State Library of Victoria, http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/16491
Research Your Ancestors Military History
So much has been documented about the World Wars particularly the First World War, where a generation of brave men, women and civilians lost their lives.
During the blitz in September 1940, over half the British WW1 records were destroyed in a fire at the Army records office in London. The documents that did survive are known as ‘burnt documents’ and are classified as ‘British Army WW1 Service Records, 1914-1920’.
The Ministry of Pension also held WW1 service records that survived the blitz. These are known as the ‘unburnt documents’ and are classified as ‘British Army WW1 Pension Records, 1914-1920.
The ‘burnt documents’, and ‘unburnt documents’ are held in the National Archives (UK) and are available through Ancestry.
Here are some popular free websites to get you started. At Trace my genealogy, we have a growing resource to help find your military ancestors.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Is a central system that includes date of death, the name and location of the cemetery, burial site or memorial, and headstone documents. Established in 1917 to ensure the identification of the of the graves and burial sites of Commonwealth war dead.
I was able to find ancestors who died in the first world war easily with just a few details. It contains 1.7 million men and women who died during the two World Wars.
The Irish Great War Dead Archive
Tom Burnell is a military historian who has gathered information from Ireland’s memorial records, newspaper articles and other researched sources to create an extensive list of service men and women who died during the First World War.
I looked up my great-grandfather who died in 1919 in Ireland from a disease he contracted whilst serving in the war. I was impressed to see added details in the details in his research with addresses, and names of immediate family.
The database covers dates between August 1914 and August 1921, no matter what the service men or women died from during those dates.
The Australian War Memorial in Canberra has a digital collection of official records, photographs, diaries, and letters to research your Australian family military history.
If you have the opportunity to visit the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, they have exhibitions covering Australia’s involvement in each major conflict.
National Archives of Australia
The National Archives of Australia have digitised the service records of Australians who served with the Army, Navy and Air Force during World War 1 and World War 11. If a service record has not been digitised, you can order an online copy.
Service records of NZDF personnel archives and medals hold a collection of about 1.5 million service records relating to 420,000 New Zealand service personnel who served in New Zealand’s Military Forces post World War 1.
The NZ History site provides a guide to researching New Zealand Soldiers, with over 100,000 serving overseas during the First World War.
IWM’s lives of the First World War tells stories of individuals from across the Commonwealth who served in uniform and worked on the home front. With 7.7 million life stories from the British Empire and Commonwealth, it is definitely worth the time to search the IWM’s site.
