Army records can be a great source of information to the Family Historian. They can supply a wealth of usefull information.
Most of the British records that are available for research are pre WWI
some specific records for WWI are available, but are limited.
THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF SEARCHABLE BRITISH RECORDS PRE 1914
MEDAL ROLL ENTRY( Campaigns,LSGC,MSM,etc)STATEMENT OF SERVICE( Army Officers
documents)DISCHARGE PAPERS( Army Other ranks)FINAL MUSTER ROLL ENTRIES,
PUBLISHED SOURCES( Harts Army List of Officers Servive)CASUALTY ROLLS( Crimea,
Indian Mutiny, India General Service medal 1895)MEDAL ROLLS( Nominal Roll
for NGS 1793-1840, Mullen's MGS Roll 1793-1840, South Africa War Medal Roll 1853)
WWI MEDAL INDEX CARD ENTRY(British Army) BATTALION WAR DIARY ENTRY,DISCHARGE
PAPERS(British Army Other Ranks)**** IF AVAILABLE.
SOLDIERS DIED IN THE GREAT WAR ENTRY,LONDON GAZETTE ENTRY.
During World War Two the building that housed the service records of the British Expeditionary Force of WWI servicemen was bombed. As a result of this action most of the service records were destroyed. The remaining records(Approx 650.000) were severly damaged in the fire. Due to this fact is is almost impossible to locate a service record of a serviceman that was not an officer. Officer records are available for searching. At the present time the existing documents are being microfilmed and are being made available to the public over the next several years. This project is aptly named THE BURNT DOCUMENTS
I have conducted searches to locate these records for others in the past and I still activly lecture on the subject to numerous Genealogical Societies.
CANADIAN RECORDS
FENIAN RAIDS
There are no known service files existing for those who served in this conflict.
Pay records are available for all Militia Units as well as men sent to border
points.
Militia personnel were offered LAND GRANTS by the Canadian Government. Application
by veterans had to include information of Where and When served and had to supply
a current address where they were located. There are two sets of records applications
those approved and those which were not.
NORTH WEST CANADA
No service records area available for those who served. There are files available
for members of the NWMP who served.
The Military units that were sent to Western Canada were mostly Militia.
Pay records of these units do exits as well as some Medical details of the
wounded.
THE BOER WAR
Service file are available for men who enlisted in the Canadian Force. There is also a
complete Medal Roll which includes the names of those awarded the Queens South Africa
Medal.
There are also various volumes of documents available that give details of the war. This
includes, movement of troops, battles, equipment, etc.
WWI.. CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE
Unlike the United Kingdom service records ARE available for Canadian servicemen from the First World War. There are several records that can ce searched and they can supply a wealth of information. Some of the records that are available are WAR DIARIES. These were kept for every battalion and support unit. These diaries can give detailed accounts of of the daily routine of the fighting unit. WAR GRAVES REGISTRY. These list all those who were KILLED IN ACTION or were dying of wounds they received. They record the temporary place of burial where relocated, name of cemetery and a plot number. If the soldier was not identified it supplies the place were he is commemorated.MILITIA LISTS. These were monthly published lists of units in the Militia from 1866-1945. They give information of officers within the unit and retired officers giving their war service.
These records can supply the searcher with the following information on the soldier. FULL NAME, DATE OF BIRTH, WHEN AND WHERE ENLISTED, NAME AND POSSIBLE ADDRESS OF NEXT OF KIN, WHERE AND WHEN THE SAILED TO THE UNITED KINGDOM, NAME OF SHIP, WOUNDED IN ACTION, PROMOTIONS AND WHERE AND WHEN DISCHARGED.
KOREAN WAR
Service records ARE available for servicemen from the Korean War. The only problem with these modern records is that they are protected by the Access to Information and Privacy Act's. Full service record information can be obtained by the actual serviceman who served. If the serviceman had died and a researcher is trying to obtain information the TWENTY YEAR RULE comes into play.
What this means is that the researcher must provide proof that the serviceman has been dead for a period of TWENTY YEARS. Proof must also be given as to the relationship of the person requesting and the dead serviceman. The Requestee must also prove thay they are a CANADIAN CITIZEN or LIVING IN CANADA. If any of these criteria are not met information supplied will be limited and some information from the records WILL NOT be supplied to the researcher.
WORLD WAR TWO
SEE ABOVE INFORMATON FOR KOREAN WAR. THE SAME INFORMATION AND RESTRICTION APPLY FOR WW2 PERSONELL SERVICE RECORDS
