First World War

Explore our collection of First World War records

We hold the official UK government records of the First World War, including a vast collection of letters, diaries, maps and photographs.

We will be marking the centenary of the war with an extensive programme, spanning a five-year period between 2014 and 2019.

If you want to explore our First World War records and are new to researching at The National Archives, you can start your research here or chat to one of our reader advisors online.

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To ensure you keep up-to-date with all our centenary activity you can sign up to our newsletter, follow us on Twitter and join us on Facebook.

Unit war diaries

We've published more digitised unit war diaries on Discovery.

Help us tag our war diaries

Operation War Diary is an exciting new crowdsourcing project – help us to unlock the data in our war diaries.

Find out more about crowdsourcing and Operation War Diary or simply go to the website and start tagging.

Fighting Talk

First World War telecommunications

Discover our latest project in association with BT Archives, looking at conflict as a catalyst for technological innovation.

Online collections

Medals

RAF officers

Merchant seamen

Army nurses

Prisoners of war

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve

Royal Naval Division

Women's Royal Air Force

Women's Royal Naval Service

Royal Naval Air Service

Conscription appeals

View all First World War digitised collections

Events calendar

Nationwide centenary activity

First World War centenary events will be taking place across the UK over the next four years.

Interactive global First World War map

Explore the global impact of the First World War through our new online map, which highlights key events and figures in the conflict from our records.

The map aims to go beyond the trenches of the Western Front and shows how the war affected different parts of the world.

Bookshop

First World War nurses

From the beginning of the First World War, a range of women volunteered as nurses working close to the front line. Read their stories, touching, funny, and harrowing by turns.

Podcasts and videos

Use our podcasts and videos to help you explore our records of the First World War, from tracing battalions of the British Army to the Women’s Land Army.

Blogs

Join us on our blog to read and discuss various themes around the First World War.

Letters from the First World War

Explore how a group of men from varied backgrounds experienced active service.

Explore ANZAC stories

See first-hand reports of Gallipoli and images from the time and join us as we uncover stories about the Australian and New Zealand contribution to the war effort.