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New Military Book Records added to TheGenealogist with ancestors’ names, places and details

 

TheGenealogist has released over 150,000 individuals to its ever expanding Military Record Collection. Containing names, places and dates, these publications can aid the family history researcher find their ancestors and build a fascinating story of their lives. With records from Britain, Canada and a number of Indian registers and directories, these searchable records contain lists of men and women who served their country in various capacities connected to the military, and not just on the front line.

 

Included in the latest release is The War Office List 1920, where we can find a Miss Florence Agnes Hebb who had been Deputy Chief Superintendent of Typists at the War Office. We can follow her appointments from December 1890, when she first joined the War Office as a typist, to receiving an M.B.E in January 1918 and then becoming Controller of Typists at the Air Ministry in March of that year. 


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Dowding#/media/File:Hugh_Dowding.jpg

Another record, the Monthly Official Military Directory for Salisbury Plain, April 1914, finds the fledgling Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding when he was an Army Captain, ‘under instruction’ in WW1 and attending the Central Flying School at Upavon, Wiltshire.

The records can be used to discover more about an ancestor’s achievements and are fantastic for identifying where next to apply your research. These books can give dates of postings along with ranks or positions held in establishments, as well as a great deal more useful information that may help to build a better family history.


Use these records to: 

  • Add dates and details to the lives of your ancestors
  • Discover where they served
  • Fill in gaps in the information that you already have on an ancestor
  • Find hints and ‘signposts’ to other records and places to search for forebears.

 

These records will often allow us to recount a much more rounded picture of the life of a person and so enrich the telling of their story.

 

You can read how, from his entry in the Monthly Official Military Directory for Salisbury Plain, April 1914, we then traced a rising star of the air force through a myriad of other military records on TheGenealogist.

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2021/military-records-fill-in-the-blanks-and-point-where-to-look-next-1381/

 

Included in this release are:

A List of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst 1833, Bombay Artillery List of Officers 1749-1902, Canada, Defence Forces List August 1938, Canada Defence Forces List November 1939, Colonial Office List for 1914, East-India Register and Directory 28th August 1821, Gradation List of Officers of the British Army July 1924, Graduation List of Officers of the British Army Oct 1915, India List Civil and Military July 1881, Northern Command Official Directory No. 45 Nov 1938, Records of Clan Campbell in the Military Service of the Honourable East India Company 1600-1858, Rules And List Of Members Imperial Service Club, Salisbury Plain Military Directory April 1914, War Office List 1939, War Office List 1920, Western Command Official Directory No. 12 April 1938

 

About TheGenealogist

 

TheGenealogist is an award-winning online family history website, who put a wealth of information at the fingertips of family historians. Their approach is to bring hard to use physical records to life online with easy to use interfaces such as their Tithe and newly released Lloyd George Domesday collections. 

 

TheGenealogist’s innovative SmartSearch technology links records together to help you find your ancestors more easily. TheGenealogist is one of the leading providers of online family history records. Along with the standard Birth, Marriage, Death and Census records, they also have significant collections of Parish and Nonconformist records, PCC Will Records, Irish Records, Military records, Occupations, Newspaper record collections amongst many others.

 

TheGenealogist uses the latest technology to help you bring your family history to life. Use TheGenealogist to find your ancestors today!

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Additional Military Records released by TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist has released some useful records this week for those who are researching their military ancestors. Here is the press release that gives you more information and a link to a fascinating article:

Military Records on TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist is pleased to announce it has added two new record sets that will be useful for researching the First World War and Victorian soldiers.
  • Part one of this release is The Worldwide Army Index for 1851, 1861 and 1871 which adds another name rich resource to the already vast Military record collections at TheGenealogist with over 600,000 records
  • Also released at the same time is another 3,368 pages from The Illustrated War News covering 6 September 1916 to 10 April 1918 and adding to those previously made available for this First World War paper from 1914 to 1916
The Worldwide Army Index for 1851, 1861 and 1871 If you have not found your ancestor in the various British census returns, and you know that they may have been serving at the time in the British Army, then this new release from TheGenealogist may help you to find these elusive subjects. Many thousands of men of the British Army were serving overseas in far flung parts of the British Empire over the 1800s. This index of names is compiled from the musters contained in the WO 10-11-12 Series of War Office Paylists, held at the National Archives, Kew. The 1851, 1861 and 1871 Worldwide Army Index lists all officers* and other ranks serving in the first quarter of 1851 and second quarter of 1861 and 1871, together with their regimental HQ location. The index is, therefore, effectively a military surrogate for the relevant census. Over 70,000 records have extra notes that can indicate whether a soldier was a recruit awaiting transfer to a regiment, detached from his regiment or attached to another, possibly discharged, on leave, had deserted or retired. Men identified as using aliases are also included. Many notes include a place of birth and former occupation. Also included within the records are recruits, boy soldiers, bandsmen and civilians working in the armed forces as clerks, pension recruiters, teachers and suchlike. Colonial regiments which invariably had numbers of British subjects are also featured. The Illustrated War News was a weekly magazine during the First World War, published by The Illustrated London News and Sketch Ltd. of London. The IWN publication contained illustrated reports related entirely to the war and comprised articles, photographs, diagrams and maps. From 1916 it was issued as a 40-page publication in portrait format, having been landscape prior to this. It claimed to have the largest number of artist-correspondents reporting on the progress of the war until it ceased publication in 1918. To search these and many other records go to: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/search/advanced/military/muster-book-pay-list/ or read our article at: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2017/worldwide-army-index-1851-1861--1871-661/   *While the 1851 and 1871 include officers, the 1861 index excludes officers as they were not mustered in all the Paylists.
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New WW1 Records Released

