Researching WW1 soldiers
 

Hi

It's come to my attention that some of my ancestors fought in the Great War. Where would be a good place to start researching them?


Colin

You can look up their service records on www.ancestry.co.uk however, it is not a free to view site. Its worth bearing in mind too that not all the ww1 records survived bomb damage in ww2.

Phil

Strange thread this one, with no other replies. Its not 'is it genuine?' or 'what is it?' Its not even badge related, so surely that's a bonus as this is a badge forum.

Somebody needs to come up with a forum list of 'allowed' topics and questions. Ones that are not below everybody to answer. Ones that are not too boring.

Surely there is more than just Ancestry.co.uk?

Some people can't afford all the expensive books, the society memberships etc. Why have a forum anyway if all the answers are in books etc??? I don't think they are, but thats just my opinion.

I am not sure I understand this comment at all. Seems o me either sarcasm or someone thinks that researching a soldier is beneath the membership.

Certainly for me, researching a soldier is not beneath me, it is what I primarily do as a hobby. Badge collecting is secondary to my medals collecting.

Now to the original question posted, yes Ancestry would be a good place to start, however I think I we knew who you looking for and what nationality or country they served with might get a better reply.

Phil,
KEEP CALM! and take it easy.
Eddie

As Phil says, Ancestry is your best bet and if the records survive they will be there. There is a fee to join, but if you are going to do a lot of research it is worth it.

Good luck with your search. Stick with it, it is well worth the effort.

Just to add, it can be very frustrating when you make a post and it is ignored. Even worse when you make a post asking advice and it is ignored, yet the next day someone else poses the same question on his badge and everyone is all over it. It might explain why so few members get involved.

Andy

Maybe a little sarcasm is intended, yes. My point is that the forum membership seem to have an attitude that its not worth the effort to help somebody with what seems to be, in this case, a very worthwhile question. A trait that seems all too common nowadays. I am sure that no members think it is not a worthwhile activity. It does extend into other threads too, though. A large majority of members seem to be unwilling to post in reply to basic questions, is it because they are intimidated by the more 'authoritive' members, those who consider the simple questions below them, but will leap on a 'lower' member to correct them at the first opportunity. Why not just answer the question in the first place?

I find I can offer the forum very little myself, past experiences have made me doubt my knowledge too much, I also find that it can offer me less and less as time goes on.

My comments above are not intended to attack any particular individual.

If I cause offence, so be it. I think I will be leaving soon anyway.

Phil

Perfectly calm, mate :)

Phil,
As one of the more helpful members I think you add a lot to the forum.
Over the last few years you and many others have learned a lot through your posts and the replies they received.
I think both the forum and yourself have more to gain from you staying than leaving.
So KEEP CALM! and take it easy.
Eddie

Excellent point, Andy, cheers. I've seen it happen on more than one occassion.

Thank you Eddie, its very kind of you to say so :) :o

Going back to the original post, it would be great if somebody could point Colin in the right directions, in fact all of us. How about any books or different websites he can perhaps get hold of, is there a way he can contact the NA direct? being in Norway I doubt Colin can or will be able to just nip down to Kew :D From his previous posts, he seems to be concentrating on WW1 British soldiers.

My apologies for the hijacking.

Phil

If I know a soldiers name but don't know whether he survived the war I would normally check the Commonwealth War Graves site. If nothing shows there then I would look at other sources.
Eddie

There are several online resourses apart from Ancestry. National Archives have some medal rolls available here: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/medals.htm
Sometimes they give an indication of battalion or theatre served, CWGC is also worth checking here: http://www.cwgc.org/

Not refering to this thread but to badge queries in general, some very basic questions are asked over and over when they can be answered very quickly by doing a search of threads, ie, pic of GVR Royal Engineers badge with the question 'what is this regiment, when was it worn?' and similar.

Lee

The Great War Forum- http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/fo...ex.php?act=idx Join and give as much info as you can in the correct subforum- with luck someone should help you out. regards, Paul.

I think I pay about £80 a year for my Ancestry membership, it's the basic one but allows me to search what I need for WW1, I'm doing a lot at the moment so it's well worth it for me. As has been said, most of the records were destroyed in the Blitz but you can at least get MIC's or SWB details. If Colin could post names & any other details he has I'm sure some of us would be more than willing to do a search for him, I know I would,
Wilf.