Queensland Police in the Great War

Guest blogger: Dr Anastasia Dukova - 2018 Q ANZAC 100 Fellow.

During the First World War, 1914-1918, nearly half of all Australian eligible men: 416,809 men between the ages of 18-44, volunteered to fight. Queensland Police in the Great War: A Compendium identifies all policemen who enlisted from Queensland. It is a biographical reference guide of the 174 Queensland Police Force (QPF) personnel who joined the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF), also known as the Anzacs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps).

The majority of the men who volunteered with the AIF joined the police between 1912 and 1914, peaking in 1914. In that year nearly half of men who joined the police left either the same year or within a year to enlist. This means that some policemen only served for a few months as the war broke out at the end of July 1914.

In October 1915, Commissioner Cahill issued a Memorandum, suspending leave for enlistments due to personnel shortages. As a result, many men chose to resign from police to enlist anyway, often without declaring their intent. A few more were dismissed with a small number indicating their plans to join the war effort. Recognising this fact, the guide’s selection methodology applied a window of six months to the date of separation from the Queensland Police Force to enlistment into the AIF.

This approach revealed men like George McRitchie, Gerbert Forrest, Edward Walsh and Alex Watson, who were killed in action but are not memorialised in the Queensland Police Honour Roll with the 30 policemen who were granted war leave. This is because these men were not considered policemen as they had resigned or been dismissed before enlisting.

Queensland Police in the Great War: A Compendium features 174 names. Of the 174 men identified 44 enlisted in 1914; 75 in 1915; 38, including Billy Elsdale, in 1916; 12 in 1917; five in 1918. The compendium contains short biographies and a selection of in-depth life and family stories of these men, including four newly identified policemen and one police tracker who were killed. Many of them did return from the front, however, and resumed their duties with the Queensland Police. In some cases, their children carrying on their policing legacy.

Queensland Police Service Merchandise Shop released a challenge coin to commemorate police sacrifice to the Great War, and all police veterans. The book with coin can be purchased at the Queensland Police Service HQ in Roma Street and at the QSHOP.

The State Library's extensive pictorial collection of Queensland soldier portraits was critical in helping to visualise men behind the records and complete their life stories with ‘digital recreations’.

Dr Anastasia Dukova (TCD), FRHistS, IAPH, is a professional historian and a recipient Q ANZAC 100: Memories for a New Generation Fellowship, State Library Queensland (2018).

Queensland Police in the Great War: A Compendium can be purchased through the Library Shop.

Watch Anastasia’s talk about what her research uncovered during her fellowship at State Library's annual Research Reveals event.

Read other blogs by Dr Anastasia Dukova.

Read other blogs by Q NAZAC 100 Fellows.