Decoding how NZ veterans served

Briar Corson

Briar Corson is looking to extend her Army jargon interpreting skills to a broader range of wars after the service proved popular in the past year.

Launched on Anzac Day last year, Decode Army Files helps Kiwis discover the roles relatives undertook in the world wars.

War service records can be accessed from Archives New Zealand in Wellington but most people have difficulty reading and understanding the handwritten records, which contain military jargon and abbreviations and are not written in chronological order. Corson learned the skills to decipher the records while working as a military researcher at the Army Museum in Waiouru.

Her decision to launch Decode was partly in response to growing public interest in the country's war history, but with her keen interest in military history too, it means she has her dream job. Corson, who runs the business from her Taupo home, has interpreted the records of 75 soldiers so far.

Decoding each record is time-consuming, so she has focused on interpreting records for soldiers in the world wars only.

However, she plans to broaden that to Air Force and Navy records when her eldest child starts school in the next couple of years. Once that is in train, the Korean War, the Malayan Campaign and the Vietnam War will come under her gaze.

The fee of $200 is for a typed interpretation of the record that can be up to 12 pages, depending on how long the soldier served. It includes information on their rank, troopship names or numbers, training camps and countries of foreign service.

Punishments, promotions and demotions are also detailed as well as dates of leave, citations, medals awarded, length of service and, if the soldier was wounded, the hospital they were treated in.

Corson also includes maps and descriptions of what daily life was like.

Although she initially thought Decode would find its biggest market among young corporates, most of her customers have been older people with closer links to the world wars.


BREAKING THE CODE

* Adm 26/GH GSW R leg: Admitted to 26 General Hospital in Etaples, France, with a gunshot wound to the right leg.

* Marched into sling: This was the infantry base training depot, where soldiers were sent for more field-craft training and toughening up before being sent to the Western Front.

A bleak, damp place on the Salisbury Plain, southern England, it was infamous for its bad food, cold huts and harsh regime.