Chapter 3 – Jayjay
The ages allowed for enlistment were 19 to 38 years: Charles Bean, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18 , vol I, p. 60.
Dale Blair states, in Dinkum Diggers, that volunteers under the age of twenty-one years old required parental permission to enlist, and that age group made up nearly 20 percent of the 1st Battalion by the embarkation date.
According to Charles Bean, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18 , vol I, p. 37-41: An infantry battalion was 1,023 men strong. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Infantry Battalions were sourced from NSW and made up the 1st Brigade. The 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Battalions from Victoria made up the 2nd Infantry Brigade. The 3rd Infantry Brigade (sometimes known as the All-Australian Brigade) was made up of the 9th Battalion from Queensland, the 10th Battalion from South Australia, the 11 th Battalion from Western Australia and the 12th Battalion from Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia. Battalions were recruited by districts of origin, with the 1st Battalion given the western parts of Sydney.
An account of enlistment into the First Infantry Batalion at Victoria Barracks in Sydney, and following early days as a soldier encamped at Randwick and Kensington racecources is given by Archie Barwick in his WWI diary, In Great Spirits , pp 6-11. He describes his disappointment at being served up bully beef and boiled potatoes for his first evening meal in the army. Barwick also mentions that he is from New England in country NSW, to the policy of recruiting battalions by district of origin does not appear to have been strictly followed.
“OATH TO BE TAKEN BY PERSON BEING ENLISTED… SO HELP ME, GOD” These words are quoted from the enlistment form for the author’s great grandfather. Enlistment forms and other personal records for Australian soldiers of the time can be searched by name and viewed at the National Archives of Australia’s website:
http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/defence/service-records/army-wwi.aspx
Initially, the recruits of the original NSW Battalions (1 st to 4 th ) slept in the grandstands at Randwick Racecourse due to the lack of tents: Charles Bean, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18 , vol I, p. 83; B. V. Stacey, et al, The History of the First Battalion A.I.F 1914-1919 , p13