British WW1 Soldiers Documents Online
British Army World War One service and pension records are online for the first time. Available now are the surnames beginning with the letters A and B. Upon completion of the project you will be able to search approximately 2.5 million soldier’s records.
The pension records relate to soldiers who were discharged because of sickness or injuries sustained during the War. They include the medical records relating to the disability for which a pension was granted.
The service records describe the careers of soldiers who completed their service, also those who were killed in action, executed or died of their wounds or disease. They provide full details of their service and their death if it was recorded.
Five million soldiers from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales fought in World War One but around 60 per cent of the service records for these soldiers were destroyed during a German bombing raid on the War Office in London in September 1940.
The originals that did survive the bombing raid, many badly damaged, have been conserved by The National Archives and make up the two collections that will be available online.
The name index can be searched for free at Ancestry.co.uk. Pages from the original files are available by subscription or with Pay per View.
