Subsequent series unregistered
1970: Naval personnel electronic data processing records (NMAN EDP
System), 1970-
Function and purpose
This series
contains Navy personnel cards, which summarise the personal particulars and
service history from enlistment to discharge for Navy Petty Officers or Ratings.
Cards were maintained for all non-commissioned personnel who were enlisted,
mobilized or served for a continuous period in excess of 28 days from the
reserves or the Royal Navy in the Royal Australian Navy.
There are
two types of cards in this series:
·
A record of
service card for voluntary enlistees including Women’s and Nursing Services,
Naval Dockyard Police, members enlisted or on loan, duty or exchange from the
Royal Navy, and reservists voluntarily serving for a continuous period in
excess of 28 days;
·
A record of
mobilized service card for members of the Naval Reserve, or the Naval Volunteer
Reserve of the Naval Nursing Service who were called-up for service during
World War II.
Once raised,
the same card continued to be used for the person irrespective of breaks or
changes in the nature or circumstances of his/her service; however a new card
was raised on an appointment to commissioned rank. In this case the previous
card was kept with the officer's record of service card.
The record
of service cards for voluntary enlistees were printed over a period of some 50
years from the 1910s to the 1960s and vary in colour, shade or in some other
minor detail from each other. The title of the card has also varied from
"Record of Service (Petty Officers and Men)" through "Ratings
Record of Service Card" to "Sailor's Record of Service Card"
over the years. The spaces provided and the details recorded on these cards is
however principally the same and includes:
·
Personal
particulars, including surname and given names, personal number, date and place
of birth, religion, occupation, home port, address on entry/re-entry and on
discharge, and details of Next of Kin
·
A record of
engagements, medals, clasps and awards, etc.
·
Personal
description on first entry, on re-entry and "as necessary"
·
Details of
full-time service in other armed forces
·
Details of
adverse or good conduct record
·
A record of
character and efficiency assessments
·
Details of
any meritorious service and special recommendations
·
Record of
appointments, postings/transfers, promotions, changes in classifications, etc.
At times
other types of data such as the date and reason for discharge, date and
circumstances of death, details of special payments, etc are also recorded on
these cards.
The
"Royal Australian Naval Reserve - Record of Mobilized Service" card
is buff coloured and was used to record the particulars of service of Naval
Reserve, Naval Volunteer Reserve and Naval Nursing Service personnel as well.
It is common to both officers and sailors. The detail recorded on this card is
similar to that on the previously described record of service card; however the
date the member reported for duty, his rank of rating and seniority, the
"service", usually the ship to which he or she was allocated on mobilization,
and a record of wounds received in action are also shown on this card. In
addition, this card also contain entries on such matters as pay in lieu of
leave or re-establishment leave, war gratuity claim number and amount, date
demobilized, repatriation statement number and date.
All of these
cards also include at least a summary of the non-trade related records held on
a sailor's personal files. On some cards, some errors and omissions have been
noted over the years. There is also evidence of extensive erasures of data
during the 1950/1960s, and of overwriting. However as no obvious gaps in
entries exist, it is possible that data previously recorded in more detail over
a number of lines has merely been condensed into a one-line statement to create
space for more entries. Trade qualifications and trade related aptitude and
performance assessment were recorded on a "History sheet" appropriate
to the trade and handed to the sailor on discharge.
Maintenance
of the cards and of the History sheets ceased on 1 February 1970 when the
manual personnel record keeping functions were transferred to the
computerised "NMAN EDP
System". Past service and trade details of sailors still serving on that
date were transcribed to this system; however the EDP records are not an exact
duplicate of the manual records.
Note that
the same early Personal/Official numbers allocated to sailors during 1911-1916
have been also allocated to National Servicemen during 1951-1957 (1001-7493)
and to officers on transfer to the EDP system during 1968-1970 (1001-3045).
Related legislation
Using the series
The cards may be used to provide a summary of a
serviceperson’s records within the Royal Australian Navy and Navy Reserve.
Language of material
Physical characteristics
The cards are 21 cm x 27.5 cm. Cards for Petty Officers,
Sailors and Ratings are blue (sometimes faded to green or grey). Cards for
Reserves are buff coloured. Headings are printed on the cards, along with the
card number in the top right corner. The year group number is stamped at the
top left. Information has been added to the cards in pencil or black pen, or
sometimes stamped (dates, leave days). The cards have information on both
sides.
System of arrangement and control
The cards
may have been originally arranged in alphabetical groups based on the year of
birth of the service member. These groups are: pre-1890, 1891-1900, 1901-1910,
1911-1920, 1921-1925, 1926-1930, 1931-1935, 1936-1940, 1941-1945, 1945,1950,
and 1951 on. The Department of Defence appears to have re-arranged the cards at
some point and when the records came to the National Archives, they were
arranged alphabetically, rather than by year group. This alphabetical
arrangement has been retained by the Archives to enhance accessibility.
Relationships with other records
Service cards for Navy Officers can be found in CRS A6769. A
name index to the cards in this series can be found in CRS A6771 and a record
of personal numbers for petty officers and men can be found in CRS A6772.
Finding aids
All 105,921 items in this series have been registered onto
RecordSearch.
Access conditions
Series history
Provenance
Immediate source of acquisition
Custodial history
Quantity in agency custody
Disposal history
These records have been designated permanent, as they are
service cards of World War II personnel.
Publication note
Additional information
End notes
Sources