ARMY ANCESTORS

If you are trying to trace an ancestor who served in the British army, it will help if you know whether they were a soldier or an officer, and which regiment they served in.

Before the First World War

If you are looking for an ancestor who was discharged from the army before the First World War, the good news is that many records survive. However, none of these early records are available online. It is worth trying a name search in The National Archives online Catalogue, although only a small proportion of records are name-searchable.

For more information about which records to search, see advice from The National Archives on looking for:

• British army soldiers before 1913
• British army officers before 1913

From the First World War onwards

If you are looking for someone discharged from the army after the beginning of the First World War, you may be able to find their service records online at Ancestry.co.uk. However, many service records were destroyed by bombing during the Second World War.

Records from 1920 onwards, including those for the Second World War, have not yet been released by the Ministry of Defence. Next of kin can request a summary of a service record from Veterans.uk.

For more information, see advice from The National Archives on looking for:

• British army soldiers after 1913
• British army officers after 1913

Other armed forces records

Many records exist for the other armed forces, including the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. See advice from The National Archives on looking for a person.

Digistised records online

You can search for digitised records on The National Archives website and the Ancestry.co.uk website (as above).

Please note that only certain types of army records have been digitised.

• DocumentsOnline: The National Archives’ collection of digitised records, including First World War medal index cards and war diaries
• Ancestry.co.uk: First World War service records 

At the show

Exhibitors to visit include:

• Ancestry.co.uk
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• National Army Museum
• Western Front Association

You can also go to workshops on First World War service records (Friday 26th), military family history online (Saturday 27th) and British Army officers (Sunday 28th).
 

• See the workshop programme for more details.
   

Click here to view a floorplan with some of the top show features for people with Army Ancestors.