The Ministry of Defence currently holds most post-First World War British Army records, although it is in the process of transferring these records to The National Archives, with the transfer due to be completed in 2027. You will need to apply to them to order records of deceased service personnel. If the person died less than 25 years ago, you can only order the records if you are their next of kin or have consent from the next of kin. However, the MoD warns that record orders can take up to a year, with some family historians<\/a> reporting longer delays.<\/p>\n

2. The National Archives\u2019 Research Guides<\/a><\/h3>\n
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The National Archives\u2019 \u2018up to 1913\u2019 research guide for soldiers in the British Army is just one of numerous all-encompassing guides divided by time period, soldier\/officer and campaign. These sit alongside specialist research guides to particular subjects or types of records, such as \u2018British Army Muster Rolls and Pay Lists c.1730\u20131898\u2019. Starting here, you can find out about what kind of records survive, where they are and which of the records are accessible online, before delving into specific collections such as Royal Artillery personnel records, Second Boer War<\/a> material, discharge papers and soldiers who died in service.<\/p>\n
3. Ancestry<\/a><\/h3>\n
$\""Ancestry\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
The website\u2019s military holdings include Chelsea Pensioner<\/a> records and First World War pension records<\/a>, enlistment and service records, awards, casualties and decorations. Note that many of the records are only available on Ancestry\u2019s special military records website, Fold3, which requires an All Access subscription<\/a>. You can also now access Ancestry and Fold3 military records on Forces War Records<\/a>, which was purchased by Ancestry. Ancestry will also eventually digitise<\/a> the Second World War military records held by the Ministry of Defence.<\/p>\n
4. Findmypast<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Explore the datasets in the website\u2019s \u2018Military, Armed Forces & Conflict\u2019 category. It holds over 60 million records, including Boer War records, Second World War<\/a> records and Chelsea pensioner records.<\/p>\n
5. The Long, Long Trail<\/a><\/h3>\n
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When researching a soldier who served in the First World War, there\u2019s no better starting point than Chris Baker\u2019s website. The main signposts take you to dedicated sections focusing on researching soldiers, the Army, battles and battlefields. The \u2018Army\u2019 section is excellent if you\u2019re digging into the wider context of regiments, units and formations, as well as regulations. The \u2018Soldiers\u2019 section divides into two: how to research a soldier, with guides to locating records and what they reveal, and the wider \u2018A soldier\u2019s life\u2019 section, which takes you through each stage of a soldier\u2019s service to help interpret records. There are also pages on civilian groups that then came under the Army\u2019s control, such as Queen Alexandra\u2019s Imperial Military Nursing Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n
6. National Army Museum<\/a><\/h3>\n
$\""National\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nThe website of the National Army Museum in Chelsea has a wealth of resources, including background reading, guides for family historians, and information about the museum\u2019s research centre. You will also find details of its collections, including soldier\u2019s effects ledgers created by the War Office to record what was owed to those who died in service. They run from 1901 to 1960, covering the end of the Second Boer War and the world wars. These normally contain name, rank, regiment, service number, date and sometimes place of death, name of the next of kin, and how much they received. The records for 1901\u20131929 are on Ancestry<\/a>.\n
7. Commonwealth War Graves Commission<\/a><\/h3>\n
$\""Commonwealth\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nThe commission\u2019s searchable record of the 1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died in the First and Second World Wars is often the first website a new family historian will visit. If, while using the \u2018Search in War Dead\u2019 facility, you\u2019re overwhelmed with an enormous number of possible matches, you can either refine and narrow your search, or click the \u2018More Details\u2019 button next to an entry to help confirm if it\u2019s the person you\u2019re looking for. Each record will normally include regiment and unit, service number, date of death, burial place, and \u2018Additional Info\u2019 \u2013 the latter often includes the next of kin.\n
8. The Sandhurst Collection<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Sandhurst preserves and manages the records of the academy and its predecessors: the Royal Military College Sandhurst (1799\u20131939) and the Royal Military Academy Woolwich (1741\u20131939). You can road-test the register volumes by typing a name in the search engine and selecting \u2018Cadet\u2019 and\/or \u2018Staff\u2019. Each search result should provide enough information to let you know if it\u2019s a successful hit \u2013 it gives the name, type of register entry, position, and years of admission, commission and leaving. Downloading a single document costs \u00a35.99, or you can subscribe for access across the entire database.<\/p>\n
9. Expert\u2019s choice: The Ogilby Muster<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Chosen by Kevin Asplin, professional military genealogist and military author:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ogilby Trust supports and promotes the regimental and corps museums of the British Army. The parent website<\/a> has been a regular bookmark for military historians for years \u2013 the place to find out what museums are where, and so a useful directory for when you\u2019re ready for a deep dive into a regiment\u2019s history. The Ogilby Muster website enables you to search digitised material from across members\u2019 collections. Of course, regimental museums vary a great deal in terms of the amounts of archival material they preserve. And over the years many have made finding aids, transcriptions, indexes, images and other digitised content available. The Ogilby Muster, for the first time, offers a \u2018one-stop shop\u2019 where you can search for references in catalogued documents, private papers and diaries, photos and maps, regimental histories and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can search by name or keyword, then filter results by date range, \u2018Era\u2019 (eg \u2018World War One, Gallipoli\u2019 or \u2018World War One, Home Front\u2019), or narrow your research to a single regimental collection, and if you create a free account and log in you will see full details of the record. There are already more than 75 participating collections, and more are joining during the year. For example HorsePower in Winchester, the museum of the King\u2019s Royal Hussars, joined at launch \u2013 this selection alone comprises about 12,000 images from the First World War.\u201d<\/p>\n
British Army records: More websites<\/h3>\n
10. Anglo Boer War<\/a><\/h4>\n
This site has unit histories, soldiers\u2019 records, a forum, digitised books, images, articles and technical details of honours and awards.<\/p>\n
11. British Battles<\/a><\/h4>\n
Learn about countless battles \u2013 each entry has narratives, illustrations and hand-drawn maps.<\/p>\n
12. Imperial War Museum Collections<\/a><\/h4>\n
Learn about IWM\u2019s letters, personal diaries and unpublished memoirs of servicemen and women.<\/p>\n
13. Prisoners Of The First World War<\/a><\/h4>\n
Explore International Red Cross index cards for servicemen and civilians in detention camps.<\/p>\n
14. The Gazette<\/a><\/h4>\n
Search announcements of gallantry awards in back issues of The London Gazette<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n
15. The Second Anglo-Afghan War 1878\u20131880<\/a><\/h4>\n
This site includes a list of regiments that served in the conflict, and a searchable database with biographical information about participants.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jonathan Scott is the author of<\/em> A Dictionary of Family History<\/a><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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