National Archives of Australia is seeking public help to locate the family of Margaret Williamson, whose Second World War service record will be the last to be digitised as part of a 5-year-long project.

National Archives is poised to digitise the final Second World War service record in its collection, marking the end of a large-scale effort that will enable Australians to better understand and reflect on our nation's wartime history.

Project Director Rebecca Penna says finding Margaret's relatives would be the perfect way to mark the end of the project.

'Margaret's record is the last, but certainly not the least, of more than 1 million Second World War service records that National Archives has digitised.

'Margaret's record reveals some clues about her life before and during the Second World War, but we would love to fill in the blanks with some help from her family.'

Margaret Williamson was born Margaret McCredie in Paddington NSW in 1920. She enrolled in the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) at age 20.

Prior to enlisting, she trained at Bankstown Domestic Science School and worked in the Mail Order Department at David Jones on Market Street in Sydney.

During her time in the WAAAF, Margaret worked as a storekeeper and equipment assistant across various locations within Australia including Robertson, Parkes, Point Cook, Laverton and Sydney. Margaret was promoted to Sergeant in April 1944 and discharged on demobilisation in October 1945.

Her husband, Richard Williamson, was born in Kyabram, Victoria. He also served in the Second World War. His record is also in the national archival collection.

'We are inviting anyone who might have information about Margaret or her family to contact National Archives,' says Ms Penna.

'Margaret's service record represents the culmination of years of effort to digitise these paper records, but also an opportunity to honour the memory of the many individuals who served their country.'

In 2019, the Australian Government provided $10 million in funding to help National Archives digitise the remaining 852,000 Second World War service records. At the time, 200,000 had already been preserved and made available.

This time last year, we announced we had reached 1 million Second World War records digitised with 45,000 remaining to close out the project. Once Margaret's record is digitised, this work will be complete.

Around 1,058,000 Second World War service records are already available to view online. The remaining 1% are available on request, free of charge.

To learn more about the World War II Digitisation Project, visit: Digitising World War II service records.

For more information on war records in the national archival collection, visit: Defence and war service records.