What You Will Find
1. Surname – no explanation is required other than to mention that occasionally this has been incorrectly spelt. Where a surname is hyphenated, the surname listed is the name after the hyphen.
2. Christian Name – incorrect spellings were found to be more frequent with Christian names. Sometimes placement of Christian and middle name was changed in a subsequent roll entry.
3. Regimental Number – a few of these numbers were not fully legible. In such circumstances you will see I have entered a ? at the end of the numbers I was unable to read.
It should be noted that the Regimental Numbers as recorded are as at date of embarkation. These may well have changed in circumstances where the person was assigned to another unit or deployed to another arm of the forces. This was not at all uncommon.
4. Rank – this denotes the rank held at date of embarkation. In the event of promotion prior to a second or subsequent embarkation the new rank is also shown. A summary of rank abbreviations is to be found lower down on this page.
5. Formations, Units, Corps – this shows where the person was assigned at time of embarkation. He/she may well have been reassigned elsewhere, later.
A full glossary of Formations, Units and Corps is presented here.
6. Embarkation Dates – these are self-explanatory. In all there are 16 roll registers. An index of these entries is also to be found in the top left area of the spreadsheet. The index matches colour coding of the individual entries here. This may be helpful to those wishing to see who else in the district may have been on the same roll, e.g other family members, other workmates, friends, neighbours etc.
Military training Narrow Neck Camp. Pvte Wally Waetford, centre.
Photo courtesy of the Waetford Family
7. Status – denotes marital status at date of embarkation.
S – Single
M – Married
L/S or L.S. – Legally Separated
Sep – Separated
W – Widower
Div. – Divorced
8. Enlistment – denotes place of enlistment.
The researcher will sometimes find that two or more members of the same family enlisted at the same time, as evidenced by consecutive or ‘close’ regimental numbers. In some instances they ended up in the same unit, but not always.
9. Occupation – as at date of enlistment.
10. Address – address as supplied and recorded as at date of enlistment.
11. Next of Kin – a subsequent enlistment often saw a change in next of kin details. A mother may have previously been shown and next time around a father, or a parent may have been replaced by a spouse, thus indicating that the person had got married some time in the intervening period. This also then often gave rise to a changed address.
Sometimes letters or abbreviations were used to express a relationship. These were:
w – wife
m – mother
f – father
g-m. g’m or gm– grandmother
u – uncle
a – aunt
s-d– stepdaughter
b – brother
half-b – half brother
s – sister
sis-in-law – sister in law
m-in-law – mother in law
f-m or foster m – foster mother
step-f – stepfather
step-d – stepdaughter
neph. – nephew
nce – niece
csn – cousin
fr. – friend
You will see that in some instances next of kin details and/or the nature of the relationship have not been entered. Sometimes the name of a friend or an attorney is shown.
Rank Abbreviations:
World War II paratroopers and aeroplanes in the sky above Crete. New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs. War History Branch :Photographs relating to World War 1914-1918, World War 1939-1945, occupation of Japan, Korean War, and Malayan Emergency. Ref: DA-12638-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22913202
“Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.”
The following are the ranks which you may come across on the spreadsheet, designated by these or similar abbreviations. The letters ‘A’ or ‘T’ in front of a rank denote ‘Acting’ or ‘Temporary’, e.g. A/Cpl or T/Bdr.
Private: Pte. Trade-related terms are interchanged with the rank of Private for army soldiers.
These are: Gunner: Gnr, Trooper: Tpr, Sapper: Spr, Signaller: Sgmn, Driver: Dvr.
Lance Corporal: L.Cpl, or L/Cpl.
Army personnel in artillery units use the rank Lance Bombardier L/Bdr, in place of Lance Corporal.
Corporal: Corp, or Cpl.
Army personnel in artillery units use the rank Bombardier: Bdr, in place of Corporal. A Lance Sergeant: L/Sgt was a Corporal acting in the role of Sergeant.
Sergeant: Sgt.
