| | British Army War Diaries: First World War, 1914-1918 Military Records Information 11  WO 95/110, First World War Diary Contents 1. What is a war diary?
2. When and where were they created?
3. What information do they contain?
4. Where are the diaries for WW1?
5. How to find a war diary in WO 95
6. Smaller Units
7. Related Sources
8. Bibliography 1. What is a war diary? - A daily record of operations, intelligence reports and other events, kept for each battalion by an appointed junior officer. It's not a personal diary (try the Imperial War Museum
 for those). - Specialist units, such as military hospitals, also kept war diaries.
- One copy was sent into the War Office, and is now in The National Archives.
- Other copies were kept by the unit, and may now be with the regimental records.
- Some war diaries may be difficult to read. Many were scribbled hastily in pencil. Others are the second carbon copy of the original. Some use obscure abbreviations
2. When and where were they created? - The WW1 war diaries date from 1914 to 1922.
- They cover the hostilities, and also the post-war armies of occupation
- British, Dominion, Indian and Colonial forces on active service kept war diaries. The Royal Flying Corps also kept diaries
- Units in France; Flanders, Italy, Gallipoli, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Salonika and Russia.
- Units on home service in the United Kingdom
3. What information do they contain? - Some diaries will record little more than daily losses, map references, etc: others will be much more descriptive.
- It is unusual for diaries to mention the names of ordinary soldiers
- You can sometimes find details in the diaries about awards of the Military Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal.
4. Where are the diaries for WW1? - Regimental museums may hold copies of their war diaries.
- The National Archives holds the duplicates sent into the War Office: most are now in WO 95
.
- War diaries containing confidential information (often concerning courts martial) were kept back for years by the Ministry of Defence. These are now in WO 154
, and can be seen.
- A large number of maps were extracted for safe-keeping, and are in WO 153
.
- Some war diaries of Royal Flying Corps are in AIR 1
.
- War Diaries for Dominion, Indian and Colonial forces not at The National Archives. Look in the archives of the relevant country.
5. How to find a war diary in WO 95
- Using the online catalogue, you can do a keyword search in WO 95
, giving (part of) the unit name and battalion number (15 not 15th) as keywords
- If this is not successful, try a variant of the name.
- If this is not successful, try browsing the list of WO 95
to see what kinds of terms are used.
You can always use the paper catalogue at The National Archives, which is arranged in order of battle, with several indexes. If it's not in WO 95
, try a search in WO 154
The National Archives has been digitising selected War Diaries from the First World War. These records are available to download from DocumentsOnline. Access is free onsite at The National Archives. You can search by both keyword and date of diary, or use Quick Search (on the left of the screen) to search by both catalogue reference and keyword. 6. Smaller Units War Diaries of smaller units, such as medical, engineer and service units, can be difficult to find. - Keyword searches can be helpful - try several variants (see 5 above).
- Try the list of Royal Artillery, Army Service Corps, Machine Gun Corps and Medical Units, giving the Division, Corps or Army they fought with, in WO 95/5494
.
- You can also consult the Orders of Battle, which list month by month the location of each unit, and the Division or Army to which they were attached.
- Ask, at the Reference Desk at the Public Record Office, for the set of the Orders of Battle for Belgium, France and Germany, arranged by Division (not by unit).
7. Related Sources 8. Bibliography The following recommended publications are available in The National Archives' Library. Where indicated a publication is also available to buy at The National Archives' Bookshop - I F W Beckett, The First World War: the essential guide to sources in the UK national archives (Richmond, 2002) - Available to buy
- A Bevan, Tracing Your Ancestors in the The National Archives (7th edn, Kew, 2006) - Available to buy
- M Brown, The Imperial War Museum book of the First World War; a great conflict recalled in previously unpublished letters, diaries, documents and memoirs (London, 1991)
- Peter Chasseaud, Topography of Armageddon: a British trench map atlas of the Western Front, 1914-1918 (Lewes, 1991)
- Douglas Haig, Douglas Haig: War diaries and letters, ed Gary Sheffield and John Bourne (London, 2005)
- Alfred Chevallier Parker, The diaries of Parker Pasha: war in the desert, 1914-18, told from the secret diaries of Colonel Alfred Chevallier Parker, ed H V F Winstone (London, 1983)
- William Spencer, Army service records of the First World War (Public Record Office Readers' Guide, IXX, 2001) - Available to buy
- Robert Alan Watson, War Diaries of John Alan Watson RGA: 13th Siege Battery April 1915 - October 1915, 76th Siege Battery April 1916 - December 1916 (Scarborough, 1994)
| |
Research Guides