WW2 RESEARCH

RESEARCHING SOLDIERS WHO DIED 
IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR

  It has never been easier to research those who fought and died in the Second World War with a profusion of information now available on-line from the comfort of your own home.

First Steps - Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintain all the cemeteries and memorials which commemorate those who died in the Second World War. Their on-line database is free to use, and you can access it with just a name. The database will then provide you with details of the service man or woman, their date of death and place of burial or commemoration. The next of kin often, but not always, provided additional details such as age, address, parents names and other biographical information. 

The main database search page is found at:

http://www.cwgc.org/debt_of_honour.asp?menuid=14 

Having identified your casualty, armed with the information from this source you can then continue with the research.

Army Roll of Honour - Second World War

In the 1950s the War Office compiled a Roll of Honour for the Army which was produced on one of the early computers. The digital copy has long since been lost, but the hard copy was preserved in The National Archives.  Some years ago they teamed up with the Naval & Military Press and a CD Rom version of the database was produced, modernising access to the information and called The Army Roll of Honour. To buy this is expensive, but for a single name search you can now access the details on line at the Military Genealogy website:

 https://www.military-genealogy.com/productHome?product=ww2

To use this site you buy credits, and then download the entry for your man. You can also print off a Memorial Scroll of the type issued to the next of kin of servicemen and women in WW2 (see right). 

This source typically tells you where a man was born and where he was living in additional to his military details (rank, number, unit) and the date of his death and Theatre of War (eg North Africa, Italy, North-West Europe etc). What it does not give is the sub-unit he was serving with: the battalion for infantry regiments for example. This information is only contained in the CWGC records above.

Service Records

The service records of all service personnel who served in WW2 are still with the Ministry of Defence. Depending on the Branch of Service 

WW2 Campaign & Gallantry Medals

There are no on-line medal rolls available yet. Campaign medals have to be traced via the Army Medal Office, and other services via the addresses above. Contact details for the Army Medal Office:

Army Medal Office
Government Office Buildings
Worcester Road
Droitwich Spa
Worcestershire
WR9 8AU

Gallantry Awards can be traced in the on-line London Gazette and there are recommendations in The National Archives in document class ADM1 for the Royal Navy, WO373 for the Army, and there are some for the RAF in various AIR records. None of these are available on-line.

Merchant Navy

The dead from the Merchant Navy are listed in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site and The National Archives have their WW2 medal roll on-line at the following address: 

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/seamens-medals.asp 

Regimental & Unit Histories

Every Army unit that served overseas compiled a War Diary. These are in the WO class at The National Archives: none are available on-line. They can often be very details: it is rare for ordinary soldiers to be mentioned in them, but officers normally are: many contain detailed casualty lists for various actions. 

RAF Squadron records are largely in class AIR27 at The National Archives and are stored on microfilm. Again, none are on-line. They are very detailed and for each operation the crew of every aircraft is listed, and details of what happened to it (where known). 

Naval records for individual ships in WW2 are scarce - there are many combat reports in ADM records, but individual ships and shore stations were not required to keep diaries like the Army or RAF.

The Imperial War Museum and National Army Museum both have extensive collections of army unit histories for the WW2 period.

©Paul Reed 2006