Search military records 1656 - 1994

One of the most sought-after sets of reference books of the First World War is the National Roll of the Great War. The National Publishing Company attempted, shortly after hostilities ceased, to compile a brief biography of as many participants in the War as possible. The vast majority of entries refer to combatants who survived the Great War and the National Roll is often the only source of information available. Fourteen volumes were completed on a regional basis; this index database now allows simple searching of this unique reference source. 
 

Armed Forces Births, Marriages and Deaths 1761-1994

These are the official GRO Indexes compiled overseas of births, marriages and deaths for English and Welsh service personnel and their families. These include:


Army Chaplain Births 1796-188
Army Births 1881-1965
Ionian Chaplains Births 1818-1864
Ionian Military Births 1818-1864
Regimental Births 1761-1924
Army Marriages 1914-1925
Army Chaplains Marriages 1796-1880
Army Marriages 1881-1965
Ionian Chaplains Marriages 1818-1864
Ionian Military Marriages 1818-1864
Service Dept Marriages 1956-1965
Army Chaplain Deaths 1796-1880
Army Deaths 1881-1955
Ionian Chaplains Deaths 1818-1864
Ionian Military Deaths 1818-1864
Boer War Deaths 1899-1902
Service Dept Deaths 1956-1965
WW1 Army Officers Deaths
WW2 Army Officers Deaths
WW1 Army Other Ranks Deaths
WW2 Army Other Ranks Deaths
WW2 Indian services Deaths
WW1 Navy all ranks Deaths
WW2 Navy officers Deaths
WW2 Navy ratings Deaths
WW2 RAF All Ranks Deaths

Search tips


Cross Database Searching

• This area of our website enables you to search across all the datasets in our military collection at the same time.
• The contents of the military collection are shown after the search form below "Within This Section": you can click on each dataset to find out more about it.
• If you do not wish to use the military cross-database search but want to search an individual dataset, simply click on the link to the dataset which you wish to look at.
• If you find yourself within an individual dataset and want to get back to the cross-database search page, click on military records search in the “breadcrumb trail” (home > military records search > results…) 

Surname, forename, initials and wildcards

• Surname is compulsory: you must fill this in
• Forename or initial is optional: you can add this if you like
• If you search for, say, the forename John, you will automatically receive all the results where the first forename is John – so, as well as John, you would receive John Arthur, John William Charles and so on
• You can use initial rather than forename, if you wish. If you search using initial A in the forename or initial field, you will receive results for the names Alfred, Arthur etc plus anyone shown in the records as, for example, A or A W (some of the datasets give initials rather than forenames).
• Use an asterisk (*) for wild card searches. The wildcard asterisk replaces 1, 2 or more letters. For instance, if you search for surname Clark*, you will receive results for the names Clark, Clarke, Clarkson and so on. If you search for Co*ton, you will receive results for Compton, Cotton and Covington.

Time period

• The military cross-database search automatically searches all records within the maximum year range (which is currently 1656 to 1994). If you like, you can change this by overtyping either or both of the years, so long as the From year is earlier than the To year. There are of course no records earlier than 1656 or later than 1994 at this time.
• Alternatively, if you are interested in searching just the records for WW1, you can click on the WW1 radio button. This changes the dates to 1914-1918. In fact, this will cover records which extend up to 1921 in some cases.
• Similarly, if you are interested in searching just the records for WW2, you can click on the WW2 radio button. This changes the dates to 1939-1945.
• If you click on the clear button, the date range returns to 1656 to 1994 

 

 Useful Tips

If you are still having trouble finding certain WW1 military records, keep in mind names and date of birth may not always be recorded accurately.

Name
Aliases – men appear under the names they enlisted under and were known to the army. Many men signed up under an alias, for various reasons, such as:

• pre-War regulars re-joining the army having previously deserted
• rejected volunteers when volunteering again at a different recruiting centre
• men who wanted not to be traced by family (e.g. parents) or others
• men who simply wanted to leave behind their past and begin anew

Case study:
Abraham Bevistein volunteered as Abraham Harris in 1914. Why not under his real name?

• he was a non-naturalised immigrant born in Warsaw and therefore an alien not entitled to serve in British Army "Bevistein"; sounded too German... not ideal in 1914
• he was under-age (born April 1898, attested aged 16 in Sept 1914) and therefore the truth was less traceable if he signed up under an assumed name (“fraudulent enlistment” was a crime).

Place of Birth
Not every man knew where he was born or, if he did, gave it correctly.

Case study: Arthur John Allen
Aged 38 at death on 31 July 1917(= born circa 1878/79), son of John Allen.
Born Whitstable.
Research shows: he was actually born circa 1878/79 on Guernsey to parents John Allen and Mary Ann Allen nee Toohill. The family moved to Whitstable shortly after 1881 and presumably Arthur believed he was born there.

Age at death
Men’s age at death is based upon two sources:

• the information given by family to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission 

Information from family often rounded up, e.g. a 16-year old might be rounded up to 17 due to being “in his 17th year”, or possibly as a result of slight confusion given the delay between death and the CWGC seeking the information.

• the information the soldier gave when enlisting;

Many men gave a false age on enlisting, because they were either below or above service age at various points in the war.

Most under-age soldiers gave date of birth adding 1, 2 or 3 years so as to reach 18 or 19 years upon enlistment. In one battalion, 21% of all volunteers were purportedly aged 19, only 1% aged 18 – i.e. many had added years! An estimated 250,000 British teenage boy soldiers enlisted under-age in 1914 to 1915, which is 10% - 15% of total volunteers. An estimated 120,000 of these were killed (although of course many of those who survived long enough came of age during the war).

In summary: be prepared to consider soldiers shown as up to aged 22 years at death as having been younger by 1 to 5 years.