Full worked example
Full Example: Andrew "Banjo" Paterson's War Service Record
Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson is one of Australia's most recognised names - the author of Waltzing Matilda and The Man from Snowy River. Before his literary fame, Paterson served during the Boer War (1899-1902) as a war correspondent and later as a commissioned officer. His service record is held by the National Archives of Australia and contains 24 pages of handwritten entries, stamps, and military shorthand. Here is exactly what was uploaded and exactly what Decode My Digger produced.
What was uploaded
24 scanned pages from Paterson's First AIF personnel dossier held by the National Archives of Australia
These images were downloaded directly from the NAA RecordSearch database (NAA: B2455, PATERSON ANDREW BARTON, Item ID: 4028776). No pre-processing, no cleanup, no enhancement. Exactly as they appear on the National Archives website. Crown copyright on this record expired on 1 January 2024 under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).
What was produced
Two documents, generated in 12 minutes
Word Document
A 15-page personalised narrative covering Paterson's full service - enlistment, embarkation, postings, hospitalisations, and discharge. Written in plain English with historical context matched to every major event in his record.
Excel Spreadsheet
A structured workbook with personal details, a complete service timeline with every entry decoded from military shorthand into modern terminology, and a source document index.
Processing details
Pages processed
24
Processing time
12 min
Processing layers
5
The five processing layers
- Handwriting extraction
- →
- Military terminology deciphering
- →
- Historical research
- →
- Narrative composition
- →
- Structured spreadsheet
Now you know how to find the records. Let us turn them into a story worth telling.
Source
National Archives of Australia: Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office; B2455, First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920; PATERSON ANDREW BARTON (Item ID: 4028776). View original record on RecordSearch
Crown copyright on this record expired on 1 January 2024 under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Material made or first published by the Commonwealth before 1 January 1974 is no longer in copyright. Images are reproduced with acknowledgement to the National Archives of Australia. NAA citation guide