Records for the War Dead of WW1

Names on the Rugeley War Memorial, Staffordshire

War Grave Agency Records

If you think a relative may have died in the First World War it should be possible to confirm this by looking at the records held by one of the war grave agencies responsible for the care and maintenance of graves and official memorials for the war dead of the First World War. In most cases the records are available to view for free online. Where they are not, enquiries can be made by letter or telephone and advice will be given to help you locate your relative.

If you can find your relative as a named casualty in the records, you will be able to see the date of death, the location of the grave or place of commemoration together with details about that cemetery or memorial and where to find it. Depending on the type of records held by the relevant war grave agency you may also be able to find details for next of kin if they were recorded and, in the case of British and Commonwealth casualties, find additional invaluable detail such as the age of the casualty, the Service number and the military unit.

Roll of Honour & Other Records

In addition to the war grave agencies there may be other records confirming the death of a person whilst serving in the military. These may take the form of official and private rolls of honour compiled after the First World War. These may be national or local. These might be a war memorial for a town or village or lists of names as rolls of honour dedicated to the men of a particular workplace, church, sports club, school or and so on. There may also be other ways to follow up a Serviceman or woman's death by looking for a death certificate, local newspaper report, a will, a Service Record, and a record of medals awarded.

Information about the war grave agencies and other records for war dead available for you to search is given below.

Records for British & Commonwealth WW1 Dead

Headstone for British soldier S/6529 Private H H Dilks MM, serving with The Queens, who died 26th March 1918 aged 19. He is buried in Tyne Cot Military Cemetery on the Ypres Salient battlefield.

Headstone for British soldier S/6529 Private H H Dilks MM, serving with The Queens, who died 26 March 1918 aged 19.

If you think a relative may have died in the First World War whilst serving with the British & Commonwealth forces it should be straightforward to find a record of their death.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) holds a register of the death of every member of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Merchant Navy) and Civilians from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa who died in the Great War of 1914-1918. For information about the CWGC, to search the Debt of Honour register and to find out more about its work caring for the graves and memorials of British and Commonwealth Forces around the world visit the CWGC website:

Website:

Royal, Indian & Dominion Navy Casualties (pre WW1-2008)

A full list online of Royal Navy casualties by name and date or ship. The list is the result of some 20 years co-operation between Don Kindell, a US-based researcher and the Naval Historical Department at the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence.

Website: Casualties Index

Royal Navy and Royal Marines War Graves Roll 1914-1919

War memorial for ranks and ratings of the Royal Navy from the city of Plymouth and Australia, South Africa, Newfoundland, India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Fiji, Gold Coast, Hong Kong, Kenya, Malaya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Burma who were lost at sea in 1914-1918 and in 1939-1945.

War memorial for ranks and ratings of the Royal Navy of Plymouth who were lost at sea.

The names of Royal Navy and Royal Marine officers and ratings who died in the First World War are listed in the War Graves Roll. The information includes:

full name

rank

service number

ship's name

date and place of birth

cause of death

place of burial

next of kin

Registers of Royal Navy and Royal Marine personnel killed and wounded between August 1914 and 1929 are recorded.

The original card index of the naval officers (commissioned and warrant) who died in service between 1914 and 1920 is available.

The War Graves Roll, the registers of killed and wounded and the card index of officers killed are available to view free at the National Archives, Kew, Surrey. For the catalogue references go to:

Website:

The Roll is also available to view on the following website (records can be viewed by subscription or pay as you go credits):

Website: Royal Navy and Royal Marine War Graves Roll 1914-1919

Royal Naval Division Casualties of The Great War 1914-1924