First World War Army Service Records

The bestselling guide to tracing ancestors who fought in the First World War, including newly released records and resources now available online.

Reviews:
an invaluable guide The Great War
There is an excellent section on medals, awards and honours Ancestors


The National Archives’ celebrated First World War holdings include personal files of officers and other ranks, campaign medals, gallantry and meritorious service awards, courts martial and casualty lists. Its remarkable collection has records of Dominion forces and the Indian Army, the WAAC, the Royal Flying Corps and RAF, as well as auxiliary and nursing services. Over 10,000 individual unit war diaries cover all operational theatres of the British Army, while original trench maps illustrate areas from the Western Front to Salonica, Gallipoli to Mesopotamia, Palestine to Italy.

In this fourth, fully updated edition, William Spencer provides expert advice for anyone exploring the First World War or tracing relatives who served in it. Drawing on an insider’s knowledge, he covers material recently or soon to become available and considers all the new online releases such as:
• the service records of hundreds of thousands of soldiers
• war diaries
• Medal Index cards
• the WAAC
and shows how to get the best from traditional and online sources. Whether you are researching an ancestor, auxiliary service, regiment or campaign, it brings the authentic experience of the ‘war to end all wars’ vividly to life.

Contents:
• Records of those who served in the First World War
• Officers' Records of Service
• Other Ranks' Records of Service
• Nurses
• Indian Army Records of Service
• Records of Service of The Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force
• Unit War Diaries and Operational Records
• Trench and Other Maps
• Campaign Medals
• Awards for Gallantry and Meritorious Service
• Courts Martial
• Prisoners of War
• Casualties and War Dead
• Records of the Dominion Forces
• Records held outside The National Archives
• Research Techniques

Author:
William Spencer has been the military specialist at The National Archives since 1996. He served in the Fleet Air Arm for 13 years and holds an MA in War Studies from the prestigious Department of War Studies at King’s College, London. He is the author of the bestselling Medals: The Researcher’s Guide (The National Archives, 2006), Family History in the Wars (2007) and two other flagship titles in this new series, Army Records and Air Force Records (2008).