This site was launched on Anzac Day 2004 to commemorate the services of the men and women of the Newcastle and Hunter Valley region of New South Wales who enlisted and served their country in time of war.

In 2004 Australia celebrates the ninetieth anniversary of the AIF's beginning in 1914 and the dispatch of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force in September of that year to German New Guinea to capture the enemy wireless stations operating in and around Rabaul.

2004 also marks the two hundredth anniversary of the City of Newcastle's proclamation as a European settlement in 1804 when the military were sent to the new settlement to guard the convicts.

In 1855 a volunteer defence force of one hundred men under the command of Major Bolton was established in Newcastle, at the mouth of the Hunter River, with a battery of Volunteer Artillery being formed in the same year.

In 1865 the Newcastle Naval Brigade was founded.

Since those early times, Hunter Valley military personnel have seen service in the Maori Wars of 1863; the Sudan War of 1885; the South African Boer War of 1899-1902; the Boxer Rebellion of 1900; the First World War of 1914-1918; the Second World War of 1939-1945; the Korean War of 1950-1953; the Malayan Emergency of 1950-1960; the Vietnam War of 1962-1973; the Gulf War of 1990-1991 and in more recent times served as peace keepers in Somalia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Solomon Islands, Bougainville and East Timor. And, as late as 2003, Hunter Valley servicemen and women from the Australian Army, RAAF and the RAN have been deployed overseas to Iraq.

Although this web site is still under construction, it is planned to regularly update the site with new listings once they have been researched and become available, with the proposed completion date being Anzac Day 2015, the centenary of the Anzac's landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.

This web site has been developed by David H Dial OAM, one of Newcastle and the Hunter Valley’s most distinguished and renowned South African Boer War and First World War military historians and writers, who has given countless hours of time and personal resources to the compilation of the Hunter Valley’s South African Boer War and First World War databases containing the names and enlistment details of over ten thousand men and women from the region who enlisted and served overseas during the Boer War of 1899-1902 and the First World War of 1914-1918.

David was awarded the ‘City of Newcastle Service Award’ on 31 August 1999 for "service to the City and Community of Newcastle in recognition of outstanding contributions to Military history research particularly the Hunter Valley WW1 Database and commemorative activities including Newcastle ANZAC Day ceremonies.”

In the 2000 Australia Day Honours List, David was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the General Division for "service to the communities of the Hunter Region, particularly for the compilation of material on local involvement in the South African Boer War and World War One, ANZAC Day activities and World War One battle commemorations" and in 2002 was awarded the Centenary Medal for "service to the community through military history research and commemorative activities."

David has previously written and had published in 1990 "The March of The Wallabies", in 2001 "Coal Miner Diggers - Hunter Valley Coal Miners at The Great War", in 2002 "Where Heroes Sleep - Hunter Valley Fallen of The Great War" and has also produced two CD-ROMs, "Hunter Valley Horsemen of the South African Boer War 1899-1902" and "Hunter Valley Diggers of World War One 1914-1918" as well as countless articles to the Hunter's regional newspapers.

This web site is fully financed and maintained by David H Dial OAM.

No financial assistance from the RSL of Australia or the Department of Veterans Affairs has been asked for, or offered.

Glory to Australia!