Libraries First World War archives

Armed forces births, marriages and deaths

Findmypast contains:

  • Armed forces births 1761 to 1994
  • Armed forces marriages 1818 to 1994
  • Armed forces deaths 1796 to 1994

Some family papers from the First World War survived including diaries, letters and photographs. They can be found in the archives catalogue.

War Graves

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has a searchable database of the 1.7 million Commonwealth forces who died in the two world wars, plus the 67,000 Commonwealth civilian casualties who died as a result of enemy action in the Second World War. It gives:

  • rank
  • service number
  • age
  • date of death
  • regiment
  • grave or memorial number
  • cemetery or memorial. 

Soldiers died in the Great War (available on Ancestry) was compiled by the War Office in 1921 and lists those who died giving similar information.

War Memorials

The Imperial War Museum has a War Memorials Register of over 100,000 memorials and the names of the individuals the commemorate. The Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society hosts the Manchester War Memorials database. This is a volunteer project to transcribe and index all war memorials in Greater Manchester. It includes over 300 war memorials including over 29,000 names.

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