New avenues of research are opened up by the latest release of unique Great War records online.

During the First World War many servicemen were reported as ‘Missing’ or ‘Killed in Action’ and for the first time you can now search a comprehensive list of these online. Usefully this includes the changing status of soldiers as the facts became clearer over time, as many assumed dead were found alive and those reported missing had their status updated.

TheGenealogist logo

This new release from TheGenealogist contains over 800,000 records. Included are 575,000 Killed in Action records, over 226,000 unique Missing-in-Action records and 14,000 Status Updates.

Over 100,000 people previously reported as missing had further status updates:

  • 59,500 were later reported as killed

  • 47,400 were later reported as PoW

  • 2,000 were later reported as rejoined

  • 4,200 were later reported as “not missing”

  • 8,400 were later reported as wounded

Mark Bayley, Head of Online Content at TheGenealogist comments:

“The telegrams and published lists of Dead and Missing must have had a huge impact on the lives of our ancestors. These records give an insight into what must have been an emotional roller coaster. They also give new avenues of research into what some researchers may have assumed were dead ends.”

These records are now available to Diamond subscribers of TheGenealogist.

Example 1 Thought to be dead

Some people initially reported to be dead may turn out to be alive; the change in status is usually reported in the War Lists. If it had been assumed that an ancestor was dead, from the initial report, it could reopen a closed off branch of a family tree for further research.

An example of this type of positive record status change is Flight Sub Lieutenant Trechmann who was first reported as “Died As A Prisoner” in the Daily Lists of 6th June 1917.

Flight Sub Lieutenant Trechmann who was first reported as “Died As A Prisoner” in the Daily Lists of 6th June 1917.

By the end of July 1917 his status changed to Previously Reported Died As A Prisoner, Now Reported Alive and Still a Prisoner.

Finally, in December 1918, his records show that he was Repatriated.

PoW camp in the image archives on TheGenealogist

Example 2 Thought to be wounded

A different illustration, on many levels, is that of the 5th Earl of Longford. Within the Daily Casualty List on TheGenealogist for the 6th September 1915, we can find Lord Longford who had previously been reported as “Wounded”.

5th Earl Of Longford

Lord Longford "Wounded" 6 Sep 1915 in records on TheGenealogistHis status was then changed to be “Now Reported Wounded and Missing” and this alteration appeared in the daily list of the 27th September 1915

Lord Longford Previously Reported Wounded in Military records on TheGenealogist

During the First World War, Brigadier-General Lord Longford was in command of a division sent from their base in Egypt to Suvla on the Gallipoli peninsula as reinforcements during the Battle of Sari Bair.

The initial attack by other Divisions on Scimitar Hill had failed. With his men waiting in reserve, the 5th Earl and his troops were then ordered to advance in the open across a dry salt lake. Under fire, most of the brigades had taken shelter, but Lord Longford led his men in a charge to capture the summit of Scimitar Hill. Unfortunately, during the advance, he was killed.

Earl Longford's body was never recovered and so, in the confusion of war, he was first recorded as “Wounded”, and then “Wounded and Missing”. Eventually, in 1916, he would be assumed to be dead.

Posterity tells us that the peer’s last words were recorded as: “Don’t bother ducking, the men don’t like it and it doesn’t do any good”.

To read more about these records and to read a featured article on TheGenalogist here.

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New military record sets added to TheGenealogist

Recent developments at TheGenealogist have seen the release of over 650,000 individuals who died in the First World War. Details include name, rank, regiment, place of birth, place of residence, place of enlistment, service number and the cause, date and place of death. These records are uniquely linked to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to show you where your ancestor is commemorated.

Soldiers Who Died in the Great War has been added to the huge military collection on TheGenealogist, encompassing many unique record sets from Casualty Lists and War Memorials,  to Rolls of Honour and much more.

Further details are available from TheGenealogist website.

