Family History

Armed Services

Armed Forces Memorial
The 'first national memorial dedicated to the men and women of the United Kingdom Armed Forces (Regular and Reserve) killed on duty or as a result of terrorist action since the Second World War'. The site includes a 'Roll of Honour' database that you can search by name to see whether the name is included on the memorial. Written Rolls of Honour are held in London, listing all those who have died in service since the end of the Second World War regardless of the cause of death. The web site's database searches those names too
http://www.forcesmemorial.org.uk/

Centre For First World War Studies
Includes 'How do I trace a soldier?' guide and 'Can anybody help?' questions and answers section, research, book reviews, further links and more. The Centre is part of the University of Birmingham
http://www.firstworldwar.bham.ac.uk/ index.htm

Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Search for place of burial or commemoration of the 1.7 million members of the Commonwealth forces who died in the First and Second World Wars
http://www.cwgc.org

Commonwealth War Graves Commission - French site
The CWGC site above is heavily used, so if you find it takes too long to connect to it, try accessing it through the French CWGC site which can be quicker. Click 'Consult Commonwealth database'.
http://www.anzac.org

Family Relatives
Inlcudes 'Soldiers died in the Great War 1914 -1918' and other World War I and World War II miltary records
http://www.familyrelatives.com

FamilyRecords.gov.uk: Topics: Miltary Records
Details of major sources.
http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/ topics/ military.htm

Findmypast.com
Includes 'Soldiers died in the Great War' database and other major military records
http://www.findmypast.com/

Imperial War Museum - Family History
Details of sources in the museum and at the right of the page, lower down, downloadable family history research guides for the merchant navy, Royal Navy, POWs, Army, Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force and for West Indian service personnel
http://www.iwm.org.uk/ server/ show/ nav.6

Lost Generation
You can search either for particular individuals who died in battle in the First World War or for specific First World War memorials. The Lost Generation database contains all the relevant information in the UK’s official inventory of war memorials and it is also growing with information added by users. The site also gives links to further specialised web sites about the First World War.
http://www.channel4.com/ history/ microsites/ L/ lostgeneration/ index.html

Military-Genealogy.com
Search 'Soldiers died in the Great War 1914 - 1919', 'Army roll of honour 1939 - 1945', 'National roll 1914 - 1918' and 'De Ruvigny's roll of honour 1914 - 1924'.
http:/// www.military-genealogy.com/

National Archives: Documents Online
You can now search online the 'Medal Rolls Index', known as the 'Medal Index Cards (MIC)', for the First World War. Every officer and soldier of the British Army and Royal Flying Corps who saw active service overseas was entitled to a campaign medal in the First World War. The medal 'roll' which records these awards is therefore the most complete listing of those who fought in the war. The roll is being published online in batches, alphabetically by surname.
http://www.documentsonline.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

National Archives: Research Guides
List of research guides including guides to the records of people in the armed services. Click a title to see the full text.
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ researchguidesindex.asp

National Archives: Service Records for the First World War
Guide to service records of soldiers and officers in the British army, naval service records, air force service records, service records for women and medical personnel, medals and courts martial. Part of the 'Pathways to the past' exhibition on the First World War
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ pathways/ firstworldwar/ service_records/ sr_soldiers.htm

National Army Museum: Collections and Research
Follow the links for family history. One of the resources you can search at the museum's Templer Study Centre is Hodson's card index of about 50,000 names of British army officers who served in the East India Company (EIC) or in the Indian army, as well as EIC civil servants and officers of ships
http://www.national-army-museum.ac.uk/ research/

Nicknames
Long list of surnames and their associated nicknames, on the Royal Navy site.
http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/ static/ pages/ 4726.html

Roll of Honour
Aims to give information from as many war memorials in the UK as possible
http://www.roll-of-honour.com/

Service Lists at the British Library
Guide to the service lists for the army, navy and air force held at the British Library's Social Policy Information Service.
http://www.bl.uk/ collections/ social/ srvlists.html

The Long, Long Trail: the Story of the British Army in the Great War of 1914-1918
Includes a useful section on how to research a soldier of the British Army.
http://www.1914-1918.net/

Veterans UK
A single point of contact within the Ministry of Defence for veterans and their dependants seeking help, information and advice. Includes information about medals and service records. Also includes links to many veterans' organisations.
http://www.veterans-uk.info/

Victoria Cross Reference
Details of Victora Cross holders, plus related information. Can be searched by various indexes, including name, unit, location etc.
http://www.victoriacross.net/ default.asp

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Page last updated: 29 September 2008