Women have played a vital role in the military ever since the Great War. Here is some tips on how to find their records.
Tag: WWI
Poems Of Wartime – Wartime Poetry – Records of War Poems
As we unite in remembering British and Commonwealth servicemen and women lost in war, we take a look at some of the poetry of wartime, William Wordsworth reminds us that “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” and the human experience of
Getting started researching your military ancestor
As the First World War soldiers have sadly passed away, with Henry John ‘Harry’ Patch being the last to go, aged 111, in July 2009. Now every day the papers seem filled with reports of Second World War veterans passing away too, and it’s time to ask about
1917, First Battle of the Scarpe, the successful beginning of the Arras Offensive
Meticulous planning achieved a resounding win for the Commonwealth Forces, but the first day of the battle showed that there were still lessons to be learned.
Women’s Fight To Help The War Effort
With the British government appealing for more men to join the great war women faced a surprisingly difficult fight to help the war effort.
How Tolkien’s experiences on the Somme in World War One inspired his famous stories
J R R Tolkien’s memories from his time serving with the Lancashire Fusiliers on the frontline in World War One, and his views on war in general, are vividly captured in passages from ‘The Lord of the Rings’.
WW1 Diary – Life as a Turkish POW after the Siege Of Kut
Submitted by his son, Nigel Crawford, this is an extract from the exclusive personal diary of Brigadier Kenneth B S Crawford, Royal Engineers, who fought in the Mesopotamia Campaign (now Iraq) from November 1914 until his capture in April 1916 at Kut-al-A
The True Story of the ‘Christmas Truce’
World War One is remembered as a bloody and brutal period in our history, so the Christmas Truce of 1914 stands out as a rare and shining moment of peace and harmony between the warring sides, when the bitterness of combat was forgotten in spirit of the s
Harry Patch – The Last Survivor of the Trenches from WW1
In honour of Remembrance Day, this week the Forces War Records team paid a visit to the grave of Henry John ‘Harry’ Patch, the last survivor of the trenches of the First World War.
Army medics- The unsung heroes of World War One
There is a common misconception that men from the Royal Army Medical Corps had a soft job compared to the soldiers in the field; safe well behind the Front Line, they spent the war in the company of charming nurses in well-ordered hospitals, avoiding the