What to Do With War Records After a Parent or Grandparent Passes Away

When a parent or grandparent passes away, the practicalities are overwhelming. Somewhere in the middle of everything - the funeral, the legal paperwork, the house - you find a box. Inside there are medals, a faded photograph in uniform, a discharge certificate with a number on it, maybe some letters. These are the traces of a life lived in service, and right now you're not sure what to do with them.

This guide is for that moment. Not for researchers or historians - for families. It covers what to keep, how to preserve it, where to find the rest of the story, and how to make sure it isn't lost. There's no rush. These records have waited decades already. They can wait until you're ready.

What you might find

Every family's collection is different, but these are the most common items that turn up when a veteran's belongings are sorted:

• Medals - Service medals, campaign medals, and sometimes gallantry awards. They may be in a case, in a drawer, or mounted in a frame on the wall. Some have the person's name and service number engraved on the rim.
• Discharge certificate - A formal document summarising the person's service. It includes their service number, rank, unit, dates of enlistment and discharge, and total days of service. This is one of the most useful documents for research.
• Photographs - Studio portraits in uniform, group shots with mates, photos taken on leave or in camp. Some may have names, dates, or locations written on the back.
• Letters and postcards - Correspondence sent home during service, or received from other service members after the war.
• Pay book or identity discs - The pay book was a small pocket book recording pay and allowances. Identity discs (dog tags) have the person's name, service number, and religion stamped on them.
• RSL membership card or badge - Indicates the person was a member of the Returned and Services League after the war.
• Newspaper clippings - Families often kept clippings about enlistment, casualties, or homecoming.

What to do first: secure and document

Before you research, preserve, or make any decisions about what to do with these items, do two things:

Photograph everything. Use your phone. Take photos of every document (front and back), every medal (front and back, including the rim where engraving may appear), every photograph (front and back - information is often written on the reverse), and any other items. This gives you a digital backup immediately, before anything gets misplaced in the sorting process.

Keep everything together. Put all military-related items in one box or folder. Don't separate them across different family members yet. The documents, medals, and photographs all relate to each other, and you'll need them together when you start researching.

How to preserve what you've found

Documents and letters

Handle with clean, dry hands. Store flat in acid-free folders or archival sleeves - you can buy these from archival supply companies or good stationery stores. Keep them away from direct sunlight, heat sources, and moisture. A wardrobe shelf or filing cabinet in a climate-controlled room is better than a garage or attic.

Never laminate original documents. Lamination is irreversible and causes long-term damage to paper. If you want to protect a document for display, use a UV-protective frame with acid-free matting.

Photographs

Store in acid-free photo sleeves or use acid-free photo corners in an album. Don't use adhesive-backed albums or sticky tape. If there's writing on the back, make sure you photograph it before storing - the information on the reverse is often as valuable as the image.

Medals

Store in a cool, dry place, ideally in a lined box or a cloth pouch. Don't clean or polish them - the patina and wear are part of their history. If you'd like them professionally mounted for display, a medal mounter can arrange them in the correct order of wear and frame them. Make sure you note which medals belong to which person before framing.

Digitise everything

Scan documents and photographs at 300 DPI or higher. Store digital copies in at least two separate locations - your computer and a cloud storage service, or your computer and a USB drive kept elsewhere. Digital copies can be shared with family members without risking the originals.

Finding the rest of the story

What you've found at home is usually just a fraction of what exists. The full service record - the attestation form, the service and casualty form, the complete administrative history of the person's military career - is held by the National Archives of Australia.

If you've got a service number from the discharge certificate, medals, or pay book, you can go straight to RecordSearch and find the record. All WWI and 99% of WWII records are digitised and free to view online. For a full walkthrough, see How to Request War Records from the National Archives.

If you don't have a service number, search the DVA Nominal Rolls at nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au by surname to find it.

Deciding what to do with the collection

Keep it in the family

Most families choose to keep medals, photographs, and key documents. The question is usually who holds them. If there are multiple siblings or branches of the family, consider digitising everything so everyone gets a copy, and then agreeing on one person to be the custodian of the originals. A decoded and contextualised version of the service record makes an excellent companion to the physical items - it gives everyone in the family the full story in a format they can actually read.

Donate to a museum or RSL

The Australian War Memorial, state museums, and local RSL sub-branches accept donations of military items, but they're selective. The AWM prioritises items with significant historical value or items that fill gaps in their collection. Local RSL sub-branches or unit associations are often more interested in items connected to their specific unit or area.

Before donating originals, digitise everything first. Some families donate high-quality copies and keep the originals.

Verify medals and entitlements

If you're unsure which medals the person was entitled to, or if medals are missing, contact the Department of Defence Honours and Awards section at defence.gov.au/honours-awards. They can confirm entitlements and, in some cases, issue replacement medals to next of kin.

Understanding the record they left behind

The discharge certificate in the box tells you the dates. The medals tell you the campaigns. But the full service record - the one sitting in the National Archives - tells you what happened in between. Every posting, every hospital admission, every promotion, every ship they sailed on.

The problem is that the record is written in military shorthand that was never meant for families to read. Decode My Digger takes those records and turns them into something the whole family can understand: a line-by-line Excel decode and a contextualised Word narrative that maps your loved one's service against real historical events. It's the story that was always in the record. It just needed to be unlocked.

Frequently asked questions

What should I do with war medals after a family member dies?

Keep them. Store in a cool, dry place. Don't clean or polish them. If you'd like them displayed, a professional medal mounter can arrange them for framing. You can verify medal entitlements through Defence Honours and Awards.

Where can I find my deceased parent's service records?

WWI and WWII records are at the National Archives, free to view online. You'll need the person's name and ideally their service number. Check discharge certificates, medals, or the DVA Nominal Rolls to find the number. Post-WWII records are held by the Department of Defence.

Should I donate war records and medals to a museum?

It depends on the family's wishes. The AWM, state museums, and RSL sub-branches accept donations but are selective. Digitise everything first so the family retains copies. Local RSL sub-branches are often interested in items connected to their specific unit.

How do I preserve old military documents and photographs?

Store flat in acid-free folders, away from sunlight and moisture. Never laminate originals. Use acid-free photo corners for photographs. Scan at 300 DPI or higher and keep digital copies in at least two locations.