Ancestry - WW1 British Army Records - Free for 1 week - 7th to 14th November

ChezAllen

Thanks for posting this me and my mum were only talking about it yesterday, then saw this post today so have had a look at my grandads record after a bit of searching found it and he was a bit naughty as he was discharged for giving incorrect age on his sign up papers, as he was only 15. Wonder how many 15 years would be that courageous now a days !

ellie14

Would like to say thanks for the link ,I found my grandad he joined early, on his record he says 17 yrs 11 months he was 5ft 51/2" tall and chest 33 1/2 inches I remember he was always slight build ,pity I couldn't see were he was sent only Folkstone to Calais he served in the Somme and was in South Staffordshire Regiment.

butterflymum

Good find though, ellie.

DigForVictory

Thank you so much! We knew a lot of Great War records had been trashed & so hadn't researched a GreatUncle. We have now.
I thought I came here to save money, but find myself diving in & out of documents, reconnecting.
Emotive? My poppy means more to me tonight. Thank you. :A

butterflymum

Wonderful DFG....and so poignant about your poppy meaning more to you.

Teresa60

Thanks for this, but when you go on a name and it says how many images, I can only bring up one document image, is this right?

butterflymum

You need to click on right arrow for next image....and so on.

chrissiethechippy

Thank you

Irony being for me, now I can search it, I can't find my man!

moneylover

Ancestry is one of the databases that is available in most public libraries. Book one of the computers for an hour and away you go. Some have 'Find my past' as an alternative. Very few have neither.

butterflymum

Well shared, moneylover......and very useful indeed for those who want to continue their research for free (albeit not at home), after the Military Records free access offer ends.

There are lots of other useful and free resources online to help everyone continue with and/or further their research too, such as, for England and Wales, www.freebmd.org.uk and many sites specific to local areas such as http://www.lancashirebmd.org.uk/ (just google for similar sites relevant to the area of your research), as well as the very popular online resources that come under the banner of FamilySearch, which covers numerous countries including Britain and Ireland (Northern and Southern). Even some of the pay to view records sites do at least allow free Index searches, which can be useful in narrowing down possibilities. The 1901 and 1911 Census for England and Wales are available online at cost, and the 1901 and 1911 Ireland Census are also online, albeit free ( http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/ ). Scotland 1901 is available online too, again at a cost, and 1911 will be available from Spring 2011, once their 100 year closure period has elapsed.

Going back to the Military theme of this post, and for those who haven't already used it, the War Graves Photo Project at http://twgpp.org/ can be a good way of obtaining, at what I feel is a reasonable cost, a headstone photo. Such photos can sometimes bring comfort to a family who have never been able to visit the actual grave because of distance or cost. And not forgetting, for those who may want to ask more questions related to their WW1 research, the following Great War Forum is a very popular one http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?act=idx