To help those wishing to research records of British Soldiers who served in the 1914-18 Great War we thought that it would be useful if we put together some notes on the basics of how …
Destruction of British Army Service Records About 6-7 million men served as soldiers (other ranks) in the First World War. Most of their service records were destroyed by enemy bombing in 1940. About 2 million …
RAF The Royal Air Force is the newest of the services, formed on 1st April 1918 on the amalgamation of the army’s Royal Flying Corps and the navy’s Royal Naval Air Service. Before this date, …
Navy There is a similar division between Royal Naval officers and other ranks – known as ratings – with an equally wide range of source material available for each. Before 1853, naval ratings can be …
Army During the 18th and 19th centuries, life in the army was seen as a career. Men joined up in the ranks for set periods of service, usually around 14 years. On retirement, either …
Military Ancestors We’ve all heard stories told to us by parents, uncles, aunts or grandparents that began ‘did you know that your ….. was in the war…’ The course of the twentieth century has been shaped …
