Guest contributor : Marie Hickey
One of the most popular subjects researched in the CARC (the Central Auckland Research Centre, as we are now known in the Supercity) is military related whether it is a particular person or theatre of war. Many of our visitors are aware of the basic resources such as nominal rolls, medal rolls, digitised copies of service records (British Army) and rolls of honour etc, but what of other material held at libraries?
One of the most popular subjects researched in the CARC (the Central Auckland Research Centre, as we are now known in the Supercity) is military related whether it is a particular person or theatre of war. Many of our visitors are aware of the basic resources such as nominal rolls, medal rolls, digitised copies of service records (British Army) and rolls of honour etc, but what of other material held at libraries?
For instance, we have a large collection of regimental histories in the library system mainly found in categories 940 and 355 as well as the family history section in CARC. These cover not only British Army regiments but also German, American and others; they can be as current as the Vietnam War or as early as Charlemagne. Anexcellent series of small books is the Men-at-Arms series produced by Osprey Publishing which not only gives information about the Army, Regiment etc but invariably include a good range of illustrations some of which are in colour.
We have the National Roll of the Great War 1914-1918 which includes civilians who died on war service and therefore women are mentioned who were not serving with the military. Entries are a brief summary of the person’s service and includes their home address; the series is available as books or digitally through www.ancestry.co.uk orwww.findmypast.co.uk – all of which are available in CARC. This series was published by subscription so is therefore incomplete but is nevertheless quite comprehensive. For England we also have a large collection of militia muster rolls which generally give the name, address and occupation of the person. Don’t forget, you will find Irish, Scottish and Welsh serving in the British Army as well as many from various countries of the former British Empire. We
also have some muster rolls for the Royal Engineers, 12th, 65th and 80th Regiments of Foot.
also have some muster rolls for the Royal Engineers, 12th, 65th and 80th Regiments of Foot.
For New Zealand we have Military Board appeals 1916-17, Biographical sketches of NZ servicemen WWI vol. 1 – both copied from the Otago Witness, and three volumes of New Zealand servicewomen WWI copied from Kai Tiaki magazine. Another interesting publication we hold relating to WWI is The Chronicle which is a newspaper that was originally published in London for the NZEF. These newspapers include articles, jokes illustrations etc of interest to the troops but perhaps more importantly for the contemporary researcher, they also have lists of prisoners of war, obituaries and those in hospital (includes the name of the hospital). The Chronicle is available at CARC on microfiche and there is an accompanying name index on microfiche. We also have a listing of Kiwis serving with forces for other countries.
