Military recruiting districts map

This map shows the recruiting districts used for conducting the conscription ballots between 1916 and 1918 (outlined in red). Each district included a number of counties, which are named in capitals on the map (outlined in black).

Each recruiting district was expected to supply a certain number of men to the NZEF, volunteers in the first instance. The conscription ballot would be used to make up any shortfall.

In September 1917, when the supply of single (1st Division) men was officially exhausted, the Defence Department switched to a national quota system. Thereafter the ballot filled the national shortfall by conscripting men wherever they could be found.  

The ballot lists published in the New Zealand Gazette group balloted men by district, so this map is a useful resource for researchers wanting to establish when individual men were called up.