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Tracing WW1 soldier ancestors

Discover how to trace WW1 soldier ancestors through records like service records, war diaries, and medals. Identify regiments, ranks, and other vital details to unravel your family's history. Learn about casualties, war graves, and other resources for a comprehensive search.

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Tracing WW1 soldier ancestors

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  1. Tracing WW1 soldier ancestors Phyllis Court Family History Section 1 October 2012

  2. The War to End Wars • 4 August 1914 – 11 November 1918 • Six million men in British Armed services • 250,000 women • An Imperial war • 750,000 deaths • Highest proportion Scotland, New Zealand • But Spanish Flu • A world war

  3. Army organisation Army Corps Division Brigade Battalion

  4. Private’s eye view • Section (10-12 men under NCO or 2nd Lieutenant) • Platoon (four sections under 2/Lt or Lieutenant) • Company (four platoons under Captain or Major) • Battalion (four companies + battalion HQ) • Regiment (two or more battal

  5. Before you start you need to know: • Name • Regiment or unit • Rank and number • When did they serve

  6. Types of record you can find • Service records • Medal index cards • War diaries • Casualty records • Rolls of honour • Memoirs

  7. Other ranks Service Records • Two-thirds destroyed • Online at Ancestry • The contents of each file is differnt • Look for: • Enlistment papers • Casualty forms

  8. Officers • At The National Archives(not online) • 85% survive • Heavily weeded

  9. London Gazette • Contains officer’s promotions • Details of awards of gallantry medals www.gazettes-online.co.uk

  10. Medals

  11. Medal Index cards • On Ancestry • Only for men who served overseas

  12. Gallantry medals Listed in the London Gazette (with citations)

  13. War diaries • Overseas units only • At The National Archives • (Online from 2014)

  14. Casualties: Commonwealth War Graves Commission www.cwgc.org

  15. Details of casualties

  16. Soldiers Died in the Great War On Ancestry and Findmypast

  17. Rolls of honour • Many rolls of honour for the war dead • This is the Irish Memorial on FIndmypast

  18. Records of the wounded Few records survive Silver War Badge Medal rolls on Ancestry

  19. Women in the services • From 1917 • Records on The National Archives website • Not very informative

  20. Nurses • Indexes on Findmypast • Records on The National Archives website

  21. Other record sources • Casuaty lists • Gallantry awards • Obituaries • Photographs • www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

  22. National Roll • Biographies of ordinary people (but incomplete) • On Ancestry and Findmypast

  23. Visit the battlefields

  24. Archive holdings – a summary • The National Archives (TNA) • Imperial War Museum (IWM) • RAF Museum • Royal Naval Museum • National Maritime Museum • Regimental museums

  25. Taking it further Simon Fowler, Tracing Your First World War Ancestors (Pen & Sword, 2013) William Spencer, Army Service Records of the First World War (3rd edn, TNA, 2008) The Long Long Trail – www.1914-1918.net

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