大象传媒

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/

Tracing Military Records

Discover the history of any members of your family who were in the armed forces. Find out how to get started, where to look for clues, and how to approach national archives.

A World War One soldier's letter

Five sources

The detective work needed to trace your family's military past can apply equally to soldiers, sailors or airmen. But remember that there was no separate air force until March 1918. Until that time, the navy and army had their own flying branches (the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps). In most cases, you'll have some evidence from which to start.

Five kinds of evidence can help your quest. You may have some or all of this in your home, perhaps stored in the attic, or held by other members of your family.

• Physical evidence, such as a name carved on a war memorial or a gravestone.
• Written evidence, such as local newspapers, parish or school magazines, postcards and letters written at the front and sent home. Even the postmark on a battered, old postcard can help.
• Pictorial evidence, such as photographs, drawings and maps.
• Artefacts, such as medals, military cap badges or buttons from uniforms. (Medals of 1914-18 are particularly helpful, for all servicemen had their name, rank, number and unit etched on the side or rear of their medals.)
• Souvenirs, such as the brass shell cases the soldiers often brought home, decorated with etched pictures or made into 'trench art' - letter openers, ashtrays or fireside ornaments.
• Oral evidence, such as family stories handed down about 'Great Uncle Jack's' war and, more recently, interviews on tape or video.

Getting started

A soldier's service book from the Boer War

The best place to start your search is The National Archives (TNA) previously known as the Public Records Office (PRO). This is housed just off London's South Circular, at Kew, in a modern building with a cafeteria and reading room in which to study.

Continuous paper evidence starts from about 1750. If you know your ancestor was a soldier or sailor from an earlier era, then TNA holds medical records and discharge papers that may tell you when your relative joined his ship or regiment, where he served, when he was discharged or how he died in service.

If you're lucky, unit war diaries or a ship's log may mention your relative by name. But, in any case, TNA staff are very helpful in guiding you towards the records you will need. They also hold all records relating to the award of gallantry and campaign medals.

Looking further

Soldiers' graves in Brockwood Military Cemetery, London

You can interrogate their Debt of Honour register, available online, which will give you matches for the names you have entered. Sad to say, there's often more than one match per name. Details will include the individual's name, rank, number, date of death and (sometimes) age, next of kin, and next of kin's address. This should help confirm you are researching the right person.

If you haven't identified your person by now, it's time to turn detective. The next stop is your nearest library, for a look at local newspapers. Throughout the 1914-18 period, casualty lists were published daily in the local and national newspapers. They're probably on microfilm. Make sure the newspapers are local to your soldier's or sailor's home.

'You may have only a faded sepia photograph of your ancestor ...'

Some of these details will also appear in parish and school magazines. They may also tell you about other members of the same family.

You may have only a faded sepia photograph of your ancestor - perhaps in uniform with fellow servicemen - with which to start, so where do you go to identify his unit? One option is to contact your ancestor's regiment, if you know it. To do so, try a search of the Ministry of Defence website. Its Ceremonial and Heritage section contains a useful A-Z of all the nation's regimental and military museums.

Alternatively, the National Army Museum in Chelsea, south-west London, tells the social story of the British army. It possesses a vast archive and helpful staff, who can identify items such as cap badges and uniforms.

And further

Imperial War Museum, London

The best known of these is the Imperial War Museum, London, where you can arrange to view (by appointment) the extensive collection of diaries and letters held by the Department of Documents. Even if the papers do not mention your relative by name, they will tell you about their unit, ship or squadron and therefore what their life would have been like.

'... the fruits of your research will be the fusion of information from several of these sources.'

The Royal Air Force (RAF) was only founded in 1918, but the RAF Museum at Hendon, north London, contains some useful archives on flying that date from before World War One. It can give guidance on squadrons and aircraft types, via its library.

The National Maritime Museum is located in Greenwich, south-east London, and holds archives about Royal Navy administration from the 18th century and crew lists from the 19th century. You will also find ships' plans and a photographic index of most 20th-century ships. Its library is a unique national treasure.

Tucked away in the University of Leeds is the Liddle Archive of letters, diaries and other documents written by servicemen and servicewomen from both world wars. Its collection is exhaustive, and may confirm some aspect of your ancestor's life.

Inevitably, the fruits of your research will be the fusion of information from several of these sources. With all these archives, the watchword is patience, and it's best to put aside a whole day for your visit. This detective work may be slow and sometimes frustrating, but it's supremely rewarding when you find a nugget of good information.

Published on 大象传媒 History: 2004-09-14
This article can be found on the Internet at:

© British Broadcasting Corporation
For more information on copyright please refer to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/about/copyright.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/terms/

大象传媒 History
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/