Research Sources

There are two sources of information about ex-servicemen:

Auckland War Memorial Museum Centotaph Database
This has basic Service information about most soldiers who have served overseas in many conflicts.
A typical record looks like this (my great grandfather's record):

FULL NAME

Charles Crawford Nelson

FORENAME(S)

Charles Crawford

SURNAME

Nelson

WAR	World War I, 1914-1918

SERIAL NO.

13081

PLACE OF BIRTH

Australia

FIRST KNOWN RANK

Rifleman

OCCUPATION BEFORE ENLISTMENT

Yardman

NEXT OF KIN

Mrs K.E. Nelson (wife), Wallingford, Napier, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

BODY ON EMBARKATION

New Zealand Rifle Brigade

EMBARKATION UNIT

3rd Reinforcements to 3rd Battalion, G Company

EMBARKATION DATE

6 May 1916

PLACE OF EMBARKATION

Wellington, New Zealand

TRANSPORT

HMNZT 52 HMNZT 53

VESSEL

Mokoia or Navua

DESTINATION

Suez, Egypt

NOMINAL ROLL FOOTNOTES

Born in Australia

NOMINAL ROLL NUMBER

31

PAGE ON NOMINAL ROLL

24

ARCHIVES NZ SOURCE

Military personnel file

SOURCES USED

Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume II. Wellington: Govt. Printer, 1917

Archives New Zealand Archway
This is an ongoing project to digitise historic government records, including military records. I have found and downloaded scans of the paper records for my great grandfather, but not all records for WW1 servicemen have been done yet.
You can also visit their reading room in Wellington, and the staff are very helpful. There is no cost apart from copying charges.

I would like acknowledge the great work done by both institutions, and the assistance they have given me in this project.