Armistice Day on Tuesday will mark 96 years since the end of World War I. Among the records is that of Helena Marian Bernard, whose six sons went off to WWI. Two were killed and the other four returned either wounded or shellshocked.
She transformed the family home into a workshop factory and knitted clothing for the troops while also raising enough money to buy an ambulance for New Zealand troops in France.
During WWII, with two of her sons and a grandson enlisted, she baked more than four tonnes of gingernut biscuits, distributed to the troops as well as to the King and Winston Churchill. She was awarded the British Empire Medal for her contributions.
Lloyd Allan Trigg, whose records have been added to the collection, was awarded the Victoria Cross in unique circumstances.
In 1943 the RNZAF Flying Officer engaged a German submarine, which shot his plane with anti-aircraft guns. Despite the imminent crash Trigg launched a final assault on the submarine and destroyed it. Trigg and his crew died and the only survivors were seven German U-Boat members who recommended Trigg be decorated for bravery.
A man many believe deserving of a VC, Haane Te Rauawa Manahi, is also in the records.
The Maori Battalion Lance Sergeant was recommended for the medal for his extraordinary acts of bravery during the battle of Takrouna Ridge in Tunisia, North Africa.
However, that was downgraded to a Distinguished Conduct Medal amid claims troops he led had thrown enemy prisoners off a cliff.
Those allegations were later dispelled by historian Dr Paul Moon, but despite the efforts of the New Zealand Government and his iwi he never received the medal.
As the current All Blacks recover from their game against England at Twickenham this morning, they may wish to pay a thought to their forebear Dave Gallaher, the captain of the 1905 "Originals" rugby team, the first to be known as the All Blacks.
Gallaher died during the Passchendaele Offensive in October 1917, one of some 5000 new Zealanders to die in Flanders Fields in Belgium.