Staff Sergeant: S/Sgt.
Warrant Officer Class 2: WO2 or WOII. While RSM’s (Regimental Sergeant Majors) are WO1, or WOI., CSM’s (Company Sergeant Majors) and BSM’s (Battery Sergeant Majors in the Artillery) are WO2.
Warrant Officer Class 1: WO1 or WOI. The Sergeant Major of the Army (SM of A) is a WO1, whereas Sergeant Majors at unit level are WO2. Army RSM’s (Regimental Sergeant Majors) are also WO1.
Company Quartermaster Sergeant Major: (CQSM). An appointment held by a Warrant Officer. The CQSM is in charge of supplies and is deputy to the CSM.
Officer Cadet: OCDT. Used only for the purposes of training.
Second Lieutenant : 2 L/t, or 2 Lt.
Lieutenant: L/t, or Lt.
Captain: Capt.
Major: Maj, or Mjr.
Lieutenant Colonel: Lt. Col.
Colonel : Col.
Brigadier: Brig.
I have not bothered to list the ranks of more senior officers as none are listed on the roll.
Sister (Sister).
Note: Bandsman is Bdsm.
Some other useful abbreviations:
Some other abbreviations you may come across, if not on the Nominal Rolls then elsewhere, in the course of your research: A/ Acting; A/A Anti Aircraft; ARRC Associate of the Red Cross; A/T Anti Tank; ASC Army Service Corps; BCOF British Commonwealth Occupational Force; Bde Brigade; BEM British Empire Medal; Bn/Btn/Batt Battalion; Bty Battery; CBE Commander of the British Empire; CMF Central Mediterranean Force; CO Commanding Officer; Comp Coy Composite Company; DCM Distinguished Conduct Medal; Div Division; Div Cav Divisional Cavalry; DOD Died of Disease; DOW Died of Wounds/Duration of War/ Divisional Ordnance Workshops; DSM Distinguished Service Medal; DSO Distinguished Service Order; E Engineers; Ech Echelon; ED Efficiency Decoration; EM Efficiciency Medal; Emb/Embn Embarkation; Engr Engineer; Fd Amb Field Ambulance; Fd Coy Field Company; Fd Wksps Field Workshops; HQ Headquarters; Inf Infantry; LAD Light Aid Detachment; LRDG Long Range Desert Group; Lt A/A Light Anti-Aircraft; Mac Motor Ambulance Convoy; MBE Member of the British Empire; MC Military Cross; MDS Mobile Dental Section/Main Dressing Station; MEC Mechanical Equipment Company; MEF Middle East Force; MG Machine Gun; MID Mentioned in Despatches; MM Military Medal; MSU Mobile Surgical Unit; MT Mechanical Transport; NCO Non-Commissioned Officer; NZASC NZ Army Service Corps; NZDSM New Zealand Defence Service Medal; NZE NZ Engineers, NZEF New Zealand Expeditionary Force; NZFA NZ Field Artillery; NZGH NZ General Hospital; NZMC NZ Medical Corps; NZOC NZ Ordnance Corps; NZPS NZ Permanent Staff; NZRB NZ Rifle Brigade; NZRD NZ Reinforcement Depot; NZSC NZ Staff Corps; OBE Order of the British Empire; OC Officer Commanding; OCTU Officer Cadet Training Unit; Pet Coy Petrol Company; POW Prisoner of War; Ptn/Pl Platoon; QSM Queen’s Service Medal; QSO Queen’s Service Order; Regt/Rgt Regiment; Reinf/Reinfts Reinforcement/s; Res Reserve; Rft Reinforcement; RMT Reserve Mechanical Transport; Sup Coln Supply Column; T/ Temporary; Tp Troop; Trg Training; Trg Coy Training Company; TS Troop Ship; VAD Voluntary Aid Detachment; VC Victoria Cross; WAAC Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, WWSA Women’s War Service Auxiliary.
Many of the above (military) are courtesy of the NZ Defence Force.