Genealogy Chat

Have accessed grandfather's army records and feel robbed at £3.50 as it is just a medal card (there are six on page). I was hoping to find service records - did I access wrongly and if I did - what should I have done please.

This is the address for army records:- Army Records Army Personnel Centre Historical Disclosures Mail Point 400 Kentigern House 65 Brown Street GLASGOW G2 8EX Quite a lot of WW1 records were destroyed so you might not find them. It costs about £25/£30 for the records and you have to fill in a relationship form first. There is usually quite a long wait for them. I'm not sure whether or not you can download any records from the A2A site, but £3.50 is correct for the medal card. Kath. x

Chris If you mean via the National Archives site then yes it's a medal card but what you have got is a record of his number and rank which you'll need for further investigation. Sheila

Hi Chris. There are WW1 Pension Records for the British Army on Ancestry. Only the letters A & B. They have all the personal details. Malcolm.

thank you all - I suppose I was disappointed in that I already had details of his medals, his regt. and no. as we have his army book which he carried. I was hoping to have details of his service records as I was able to obtain full service details for Royal Navy spanning both wars.

Chris, Navy records from WW1 are at the PRO but they are very brief - just a listing of dates and ships normally. Army records, where they survive, are quite a bit more detailed usually. For WW2 Army records, writing to the address given earlier in this thread is the only way to get them. Have done this twice with varying results - the first lot were very detailed and helped me solve a lot of mysteries, the second set were very sketchy but served to confirm what I already knew. Either way, it's a long wait - the department deals with the needs of current service people, so historical records is not a priority. I waited 5 months for the most recent set, received 2 weeks ago. Good luck with your research - don't give up! Regs Annie

Chris You will need someone to look for you at the National Archives at Kew. Regiment and number is needed. As already said most records were destroyed but you may get lucky. If he was injured and the injury would in some way affect him in the future and he had dependents then it is likely he would have got a pension and these records are complete. Ancestry has surnames A-B, again the rest at Kew. The series are WO 363 and WO 364 on microfilm. Jan

Hi Chris I have a medal card for my relation, like you and someone undertook research for me at Kew and found nothing. As my relative stayed in the army post 1920 the MOD (at the Glasgow address given earlier) is the only place left to look. I sent in my application yesterday which cost £30. They have warned me that it will take between 8 and 10 months to complete the search and they can't guarantee to find anything. Hopefully it will be worth the wait. Good luck with your seach too. Chris

Thank you one and all for info and your encouragement!

There seems to be some confusion here. WW1 service records (if they survive) are at Kew. If the person served after 1920, they are with the MOD. Records for those discharged to pension (WO364, of which letter A to B so far, are on Ancestry) are NOT complete.

Apologies for that - I have always been led to believe that the pension records were complete. Must admit I've had wonderful luck with WO364 and found everyone I was expecting to find. WO363 I've never found any of my guys but often had better luck with people I've been helping. I would normally be at Kew this summer but due to a broken hip I won't now be there until Oct. But if you give me a shout beginning of Oct I'll be happy to check both series for you - doesn't take very long. Jan

Thank you Jan