Hello List, A.I.R. is the abbreviation for AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY RESERVE. My relative, R.E. WALSH was with the 12th A.I.R. which was formed in Tasmania around 1912 (I think, without looking up files). When I used the word "apprenticeship" I used it figuratively; he had been crazy keen on army life since a lad and took the first opportunity to get into the real thing after having been, even earlier, in "Boys' Brigade" type quasi-military organisations. He was born in 1887. Regards, Julie in Lincolnshire