Ngā aratohu rangahau
Research guidance
War records
How to search for war archives, including the New Zealand Wars, South African War and First World War military personnel files, First and Second World War unit diaries, Defence Department archives, and maps and plans.
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We hold a great variety of records of the service of New Zealand forces in the First World War. Most of these are Army records.
Research guidance for records relating to WW2
Research guide covering war records prior to the 20th century, Airforce and Navy records, and war records after WW2
Find Māori in records connected to the conflicts – medal applications, registers, letters and lists of people killed or taken prisoner.
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General advice for researching military records
Individual personnel files cover the period of 1898 to 1920. We hold personnel files after 1920 only if:
the person also served in WWI AABK 18805.
the person was in the 28 (Māori) Battalion (WW2) and had a ‘Duplicate’ file brought to us AABK 18805 Access to these files is Restricted. Their other file is still with the NZDF Archive.
they were a gallantry medal recipients AABK 18806 - digitised & AABK 8665.
Other types of records may relate to named individuals. These are searchable by surname and first name or initials in Collections search. Date range 1875-2003; majority are 1890s-1920s. Most of these are not personnel files. They include:
Army General Staff AALJ 7291
Permanent Force AABK 22209 and AABK 22515
Permanent Militia AABK 22514
Territorial Force AABK 22211 and AABK 22526 and AABK 22527 and AABK 22528.
New Zealanders in Royal Flying Corps Accession W5712 in AABK 22525
New Zealanders in Royal Navy Accession W5713 in AABK 22525
NZ women (volunteers) Accession W5714 in AABK 22525
New Zealanders in Australian forces Accession W5715 in AABK 22525
New Zealanders in British forces Accession W5725 in AABK 22525
In this research guide all codes such as Agency codes AABK, AAYS, ZAAN for example or series codes 18805, 8665, 14147 and so on refer to the system used in Collections search.
A named series or set of records may cover a very wide range of topics, so a subseries may be specified in these guides to help focus your search. In this case, relevant records may be identified using our collections search tool. Search the series and limiting the search to record numbers beginning with that subseries number. Some subseries lists can be viewed by checking the ‘List Section’ in some Series’ descriptions record’s tab, for example in series 8638. Not all series have a ‘List Section’.
To find WW1 personnel files you can search by name or personnel number in Collections search or use the Archives New Zealand filter on Digital NZ.