Tracing Military Ancestors

A headstone of a Second Lieutenant of the Royal Flying Corps. The RFC emblem was retained when the RFC became the Royal Air Force on 1st April 1918. Photo: Mark Sluman

In recent years - particularly given the huge volume of information now available on the Internet - many people have traced the military endeavours of their ancestors in both the First and Second World Wars. It is a long-term goal of this site to assist in this process, providing a complete guide for those willing and able to undertake this often time-consuming task, or - alternatively - to provide direct assistance for those without the time or the means to research the information.

Until this guide goes live, those interested in the subject of tracing military ancestors should visit:

Public Records Office (for Service Records)
CWGC (for War Deaths)
Imperial War Museum (for appointments to read Regimental Histories)

As an example of the sort of detailed research that can be undertaken I've attached a short paper that I recently produced recording the events leading up to the death of my own great-great uncle, Charles Arman, of the East Kent Regiment ("The Buffs"). He died in a military hospital in Rouen of wounds inflicted during the Battle of the Ancre - one of the last phases of the infamous Battle of the Somme. I used information drawn from the Public Records Office and CWGC website as well as various books and publications on the First World War.

Charles Arman - WWI Research (PDF document)