for junior officers and warrant officers. The modern Australian equivalent is the Medal for Gallantry (MG). |
| MD | Military District, as under: |
| 1 MD | Queensland plus Casino, Lismore and Grafton [from NSW] and NT |
| 2 MD | New South Wales less Casino, Lismore, Grafton [to NSW], Broken Hill Torrowangee and Silverton [to SA], Corowa, South Corowa, Mulwala, Moama, Mathoura and Deniliquin [to VIC], plus Wodonga, Barnawartha, Chiltern and Tallangatta [from VIC] |
| 3 MD | Victoria less Wodonga, Barnawartha, Chiltern and Tallangatta [to NSW], plus Corowa, South Corowa, Mulwala, Moama, Mathoura and Deniliquin [from NSW] |
| 4 MD | South Australia plus Broken Hill, Torrowangee and Silverton [from NSW] |
| 5 MD | Western Australia |
| 6 MD | Tasmania |
| 7 MD | After WW1, Papua New Guinea was ceded to Australia and added as the 7th Military District |
| MEF | Mediterranian Expeditionary Force |
| MG | Machine gun, Machinegun - belt-fed automatic small-arm capable of firing bursts of multiple rounds as long as the trigger is pressed, normally fired from a tripod or bipod, can be water-cooled. (See also LMG, SMG) |
| MGB | Machine Gun Battalion |
| MGC | Machine Gun Company |
| MM | Military Medal - Level three Imperial award for soldiers and Warrant Officers. The modern Australian equivalent is the Medal for Gallantry (MG). |
| MIA | Missing in Action |
| MID | Mentioned in Despatches - Level four Imperial award for all ranks, not used as a postnominal. The modern Australian equivalent is the Commendation for Gallantry or Distinguished Service. |
| MSM | Meritorious Service Medal - Imperial award made rarely for gallantry, more often for efficient/effective service. The modern Australian equivalent is the Conspicuous Servuce Cross (CSC) or the Conspicuous Service Medal (CSM) |
| MTC | Mechanised Transport Company |
| MU | Medically Unfit |
| NC, N.C. N Comd etc | Northern Command (Also known as 1 MD) |
| NEG | Negligent, Negligently |
| NAB | Not Available |
| NTH | North |
| NZEF | New Zealand Expeditionary Force |
| OBE | Order of the British Empire - Imperial honour granted to officers for gallantry, but more often for effective/efficient service and colloquially known by Australian soldiers as "Other Bastards Efforts". The modern Australian equivalent is an award in the Order of Australia. |
| OC | Officer Commanding - a Company sized unit or subunit |
| OIC | Officer in Charge - Generally in respect of an administrative unit |
| OTB | Overseas Training Battalion |
| OZ | Ounces weight (28.35gm) |
| PNR | Assault Pioneer - latterly, the soldiers acting as engineers within a Battalion, but as a unit, engineers more often associated with offensive action such as minelaying |
| POW | Prisoner of War |
| PTE | Private - base rank in the Army |
| PREV | Previously |
| PS | Penal Servitude |
| PUO | Pyrexia [Fever] of unknown origin. Also known as 'Trench Fever' |
| QM | Quartermaster - normally a Captain in a Battalion |
| QMS | Quartermaster Sergeant - normally a Staff Sergeant within a Company. See also CQMS, RQMS |
| RAN | Royal Australian Navy |
| RANR | Royal Australian Navy Reserve |
| REC | 1. Recruit - soldier undergoing basic training after enlistment 2. Records: unit, personnel, medical, financial etc |
| RFTS | Reinforcements |
| RN | Royal Navy |
| RNR | Royal Navy Reserve |
| RQMS | Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant - normally a WO2 or WO1 in a battalion or similar sized unit. |
| RTA | Return to Australia |
| RPM | Rounds per Minute |
| RTD | Returned to Duty |
| RSM | Regimental Sergeant Major - WO1, the highest non-commissioned rank within a Battalion |
| RTE | Returned to England |
| S/A | Served As |
| SAN | Sanitation |
| SECT | Section - A squad of 8-12 men commanded by a Corporal, where there are three or four sections to a Platoon |
| SDN, SQN | Squadron - Cavalry/Light Horse and later, Armoured Corps equivalent of a Company |
| SGH | Stationary General Hospital |
| SGT | Sergeant or Sergent - Second in command of a Platoon |
| SSGT,S/SGT | Staff Sergeant - Occasionally seen as Colour Sergeant, second highest ranking NCO in a company, generally the QMS |
| SIG | Signals, Signaller - equivalent to Private |
| SIW | Self Inflicted Wound |
| SMG | Sub-machine gun - Hand-held, magazine-fed weapon capable of firing bursts of multiple rounds as long as the trigger is pressed. (See also LMG, MG) |
| SMLE | Small Magazine Lee Enfield .303in Rifle 1910-1960 |
| SNLR | Services No Longer Required - generally applied to soldiers whose disciplinary lapses made them an administrative liability |
| SPR | Sapper - Engineer rank equivalent to Private |
| SQN | Squadron - Cavalry, Light Horse and later Armoured Corps and SAS equivalent of a Company |
| SS | 1. Shell Shock - Now identified as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder spectrum 2. Steam Ship |
| STH | South |
| SW | Shrapnel wound - from a bomb, mortar or high explosive artillery shell |
| T/ | Temporary - e.g. T/Corporal |
| TB | Tuberculosis |
| TOS | Taken on Strength - The point at which a member officially joined a unit for the purposes of discipline, rations, accommodation, equipment etc. Under some circumstance, members of other units were taken on strength for the purposes of rationing and accommodation only. |
| TPR | Trooper - Cavalry, Light Horse and later Armoured Corps and Special Air Service equivalent to Private |
| TRG | Training |
| TS | Transport Ship, Troop Ship |
| VAD | Ventricular Aorta Dysfunction |
| VC | Victoria Cross - Level one award for gallantry, all ranks. The modern Australian equivalent is the Victoria Cross for Australia (VC). |
| VD | 1. Volunteer Decoration 2. Venereal Disease |
| VET | Vetinary |
| WIA | Wounded in Action |
| WO1 | Warrant Officer Class 1 - Regimental Sergeant Major or equivalent in other units/trades |
| WO2 | Warrant Officer Class 2 - Company Sergeant Major or equivalent in other units/trade |