WW1 Military Service Records

Australian WW1 Military Service Records
British WW1 Military Service Records
Canadian WW1 Military Service Records
New Zealand WW1 Military Service Records
US WW1 Military Service Records

Website: www.nationalarchives British Army Nurses' Service Records 1914-1918

Australian WW1 Military Service Records

Service Records of men and women who served in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during the First World War are archived in the Australian National Archives. All the records have been digitized and are available in the series B2455 to search and download for free. Visit the website below for details of how to do this and what you can find:

Website: www.naa.gov.au Army World War 1 1914-1918 Personnel Records

British WW1 Military Service Records

Royal Navy Service Records

Website: www.nationalarchives Royal Navy Ratings' Service Records 1853-1923

Website: www.nationalarchives Women's Royal Naval Service Records 1917-1919

Website: www.nationalarchives Royal Naval Division Service Records 1914-1919

Website: www.nationalarchives Royal Navy Officers' Service Records 1756-1931

Website: www.nationalarchives Royal Navy Officers' Service Record cards and files c.1840-c.1920

Website: www.nationalarchives Royal Naval Reserve Service Records 1860-1955

Website: www.nationalarchives Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Service Records 1903-1922

Website: www.nationalarchives Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) Officers' Service Records 1906-1918

Army Service Records

The availability of a Service Record for a British Army serviceman, which would tell you when the person enlisted, his medical history, who he served with and so on, are patchy. This is because approximately only 40% of the First World War Service Records survived damage due to fire during the Second World War. Those that did survive have recently been digitized and can be searched. See our pages on Service Records for more information:

British Army WW1 Service Records (Soldiers)

British Army WW1 Service Records (Officers)

Royal Marines

Website: www.nationalarchives Royal Marines' Service Records

Air Personnel

Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force, Women's Royal Air Force WW1 Service Records

Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC)

The Service Records for more than 7,000 women who served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps between 1917 and 1920 are held at the National Archives in Kew, Surrey. Records are held in series WO 398.

Website: www.nationalarchives Women's Army Auxiliary Corps Service Records 1917-1920

British Army Nurses' Service Records

Service Records for over 15,000 nurses are held at the National Archives in Kew, Surrey. Records in series WO 399 are for:

Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (Reserve)
Territorial Force Nursing Service

Canadian WW1 Military Service Records

Canadian Service Records for 600,000 Canadians who served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War are held by the Library and Archives Canada. An online database to search for named individuals provides the archives Accession number, a date of birth and regimental number for that person, together with a downloadable image of the front and reverse of the person's Attestation Paper. The full Service Record can be viewed by visiting the archive in person or a copy of the complete file can be ordered.

Website: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca First World War

New Zealand WW1 Military Service Records

War Service Records are held by Archives New Zealand. For information about who to contact see the website:

Website: www.archives.govt.nz Researching New Zealand Soldiers

US WW1 Military Service Records

US Army Personnel Records held at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis for the First World War American Expeditionary Force were destroyed by a devastating fire in 1973. These records were dating from 1912 to 1963. Approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF) were destroyed. 80% of the WW1 Army files were destroyed. No duplicates or microfilm copies were available for recovery of the documents.

6.5 million records were recoverable and were put in a "B" File (Burned File) area and later the reconstructed files were named the "R" Files (Reconstructed Files). Fortunately US Navy and US Marine Corps Service Records were not in the storage facility at the time and were not affected by the fire.

The following page explains what happened when the fire took hold and how the staff have worked to reconstruct the records where possible:

Website: www.archives.gov The 1973 Fire

An article on the US National Archives website “They Answered the Call” explains the situation with the records and offers information on what is still available to be examined by family researchers:

Website: www.archives.gov WW1 Military Service

US Draft Registration Cards

An article on the National Archives website explains about the Selective Service Act of 18^th May 1917 and the operation to draft men from the 52 states into the US military forces. It describes the information held on the registration cards and gives the complete Roll numbers by county for the cards on a free (large size) downloadable pdf file.

Website: www.archives.gov WW1 Draft Registration Cards

A free search for draft registation cards with downloadable images can be found at:

Website: www.familysearch.org Draft Registation Cards

Useful Links

Related Service

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