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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 27 2009, 3:33 AM EDT (current) | andys320 | 56 words added |
| Jul 27 2009, 3:16 AM EDT | andys320 | 7 words added, 25 words deleted |
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Key: Additions Deletions
"SOLDIERS DIED IN THE GREAT WAR"
http://www.military-genealogy.com/ A "pay by enquiry" site for soldiers died in the Great War, including more than 703,000 names. Based on a CD ROM that is available from the Naval and Military Press . Some libraries and records offices i.e. Surrey History Center have copies of the CD ROM for public access.
If researching a soldier killed in a certain action, the names of other soldiers who fell in that action should be obtainable by searching battalion and date of death (this facility will only work on the CD ROM).
Details given will be Regiment/Corps, Battalion, Name, Place of Birth, Place of Enlistment, Residence, Rank, Service Number, Date of Death, Reason for Death, Theatre of War, and any supplimentary notes.
COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION
www.cwgc.org A free site detailing the casualties known by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Searches require name (and usually initials) although returns can be narrowed by other information such as year of death or nationality. The site also provides information on cemeteries and memorials, including history of development, location and cemetery plans.
Often information store on a casualty will include personal information such as age at death or 'son of/husband of'.
Types of cemetery. In the event of a known grave, the history of the cemetery from the CWGC website can be very informative. It will indicate whether the grave is in a ‘battlefield cemetery’ (i.e. on or just to the rear of the front line), a cemetery associated with a ‘dressing station’ or a ‘hospital’, or is a ‘concentration’ cemetery, made up from other, smaller cemeteries. By referring the date of the casualty to the history of the cemetery, a reasonable idea of how the casualty came to be interred in that site can be gained, i.e. Killed in Action, Died of Wounds.
Geoff's 1914-1921 Search Engine provides another excellent method of searching the CWGC records, enabling casualties to be located with minimal details, such as date of death and unit. This provides the ability to deduce was action a particular soldier's unit was experiencing on the day of his death, i.e. full sacle action or 'holding the line/fatigues'.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES
The majority of archives from the First World War that are open to the public are held at the Public Records Office, Kew, London. Some of the archives are available through the internet. The National Archives site also provides some excellent research guides, see Research Guides.
MEDAL RECORDS ONLINEsearchable site of over 5 million First World War campaign medals. Offers a complete index of Officers and Soldiers who served during the First World War. A PDF file of a soldier's medal card is purchasable at £3.50 over the internet.
All members of the Armed Forces were entitled to the Victory Medal and the British War Medal, and other campaign awards were applicable depending on when the soldier commenced overseas active service. Service Numbers often change from low numbers (that were allocated on a Regimental basis at the start of the war, indicating early service or service prior to the war) to longer numbers with the reform of the Service number allocation system (1917). Details tend to be minimal but can include when the soldier arrived overseas. The cards have only been scanned on one side, and apparently the reverse often contained notes. The cards are now held by the Western Front Association who will review the reverse for information on application.
SOLDIER'S PERSONAL RECORDS. Contained the service details of Soldiers served (died and survived) the First World War. The Records were damaged in the Blitz in the 1940s, and therefore incomplete. About 60% were totally destroyed, some 25-30% partially burnt (referred to as the Burnt Papers) and about 10% were undamaged (the Unburnt Papers). All that remain have been converted to microfiche and are available at the National Records Office in Kew. The Burnt Papers form WO363 and the Unburnt Papers form WO364. Most of WO364 concerns men who were subsequently paid a Pension due to their war service. The records are now in the process of being made available online (WO364 is already available via www.ancestry.co.uk). The details contained can be very varied and require careful examination to interpret.
WO363 - THE BURNT PAPERS - SOLDIER'S PERSONAL RECORDS. Currently (2007) available via microfiche at the Public Records Office, Kew. Contains only 25-30% of men who served (due to war damage). Eventually these records will be available online through www.ancestry.co.uk (subscription required).
