Thanks to Tim for adding to my confusion !
I knew that other workers came to the UK under the scheme :
Quote:
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Initially only skilled workers were sought , however at the request of the British Government later groups included large numbers of navvies for general labouring.
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What I didn't know was that they were given a different "War Worker" badge (see photo 1) , there were 2 versions made by Stokes & Sons , Melbourne :
One had a plain back , with makers mark and stamped with a badge number.
The other had Navvies & Labourers (see photo 2) and also the makers mark + badge number.
These names/badge numbers also appear on the NAA website but a check of the on-line files which are available (434 out of 6347) and other resources indicate if the person was a War Worker/Navvie or a Munitions Worker. This explains why two people appear to have the same badge number.
The NAA also has a list of Munitions/War Workers which would indicate what group they fall into but it is not yet available on-line.
The first numbers on Neil Smith's booklet indicate the file or list number used to confirm/verify the badge number (second number on list). I am guessing that he spent a lot of time at the NAA digging through and photo-copying all the relevent documents !!!
I'm 95% sure I've got this cracked but will do a bit more research.
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