BASE RECORDS

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 107, 1 November 1940, Page 8

BASE RECORDS

BUSY DEPARTMENT

IMPORTANT WAR SERVICE

THOUSANDS OF FILES

In a suite of offices completely occupying three floors of a large building in Wellington some 200 clerks, typists, and operators of bookkeeping machinery are hard at work on an ever-grow-ing mountain of accounts relating to pay for and files containing full details of every serving member of the 2nd New Zealand Forces, both at home and overseas. With its rooms of busy men and women, impressive array of filing cabinets and banks of pigeon holes, this section of the Army Department looks^ to have been in existence for many years, and one learns with considerable astonishment that up to the outbreak of war not even the skeleton of this intricate organisation was in existence.

Of course the establishment of Base Records- —a vital necessity in a

mobilisation scheme —was included in the general plans prepared for the eventuality of war, but when peace ended Base Records was still merely a name with no staff, no offices, and no equipment. The big task of creating the present organisation was entrusted to a handful of experienced public servants selected because of specialised knowledge of the kind of work the new division of the Army Department would be called upon to do. The organisation as it exists today is a tribute to the efficiency of these men. Base Records has grown rapidly to keep pace with the expansion of the Dominion's armed forces, and must expand still more as the number of men under arms here and overseas is increased.

The office has two main branches— Base Records, where files containing the personal, medical, and military history are maintained and kept up to date, and the Pay" Accounts Branch, which records all payments .made to soldiers, and records and makes payment of allotments to soldiers' dependants or Post Office Savings Bank accounts as the case may be.

GROWING RAPIDLY.

As has been stated, Base Records is growing rapidly. There are at present many thousands of live files relatr ing to members of the 2nd N.Z.E.F. overseas, and for Territorials undergoing intensive training, and a balance of files for other men who are not fit for military service and for miscellaneous additional matters. An endless array of X-ray films are indexed and stored in containers each holding 600. Base records also acts as custodian of soldiers' wills which approximately equal in number the strength of the Expeditionary Force troops overseas.

Base Records is the depository for the soldiers' records. There is a separate file for each individual, and the basis of each file is a detailed statement of the man's circumstances when he entered the Army. It includes such information as full name, place and date of birth, nationality, whether married or single, religion, details of previous military service, trade and occupational qualifications, name of next-of-kin, and last civilian address in New Zealand. Each file also records full details of the soldier's medical and physical condition when he joined the Army and was medically boarded. This section of the file is accompanied by a full statement of the man's X-ray examination. The actual X-ray film of each man is separately filed away in the office. Soldiers' wills or a certificate showing that a will has been made and where it is are stored in fireproof steel cabinets kept in a strongroom..

Once a file is completed to this point it is by no means finished with, because each file also contains a running record of the circumstances surrounding the soldier's military service. This is known as the history sheet, upon which are noted all details affecting the soldier's service, from the time he is drafted into camp. These details cover promotion, sickness, punishments (if any), and other matter primarily bearing on his service. • In the history file room on the first floor four rows of busy girls have a continuous job transcribing details from Routine of the various units and military camps at home and overseas to the history sheets.

PAY AND ALLOTMENTS,

So far of course, the files all relate to soldiers who have joined the forces under the now superseded voluntary system. Each of the men represented by a file first came under the notice of Base Records shortly after his enlistment at one of the Area Offices throughout New Zealand. A few days after enlistment Base Records received a slip containing personal details and medical grading. As soon as a recruit enters camp and makes the necessary allotment of his pay advice is sent to Pay Accounts and ledger accounts in his name and in the names of the persons to whom allotments have been made are opened. The payments of allotments and allowances to the soldiers' dependants take place every fortnight, and this section of the work is dealt with in an expeditious manner with the latest equipment. A machine prints, numbers, signs, and takes copies of the pay warrants at the rate of 2500 per hour. These warrants are then put through an electric folding machine, inserted into envelopes by a group of girls, and the final operation of sealing the envelopes before posting is completed by another labour-saving device. During the training period the soldier himself is paid in camp but upon his embarkation for overseas Pay Accounts receives all original records and assumes responsibility for the continued fortnightly payment of allotments to soldiers' dependants and four-weekly deposit of the soldiers' allotments to their special Post Office Savings Bank Accounts.

The tremendous amount of ledger posting required in keeping the soldiers' accounts is done by modern bookkeeping machinery. This is in keeping with the policy of the office to use labour-saving devices as far as possible to ensure speed and accuracy. Up-to-date office practice is followed throughout. In the Pay Accounts Division a continuous internal check on all figures is maintained to facilitate auditing.

CHECKING CASUALTIES

In tne event of a soldier's death on active service Base Records comes into the picture immediately. Cabled advice of all casualties is sent in the first instance to Base Records, where a careful check is made with the personal files concerned to guard against any possibility of mistake in name or identification. The next-of-kin is then notified by urgent telegram from the Minister of Defence. Base Records next arranges with the deceased soldier's executors to dispose of his property and all moneys due to him in accordance with the terms of the man's will.

All remittances from private persons to New Zealand soldiers overseas are made through the Pay Accounts branch

of Base Records. Each man is permitted to receive up to £20 New Zealand currency in any one year. Persons desiring to forward money pay the sum into the Public Account and upon production of the bank receipt Base Records cables the remittance overseas. Should a soldier require money from his special soldier's Post Office Savings Bank account in Wellington to which allotments of his pay are being deposited, he makes his request through the Overseas Paymaster, who cables Pay Accounts and Base Records accordingly. The amount- requested is then withdrawn from; the soldier's Post Office account and r»» mitted by cable.

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