Counting the cost and the days: A data visualisation of The Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour
The Roll of Honour is a record of Australian service men and women who have died in or as a result of their service in both war and peacetime operations. Their names appear on bronze panels inside the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
This is a visualisation of all those 102,891 service men and women commemorated on the Roll of Honour. It spans the 49,493 days since the first recorded death on the Roll of Honour: Private Robert Weir who died in Sudan on the May 1, 1885.
Deaths from 1885 to 1903 belong to the Colonial Military Forces. From 1914 to 1938, the vast majority of deaths belong to the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) alongside smaller numbers for current Australian Defence Force services the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The Australian Army is first represented from 1939 and beyond. A further breakdown and analysis of deaths by service is available under the chronological visualisation of deaths by date over each day and year below.
XX Mmmmm YYYY
Roll of honour by date of recorded death
-
1885
9 deaths
-
1886
-
1887
-
1888
-
1889
-
1890
-
1891
-
1892
-
1893
-
1894
-
1895
-
1896
-
1897
-
1898
-
1899
-
1900
235
deaths -
1901
240
deaths -
1902
118
deaths -
1903
1 death
-
1904
-
1905
-
1906
-
1907
-
1908
-
1909
-
1910
-
1911
-
1912
-
1913
-
1914
74
deaths -
1915
8,978
deaths -
1916
14,173
deaths -
1917
21,961
deaths -
1918
14,673
deaths -
1919
1,238
deaths -
1920
400
deaths -
1921
90
deaths -
1922
-
1923
-
1924
-
1925
-
1926
-
1927
-
1928
1 death
-
1929
-
1930
1 death
-
1931
-
1932
-
1933
-
1934
-
1935
-
1936
-
1937
-
1938
-
1939
49
deaths -
1940
466
deaths -
1941
4,248
deaths -
1942
11,322
deaths -
1943
9,139
deaths -
1944
6,298
deaths -
1945
6,816
deaths -
1946
937
deaths -
1947
379
deaths -
1948
-
1949
1 death
-
1950
45
deaths -
1951
111
deaths -
1952
111
deaths -
1953
79
deaths -
1954
15
deaths -
1955
2 deaths
-
1956
14
deaths -
1957
9 deaths
-
1958
6 deaths
-
1959
9 deaths
-
1960
3 deaths
-
1961
4 deaths
-
1962
1 death
-
1963
1 death
-
1964
4 deaths
-
1965
26
deaths -
1966
77
deaths -
1967
83
deaths -
1968
118
deaths -
1969
114
deaths -
1970
75
deaths -
1971
56
deaths -
1972
8 deaths
-
1973
2 deaths
-
1974
-
1975
-
1976
-
1977
1 death
-
1978
-
1979
-
1980
-
1981
-
1982
-
1983
-
1984
-
1985
-
1986
-
1987
-
1988
1 death
-
1989
-
1990
-
1991
-
1992
-
1993
2 deaths
-
1994
-
1995
-
1996
-
1997
-
1998
-
1999
-
2000
3 deaths
-
2001
-
2002
2 deaths
-
2003
-
2004
-
2005
11
deaths -
2006
4 deaths
-
2007
4 deaths
-
2008
3 deaths
-
2009
4 deaths
-
2010
11
deaths -
2011
12
deaths -
2012
7 deaths
-
2013
2 deaths
-
2014
2 deaths
-
2015
1 death
-
2016
-
2017
1 death
-
2018
-
2019
-
2020
Roll of honour names by service
-
Australian Imperial Force
-
Royal Australian Air Force
-
Australian Army
-
Royal Australian Navy
-
Colonial Military Forces
Members of the AIF comprise the majority of the Roll of Honour (60%). Most of the AIF lost their lives in France and Belgium during the First World War. The costliest day for the AIF was on the October 4, 1917 with 1,280 Australians losing their lives. This coincides with the Battle of Broodseinde (part of the Third Battle of Somme in Belgium).
Members of the RAAF comprise the largest proportion of the Roll of Honour (26%) for current Australian Defence Force services. The long bomber campaign against Germany and Italy during the Second World War accounts for most of these deaths. The deadliest day for the RAAF was on March 31, 1944 with 101 airmen and officers killed, mostly as part of a large nighttime raid on Nuremberg.
Australian Army members account for 11% of the Roll of Honour. The Army’s costliest day was on July 1, 1942 with 861 soldiers and officers killed. Most of these men died as prisoners of war after the USS Sturgeon torpedoed and sank the Japanese auxiliary Montevideo Maru off the Philippines. The second costliest day for the Army was on September 12, 1944 in a similarly tragic incident when the USS Queenfish sank the Japanese Rakuyo Maru transport, also off the Philippines.
Sailors and officers of the RAN make up 2% of the Roll of Honour. November 20, 1941 was the deadliest day for the RAN with all 629 officers and sailors recorded dead after the sinking of the HMAS Sydney by the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran off the Western Australian coast.
The Colonial Military Forces represent the other 1% of the Roll of Honour with servicemen lost in Sudan, South Africa and China.
Lest we forget all of the 102,891 service men and woman commemorated on the Roll of Honour.
Credits and sources
Data from the Australian War Memorial. Written, visualised and compiled by James Offer. Please send any comments or corrections to me at jamesoffer@gmail.com. All content available under the Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International licence.