Old soldiers' records reveal secrets of wartime lives

The triumph of the human spirit over suffering has inspired a Taupo woman to start a service for people wishing to learn more about relatives who served in World Wars I and II.

Briar Corson is launching Decode Army Files, which will translate individuals' Army service records, on Anzac Day.

Mrs Corson, 37, says she has long been fascinated by war stories and read about concentration camp survivors as a child.

"I've always been attracted to human suffering and stories about suffering but people triumphing," she said.

She furthered her interest while working as a research assistant at the Waiouru Army Museum.

People would often come in wanting help understanding Army records of relatives who had served in the world wars. Mrs Corson, a former freelance journalist, learned to translate the military jargon in the handwritten records and gained great satisfaction from the job.

"It's really neat helping people to piece together their family history."

She decided to start Decode Army Files because of the heightened interest in war history that has seen young New Zealanders flocking to spots like Gallipoli.

The public has always been able to access Army service records from the Defence Force.

The Decode Army Files website, www.decoder.co.nz (which will run from Anzac Day), has a downloadable application form for individual service records. People can fill it in and post it to the Defence Force.

Mrs Corson will then translate the records the Defence Force supplies into plain English and provide details about the campaigns the person concerned was involved in, his or her living conditions and Army practices of the time.

She will include a list detailing institutions, websites and books for families wishing to do further research with the translation, which costs $130.

The service is available for files of World War I and II personnel only, but covers both combatant and non-combatant roles.

What the records say

Examples of translations of World War I and II military jargon

* Marched into SlingThis was New Zealand's infantry base training depot in southern England, where soldiers went for field-craft training and toughening up before being sent to the Western Front. A bleak, damp place, it was infamous for its bad food, cold huts and harsh regime.
* Adm 26/GH GSW R legAdmitted to 26 General Hospital in Etaples, France, with a gunshot wound to the right leg.