How to Read a WWI Attestation Paper

The attestation paper is usually the first page you see when you open a WWI service record from the National Archives of Australia. It's the enlistment form - the document completed when a person volunteered for the Australian Imperial Force. For families researching a great-grandparent or great-great-uncle who served in WWI, this is often the most immediately rewarding page in the entire record, because it contains personal details you won't find anywhere else.

The form is standardised, but it was filled in by hand - sometimes by the enlistee, sometimes by the recruiting officer taking down the answers. Every attestation paper follows the same structure, so once you know what each field contains, you can read any of them.

The top section: personal details

The top of the attestation paper captures the basic identifying information about the person enlisting.

Name - surname and given names, as stated by the enlistee. Be aware that spelling may differ from what the family uses today. Names were recorded as the clerk heard them, and phonetic variations are common. Some people enlisted under shortened names, middle names, or even aliases - particularly those who were underage or had been previously rejected.

Address - the enlistee's home address at the time of enlistment. This is a valuable genealogy anchor - it places the person in a specific location at a specific date, which can be cross-referenced against electoral rolls, Trove newspaper records, and BDM records.

Age and date of birth - stated by the enlistee. Ages were sometimes falsified to meet enlistment requirements. The minimum age for overseas service was 18 (21 without parental consent early in the war, later reduced to 18), but both underage and overage enlistees are well documented. If the age on the attestation paper doesn't match your family records, it may have been deliberately stated incorrectly.

Place of birth - town or city and country. This is often the earliest confirmed location for an ancestor, particularly for those born overseas before emigrating to Australia. If your great-great-grandmother was born in England before the family came to Australia, the place of birth on her AANS attestation paper may be the only record that confirms exactly where.

Occupation - the person's trade or profession at the time of enlistment. This is frequently one of the most interesting fields. A "schoolteacher" from Broken Hill, a "jackeroo" from Longreach, a "milliner" from Prahran - the occupation places the person in a social and economic context that the military entries don't provide.

Next of kin

The attestation paper records the name and address of the person's next of kin - usually a parent, spouse, or sibling. This is the person the military would contact if the enlistee was wounded, killed, or missing.

For genealogy research, the next of kin field is enormously useful. If the next of kin is listed as a wife with a different surname, you know there's a marriage record to find somewhere before the enlistment date. If it's a mother with a maiden name, you have a lead on the maternal line. The address of the next of kin provides another geographic anchor point.

The medical examination

The lower section of the attestation paper contains the certificate of medical examination, completed by the examining medical officer. This is the physical snapshot of your ancestor on the day they enlisted.

The fields typically include height (in feet and inches), weight (in pounds), chest measurement (in inches), complexion (fair, medium, dark, ruddy, sallow), eye colour, and hair colour. The medical officer also noted distinguishing marks - scars, tattoos, birthmarks, missing teeth, or any other identifying features.

For many families, this is the most detailed physical description of their ancestor that exists anywhere. A birth certificate doesn't record height or eye colour. A marriage certificate doesn't note a scar on the left forearm. The attestation paper does, because the military needed to identify the person if their identity was ever in question. For more on what these physical details reveal, see five things you can learn from a war record.

The medical officer also recorded their assessment of the person's fitness for service, signing the certificate to confirm the enlistee met the physical standards required for the AIF. These standards changed over the course of the war - they were strict in 1914-15 and progressively relaxed as casualties mounted and more recruits were needed.

The declaration and signature

At the bottom of the attestation paper, the enlistee signed a declaration confirming the information was true. This is significant for one reason above all others: the signature is in your ancestor's own hand.

The rest of the record may have been written by clerks, medical officers, and administrators. But the signature at the bottom of the attestation paper was written by the person themselves. For families who have no other example of their ancestor's handwriting, this can be a powerful moment - it's the most direct physical connection to the person that any paper record can offer.

The enlistee typically signed twice on the attestation paper: once on the declaration and once on the oath of allegiance. Both signatures should match, and you can use them to confirm the spelling of the surname if the clerk's handwriting elsewhere on the form is difficult to read.

Service number and unit

The attestation paper records the service number (also called regimental number) and the initial unit to which the person was posted. An important caveat: WWI service numbers are not unique. Each unit allocated numbers from 1 upwards, so many people across the AIF share the same number. The combination of name, service number, and unit is needed to identify a specific person.

Officers and nurses were not issued service numbers on enlistment. If your ancestor served as an AANS nurse or as an AIF officer, their attestation paper will not contain a regimental number.

The initial unit recorded on the attestation paper is where the person was first posted - usually a training battalion or depot. This is not necessarily the unit they served with for the majority of the war. Transfers between units were common, and the full sequence of unit assignments is tracked on the proceedings sheet elsewhere in the service record.

Religious denomination

The attestation paper records the enlistee's stated religious denomination. This field was administrative rather than personal - the military needed to know which chaplain to assign and, in the worst case, which burial rites to observe. Common entries include C of E (Church of England), RC (Roman Catholic), Presb. (Presbyterian), Meth. (Methodist), and occasionally "nil" or "none."

What the attestation paper doesn't tell you

The attestation paper is a snapshot of the day of enlistment. It doesn't tell you what happened next. The war itself - the embarkation, the battles, the wounds, the hospitals, the transfers, the discharge - is recorded on the other forms in the service record, primarily the proceedings sheet and the casualty form.

If you can read the attestation paper but struggle with the rest of the record, the handwriting guide and the abbreviations guide cover the entries you'll encounter on those forms. Or a Decode My Digger decode takes the entire record - attestation paper through to discharge - and turns it into a story the family can read.

Frequently asked questions

Is the attestation paper always the first page of a WWI record?

Usually, but not always. The order of pages can vary depending on how the record was compiled and later digitised. The attestation paper is typically among the first few pages. If it's not immediately obvious, look for the form titled "Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad."

What if the age on the attestation paper doesn't match other records?

This is common. Many enlistees falsified their age to meet the minimum requirements for overseas service (18 years, or 21 without parental consent in the early war). Some older volunteers also understated their age. Cross-reference with birth certificates and BDM records to confirm the actual date of birth.

Did women have attestation papers?

Yes. Women who enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) completed attestation papers. The format is similar to the standard AIF form, recording personal details, next of kin, and medical fitness. AANS attestation papers are part of the service record held by the NAA.

Can I see my ancestor's actual signature on the attestation paper?

Yes. The enlistee signed the attestation paper twice - on the declaration and on the oath of allegiance. This is typically the only place in the entire service record where you can see the person's own handwriting.

What does "C of E" mean on an attestation paper?

Church of England (now the Anglican Church of Australia). Other common denomination abbreviations include RC (Roman Catholic), Presb. (Presbyterian), Meth. (Methodist), and Bapt. (Baptist).