New Zealand, World War I Army Reserve Rolls, 1916-1917

This collection is an index of men who were enlisted into compulsory military service in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) Reserve during World War I. The first roll of enlisted men (for the First Division of the Reserve) was compiled in September 1916 and is organized by recruiting district (21 in total) and alphabetically by surname. The second roll (for the Second Division of the Reserve) was compiled from August to October 1917 and is organized alphabetically by surname. This collection covers 1916 to 1919 records for the Reserve.

The Reserve consisted of male, natural-born British subjects between 20 and 45 years old, who were unmarried, were married since May 1915 and had no children under sixteen by a previous marriage, were widowers with no children under sixteen, or were divorced with no children under sixteen. By the end of the war, approximately 124,000 New Zealanders had served in the NZEF, nearly half of the eligible male population of 250,000. About 100,000 were sent overseas to fight in France, Belgium, Egypt, Palestine, and Gallipoli.

Each record contains the name of the reservist, and his occupation and place of residence at time of enlistment. The second roll also includes a classification for each record based on the number of children of the reservist. Class A is for reservists with no children, Class B for one child, Class C for two children, Class D for three children, Class E for four children, and Class F for more than four children.