The National Archives of Australia has digitised more than 1 million Second World War service records as part of a large-scale digitisation effort. These records will be made available online free-of-charge.
Records digitised include all of Royal Australian Navy series A6769 and A6770, Army series B883 and B884, and Royal Australian Air Force series A9300. Much of Royal Australian Air Force series A9301 has also been completed.
Simon Froude, Director-General of the National Archives, explained that these service records are a valuable resource, not just for those interested in the military, but for family history researchers and anyone interested in the involvement of Australians in our wartime history.
“These records will help the nation to better understand, remember, and reflect on the service and sacrifice of each man and woman who served,” Mr Froude said.
“Each record documents a service person’s enlistment, movements, transfers, promotions, and ultimate fate, offering a fascinating glimpse into the lives of WWII veterans.
“Access to these records continues to be one of the most popular requests made to National Archives, as more Australians seek to discover the untold stories of their own relatives and their role in defending the nation.
“Our priority first and foremost was to preserve these iconic at-risk paper records. The next step is to make sure every one of these records is available to anyone in the world for free.”
The National Archives fund digitisation through annual budget allocation, project-specific funding from the federal government, partnership arrangements, and the generosity of members and benefactors.
In 2019, the Australian Government provided $10 million to help the National Archives digitise the remaining 852,000 Second World War service records. At the time, 200,000 had already been preserved and made available through annual budget allocations.
As of 30 June this year, approximately 45,000 Second World War service records awaited digitisation. These will be prioritised over the next year, and ultimately made available to view online.
Barbara Mason, a long-time supporter and philanthropist, donated $1 million to digitise the photographic portraits stored on the Second World War service files.
Digitisation project manager Rebecca Penna said: “Digitising these fragile negatives alongside the paper records ensures that more faces can be put to the names of those who served during the Second World War.
“This has been an enormous effort over a number of years. Reaching a milestone of 1 million records digitised is something our teams are incredibly proud of.”
Once digitised, records are progressively made available free-of-charge via the National Archives’ website.
To learn more about the World War II Digitisation Project, visit: Digitising World War II service records | naa.gov.au.
For more information on war records in the national archival collection, visit: Defence and war service records | naa.gov.au