WO364 - THE UNBURNT PAPERS - SOLDIER'S PENSION RECORDS. Available online through www.ancestry.co.uk
(subscription required).
BATTALION WAR DIARIES The National Archives holds copies of the Battalion War Diaries, detailing what duties each unit was involved with on a daily basis. Officers generally are referred to by name, other ranks (ORs) are seldom distinguished. These documents are available at the Public Records Office, Kew, although some are available for download via the internet as PDF files (normally they are broken into files of a few months, and cost £3.50 per file). The diaries are held under the file of WO95. (see Research Guide). Searching for the document concerned is a little complex. From Documents Online Advanced Search enter the unit's details in the Key Words section, i.e. 22 Battallion Royal Fusiliers.
The contents of WO95 are listed by Division, Brigade and Battalion here.
HOSPITAL RECORDS DATABASE searchable through the National Archives, detailing where records are held.
CENSUS RETURNS
Census returns are filed every decade.1911, the last census before the First World War, has now been released at www.1911census.co.uk .
The returns are available via the National Archives at Census Searches which requires credits, or by subscription through www.ancestry.co.uk.
Generally, the oldest age of service was 41, and the youngest 18. Notwithstanding that many servicemen lied about their age on enlistment, this suggests that the earliest year of birth for a serviceman would be 1873, and the latest year of birth would be 1900, a 27 year spread.
Be aware that Census returns have been transposed from handwritten forms and often there are errors. If a person is missing in an applicable census, try searching for a parent or a sibling to see if you can trace the family.
BIRTH/MARRIAGE/DEATH REGISTRY
Free search available on www.freebdm.org.uk or with subscription at www.ancestry.co.uk. Births/marriages/deaths are registered by local administrative area and by county. A breakdown of which parishes are contained in each administrative area is accessible. Full name is provided on registration of birth. Spouse can be discovered by reviewing “other entries on page”.
LOCAL INFORMATION AND GENERAL INTERNET SEARCHES Information on Parish War Memorials is gradually being included online at a variety of sources, but is still very fragmented. An internet search of key words currently appears to be the best way of finding such details without visiting the parish of residence. Local newspapers regularly included details of enlistments and casualties.
http://www.military-genealogy.com/ A "pay by enquiry" site for soldiers died in the Great War, including more than 703,000 names. Based on a CD ROM that is available from the Naval and Military Press . Some libraries and records offices i.e. Surrey History Center have copies of the CD ROM for public access.
If researching a soldier killed in a certain action, the names of other soldiers who fell in that action should be obtainable by searching battalion and date of death (this facility will only work on the CD ROM).
Details given will be Regiment/Corps, Battalion, Name, Place of Birth, Place of Enlistment, Residence, Rank, Service Number, Date of Death, Reason for Death, Theatre of War, and any supplimentary notes.
COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION
www.cwgc.org A free site detailing the casualties known by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Searches require name (and usually initials) although returns can be narrowed by other information such as year of death or nationality. The site also provides information on cemeteries and memorials, including history of development, location and cemetery plans.
Often information store on a casualty will include personal information such as age at death or 'son of/husband of'.
Types of cemetery. In the event of a known grave, the history of the cemetery from the CWGC website can be very informative. It will indicate whether the grave is in a ‘battlefield cemetery’ (i.e. on or just to the rear of the front line), a cemetery associated with a ‘dressing station’ or a ‘hospital’, or is a ‘concentration’ cemetery, made up from other, smaller cemeteries. By referring the date of the casualty to the history of the cemetery, a reasonable idea of how the casualty came to be interred in that site can be gained, i.e. Killed in Action, Died of Wounds.
Geoff's 1914-1921 Search Engine provides another excellent method of searching the CWGC records, enabling casualties to be located with minimal details, such as date of death and unit. This provides the ability to deduce was action a particular soldier's unit was experiencing on the day of his death, i.e. full sacle action or 'holding the line/fatigues'.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES
The majority of archives from the First World War that are open to the public are held at the Public Records Office, Kew, London. Some of the archives are available through the internet. The National Archives site also provides some excellent research guides, see Research Guides.
