Family History

Armed Services

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

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/

Naval-History.net
Includes information on Navy casualties, war diaries, events, ships and campaigns. Also has "an enlarged and corrected version of the original HMSO "British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-1918".
http://www.naval-history.net/

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/ reshelp/ findhelprestype/ offpubs/ ukofficalpub/ servlists/ armylist.pdf

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/

The Victoria Cross
Included in this web site on the Victoria Cross you will find an index of individual VC holders' names and a list (by county & by country) of the location of graves of VC holders in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the rest of the world
http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ vcross.htm

The War Graves Photographic Project
The aim of The War Graves Photographic Project is to photograph every war grave, individual memorial, MoD grave, and family memorial of serving military personnel from WWI to the present day and make these available within a searchable database.
http://twgpp.org/

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/

Gateway Home

Page last updated: 8 February 2012