Forces War Records

Forces War Records provides searchable military records for family history research, with material covering service, pensions, prisoners of war and medals.

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Quick overview

Its website offers a basic account for searching records and creating pages, alongside premium membership with access to records, images and additional services.

Search by name, record or place, or browse records.
Explore army and air force lists, war diaries and military books.
Find service documents, pension applications and prisoner of war questionnaires.
Premium membership includes World War I troop movement maps and document help.
Submit family photos for analysis of uniforms, record information and historical context.

Introduction

Forces War Records provides searchable historical military records for family history research. Its website offers a basic account and a premium membership.

The records cover military service, prisoners of war, medals and pensions. The site also offers military books, maps and images.

What Forces War Records offers

The records cover periods including the Victorian era, World War I and World War II. They include service documents, army and air force lists, war diaries and memorial records.

A basic account allows users to search records and create memorial and subject pages. Premium membership includes access to military records and images, along with tools and services described below.

Product and service categories

Military service records

Service records include documents for soldiers and records of officers’ service. The range includes Household Cavalry service records and militia attestation papers. Naval service cards record details updated throughout a serviceman’s career.

Pensions and discharge documents

Pension records include service documents for soldiers who became in- or out-pensioners. Admission and discharge registers cover discharged soldiers. There are also pension applications submitted by widows, relatives or children of military officers.

Prisoners of war

Prisoner of war records include registers and record cards. The cards contain varying amounts of personal detail about prisoners held during World War II. Questionnaires completed by liberated prisoners of war are also available.

Medals and memorials

The site includes medal rolls and lists of officers and men awarded or claiming medals and clasps. War memorial records include names, service details and honours of commemorated individuals. Users can also create memorial and subject pages.

Military registers and papers

Records include military courts martial registers, deserter lists and military instruction certificates. Some certificates include a recipient’s name and rank, residence and certificate type. There are also registers of baptisms, confirmations, marriages, banns and burials connected with military service.

Lists and historical accounts

Army lists name individuals who served in the army, while air force lists include names, ranks and unit or branch details. Other records include absent voter lists and casualty communiqués. The site also offers military books, naval biographies and war diaries.

Browse the full range on the Forces War Records website.

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Using the website

The search feature accepts a name, record or place. Users can also browse records and use a filter to exclude matches produced by optical character recognition, where a computer scans text from a photograph or printed document.

A basic account can search records, but cannot view, share or save premium records. Premium membership includes access to image records and options to download, print and save records. It also includes the option to save records to an Ancestry family tree.

Notable features

Premium membership includes access to World War I troop movement maps, medal research and a document help service. The site also offers analysis of family photos, covering uniforms, record information and historical context.

Frequently asked questions

What can I search for?

The search accepts a name, record or place. Records can also be browsed.

What can I do with a basic account?

A basic account can search records and create memorial and subject pages. It cannot view, share or save premium records.

Are images included with premium membership?

Yes, premium membership includes access to image records. It also includes options to download, print and save records.

Are troop movement maps available?

Yes, World War I troop movement maps are available. Access is included with premium membership.

Can I send in family photos for analysis?

Yes, the site offers analysis of family photos. This covers uniforms, record information and historical context.

What information can appear in an air force list?

Air force lists include names and ranks. They can also give unit or branch details.

Can I exclude computer-scanned text from search results?

Yes, a search filter can exclude matches from optical character recognition. This is text scanned by a computer from a photograph or printed document.

Key takeaways

Searchable military records cover service, pensions, prisoners of war and medals.
Army lists, air force lists, military books and war diaries are among the materials available.
A basic account can search records and create memorial and subject pages.
Premium membership includes images, World War I troop movement maps and a document help service.
Family photos can be submitted for analysis of uniforms, record information and historical context.

Summary

Forces War Records brings together military records and historical materials for family history research. Its account options range from record searching and page creation to premium access to images, maps and document help.