MEDAL RECORDS ONLINEsearchable site of over 5 million First World War campaign medals. Offers a complete index of Officers and Soldiers who served during the First World War. A PDF file of a soldier's medal card is purchasable at £3.50 over the internet.
All members of the Armed Forces were entitled to the Victory Medal and the British War Medal, and other campaign awards were applicable depending on when the soldier commenced overseas active service. Service Numbers often change from low numbers (that were allocated on a Regimental basis at the start of the war, indicating early service or service prior to the war) to longer numbers with the reform of the Service number allocation system (1917). Details tend to be minimal but can include when the soldier arrived overseas. The cards have only been scanned on one side, and apparently the reverse often contained notes. The cards are now held by the Western Front Association who will review the reverse for information on application.
SOLDIER'S PERSONAL RECORDS. Contained the service details of Soldiers served (died and survived) the First World War. The Records were damaged in the Blitz in the 1940s, and therefore incomplete. About 60% were totally destroyed, some 25-30% partially burnt (referred to as the Burnt Papers) and about 10% were undamaged (the Unburnt Papers). All that remain have been converted to microfiche and are available at the National Records Office in Kew. The Burnt Papers form WO363 and the Unburnt Papers form WO364. Most of WO364 concerns men who were subsequently paid a Pension due to their war service. The records are now in the process of being made available online (WO364 is already available via www.ancestry.co.uk). The details contained can be very varied and require careful examination to interpret.
WO363 - THE BURNT PAPERS - SOLDIER'S PERSONAL RECORDS. Currently (2007) available via microfiche at the Public Records Office, Kew. Contains only 25-30% of men who served (due to war damage). Eventually these records will be available online through www.ancestry.co.uk (subscription required).
WO364 - THE UNBURNT PAPERS - SOLDIER'S PENSION RECORDS. Available online through www.ancestry.co.uk
(subscription required).
BATTALION WAR DIARIES The National Archives holds copies of the Battalion War Diaries, detailing what duties each unit was involved with on a daily basis. Officers generally are referred to by name, other ranks (ORs) are seldom distinguished. These documents are available at the Public Records Office, Kew, although some are available for download via the internet as PDF files (normally they are broken into files of a few months, and cost £3.50 per file). The diaries are held under the file of WO95. (see Research Guide). Searching for the document concerned is a little complex. From Documents Online Advanced Search enter the unit's details in the Key Words section, i.e. 22 Battallion Royal Fusiliers.
The contents of WO95 are listed by Division, Brigade and Battalion here.
HOSPITAL RECORDS DATABASE searchable through the National Archives, detailing where records are held.
CENSUS RETURNS
Census returns are filed every decade.1911, the last census before the First World War, has now been released at www.1911census.co.uk .
The returns are available via the National Archives at Census Searches which requires credits, or by subscription through www.ancestry.co.uk.
Generally, the oldest age of service was 41, and the youngest 18. Notwithstanding that many servicemen lied about their age on enlistment, this suggests that the earliest year of birth for a serviceman would be 1873, and the latest year of birth would be 1900, a 27 year spread.
Be aware that Census returns have been transposed from handwritten forms and often there are errors. If a person is missing in an applicable census, try searching for a parent or a sibling to see if you can trace the family.
BIRTH/MARRIAGE/DEATH REGISTRY
Free search available on www.freebdm.org.uk or with subscription at www.ancestry.co.uk. Births/marriages/deaths are registered by local administrative area and by county. A breakdown of which parishes are contained in each administrative area is accessible. Full name is provided on registration of birth. Spouse can be discovered by reviewing “other entries on page”.
LOCAL INFORMATION AND GENERAL INTERNET SEARCHES Information on Parish War Memorials is gradually being included online at a variety of sources, but is still very fragmented. An internet search of key words currently appears to be the best way of finding such details without visiting the parish of residence. Local newspapers regularly included details of enlistments and casualties.
