A new online database covering British War Memorials has been launched  on thegenealogist.co.uk. Currently the database comprises over 100,000 records, providing valuable details about civilians and soldiers killed during conflicts ranging from the Boer War to the more recent clashes in Northern Ireland. Each record  includes details of the memorial with overview images of the [...]

Earlier this week saw the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Royal Flying Corps, so as a tip of the hat to the pioneers of British military aviation, I thought I would write a few words on how to uncover your aviation heroes. But first a history of the RFC in about 3 paragraphs: [...]

Every November, we pay tribute to the millions who have fought and died for Britain over the last century. This ritual began after World War I, where hundreds of thousands of our ancestors were killed, and many more were injured. With the latest military update from Ancestry, you can discover whether your family’s WWI heroes were rewarded [...]

Details of thousands of Boer War soldiers have been digitised and compiled into a single on-line collection, making it much easier for family historians to search for their family heroes. The records are at www.findmypast.co.uk  and list more than 260,000 soldiers, nurses and civilians who served with the British Imperial Forces between 1899 and 1902. [...]

If your ancestors served in the Militia it may seem that trying to trace their careers is significantly more difficult than those men that served in the regular army. But there are some great websites that can help you in your search. What is the Militia? The Militia was a part-time voluntary civilian force organised [...]

The are literally ‘some’ splendid websites out there where you can find details of the final resting place of your family hero who made the supreme sacrifice so we can eat cheeseburgers in peace…here are a few of my faves.  The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (www.cwgc.org)  In my opinion, this is the daddy of them [...]

Almost all of us have a family member who fought for King and Country during the First World War. With digitisation of army and pension records, as well as medal cards, ancestry.co.uk is a great resource for anyone wanting to find out more about their family heroes from WW1. There are a vast number of service [...]

That’s right, for all orders placed before midnight on Bank Holiday Monday, the cost to fully research any soldier that fought before 1922 will be ten pounds (plus photocopies and postage). Also, you can also order my book: ‘Winners of the Military Cross During the Great War’ (Volume 1) for a 50% off fee of [...]

Over a quarter of a million army pension records have now been made available online at www.findmypast.co.uk For soldiers that served in the British army before WW1, by far the best way to find any information on service and personal details is via the chelsea pensioner discharge papers. (National Archives WO97). This series holds over [...]

Just before Christmas I posted about the CWGC website as one of half a dozen WW1 bias websites that I believe are invaluable for researchers and family historians interested in this conflict. Next up is The Long, Long trail (www.1914-1918.net). This site is a huge website jam packed with great detail about the British Army [...]