Soldiers who died in the First World War

New First World War records added to TheGenealogist

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New military CD released by S&N Genealogy

If you're looking for information on on a certain regiment or have a general interest in military history, the latest data CD from S&N may be of interest. Newly released is 'The History of the Northumberland Fusiliers 1674-1902'. With over 220 years covered and including some of the major campaigns the regiment fought in, such as the American Revolution and the Anglo-Spanish War, it's a fascinating CD resource. Each chapter of the regiment's history is described in detail and also contains maps and illustrations. More information can be found on the S&N Genealogy website.

The History of the Northumberland Fusiliers-1674-1902

New military CD released by S&N Genealogy

 
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Appeals against conscription records in WW1 go online

In this year that commemorates the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, The National Archives has released another set of records from The Great War.  The 'Appeals against First World War conscription' records have now gone online. The records are the case files of over 8,000 men who were appealing against conscription into the army between 1916 to 1918. The men applied to local military tribunals for exemption and if they were unsuccessful could then appeal to the county appeal tribunal. This new set of records cover the Middlesex Appeal Tribunal only and are classed in file series MH47.  More can be found at The National Archives website.

Conscription appeals records

New records released by The National Archives- 'Conscription appeals'

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Rorke's Drift Zulu War hero remembered

As today, the 22 January,  marks the date of the famous battles of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift in the Zulu War, a gravestone has been discovered in a Liverpool cemetery of a veteran who fought in the famous rearguard action at Rorke's Drift. In Ford Cemetry, Litherland, there is a distinctive Celtic cross monument dedicated to Thomas Burke, who died in 1925, aged 64. However, there is no mention of his military career in the Battle of Rorke’s Drift in the Anglo-Zulu War, in South Africa. Private Thomas Burke served in B Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot, tasked with defending the mission station of Rorke's Drift. For this he was recipient of the South Africa Medal, with 1877-8-9 Clasp. He also served in the Far East and was awarded the India General Service Medal with Burma 1885-87 Clasp. He reached the rank of sergeant and was discharged from the Army in 1897. There's more details on the discovery of this soldier who fought in one of the most iconic battles of Victorian times on the Liverpool Echo website. TheGenealogist also has many of the British soldiers who fought in the Anglo-Zulu War in their Army Lists available online .

Thomas Burke Zulu War

The gravestone of Private Thomas Burke has been found in a Liverpool cemetery

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World War 2 RAF Casualty records now available to view

According to the latest news from The National Archives website, a collection of Second World War RAF casualty records has now been released to view. The records were produced by the Air Ministry's casualty branch following the loss of an aircraft or personnel. They include accident reports and correspondence with next of kin. Known as the AIR 81 series, the first tranche  contains 316 packs dating from the beginning of the war in September 1939 to May 1940. However, many of the files contain correspondence which runs into the 1950s and even the 1960s. This first collection of records does include some notable RAF raids from the early years of World War 2, such as the raid on the Albert Canal Bridges in Belgium in May 1940 when five aircraft from RAF No 12 Squadron were lost and the first Victoria Crosses of the war were awarded. There's more details at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/903.htm

New RAF Records released

New RAF casualty records released from the start of World War Two.

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New 'Inner Temple' war records added to TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist has added the unique Great War record sets of The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, one of the four London based Inns of Court for the law profession. The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple is one of the four London based Inns of Court for the law profession and has been a separate legal society since 1388. Offering accommodation to practitioners of the law and their students with facilities for education and dining, the organisation proudly produced commemorative records of their members between 1914 to 1918. The information includes their regiment, rank and if they were injured, killed or missing in action. The Inner Temple list includes the record of future prime minister, Clement Attlee who was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1906. He served as a Lieutenant in the South Lancashire Regiment and was the penultimate man to be evacuated from Gallipoli. He was later seriously wounded in Mesopotamia before serving in France. His war service helped shape him into a distinguished prime minister who presided over a radical, reforming government. Available to view in the ‘Roll of Honour’ section of the Military Records on TheGenealogist, the records are taken from the ‘Roll of Enlistment’ publication produced by The Honourable Society of The Inner Temple.

Clement Attlee

Clement Attlee mentioned in the new Inner Temple war records

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New 'Electrical Engineer' war records now available on TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist has just released a new set of data records from The Institute of Electrical Engineers (The IEE) war memorial records from the First World War. The IEE war records are a tribute to members of their organisation who died in the Great War. A number of promising engineers lost their lives and the records give an in-depth biography into the background, education, engineering career and war service, including details on how they sadly died. Many of the records come with a picture of the member commemorated. Taken from the book 'The Roll of Honour of the Institution of Electrical Engineers 1914-1919', the records contain extensive biographies, numerous portraits and a map of North West Europe showing the main battlefields. The records are available to view in the ‘Roll of Honour’ section of the Military Records on TheGenealogist. For more information visit http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/news.php#latest

2nd Lieutenant A E W Butler

IEE Member 2nd Lieutenant A E W Butler

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