Genes Reunited Blog

Today we’re remembering all the brave men and women who’ve died in two world wars. Finding an ancestor who served time in the military can lead you to extraordinary stories of bravery, but from a genealogical perspective they can also be incredibly revealing. Service records can not only tell you exactly where your family member served but also more personal details like who their next of kind was or even give a physical description. A good place to start, if your ancestor was in the British Army, is the British Army Service Records. They go from 1760 to 1915 and provide detailed records of soldier’s careers. If your ancestor was an Air Force man why not try the Royal Air Force Muster Roll 1918. You can find out details about exactly what their job was and how much they got paid.

Many of the records on Genes Reunited are concerned with individual regiments. We have records for the Grenadier Guards, the Oldham Pals and the Paddington Rifles to name just three.

If you can’t find your ancestor’s military records then you might find them on a medal roll or a memorial roll. Many of the earlier medal rolls just recorded the officers but from the Waterloo Medal in 1815 other ranks were included as well. Memorial rolls were often organised by local newspapers or employers to honour those who had died in the First World War. What makes these different to the medal rolls is that they often include a brief biography and even a photograph of the men in uniform. The Manchester Employers Roll of Honour 1914 - 1916 is an excellent example.

But it’s not just service men in the records. You can also find nurses who served with both the Royal Red Cross and there are some extraordinary women who served as military nurses in our records of Military Nurses 1856 - 1994.

The military records that you can find on Genes Reunited can take you right back to the Napoleonic wars in the 18th century and they go right up to the 1990s in some cases. If your ancestor served his or her country then you stand a good chance of finding them here.