The War Centenary: 100 years since The Old Lie
4 August 2014 by Catherine Holdsworth in Current events
Dulce et decorum est … remember the war.Today is the centenary of the declaration of war on Germany by Britain and her allies. An event marking the centenary of the German invasion of Belgium is being attended by world leaders in Liege. While in our office, Richard’s still trying to remember what he did in the Great War, there are probably many of you out there wondering about your family’s contribution and involvement.
Our book, Discover your roots offers helpful tips on how to find out about your family history. The idea of trawling through the National Archive sounds quite exciting to us!
More has been written about the First World War than probably any other historical
event. There are thousands of books covering every imaginable aspect of the conflict: you are certain to find several, if not a surfeit, of books covering any specific area of interest you may have. If you know little about the ‘Great War’ – its causes, course and aftermath – then initially the children’s section of your local library or bookshop is a good starting point because the information is generally far clearer, objective and compact. Or look at the excellent websites designed for schools.
The Imperial War Museum in London is a rich source for information on many aspects of the First World War. Although known principally as a ‘museum’, there are several departments holding a variety of information: personal documents, including unpublished diaries, poems, letters and memoirs; over six million photographs, including unit photographs, ships, hospitals and many individuals (although usually of senior personnel); film, video, and sound recording; and the collection of drawings and paintings commissioned under the official war artists scheme. Regimental museums and other specialist military repositories may also hold similar material to the Imperial War Museum, but related to their particular area of interest.
It is The National Archives (TNA) that holds nearly all the official records relating to the war itself, and those who fought in it. The three most important series of records are the Campaign Medal Rolls, the Official War Diaries and personnel Service Papers. These last are held at TNA only for those who left or were discharged in the years following the war: those who stayed on as career soldiers, sailors or airmen are still held by the Ministry of Defence. Service records for army officers and ordinary soldiers have had very different histories since the end of the war. Those relating to officers who left the service before March 1922 have fared very well and, with only a few exceptions, all the papers survive. Unfortunately, for the enlisted men, the situation is quite different, as the majority of papers were destroyed or badly damaged by enemy action in 1940. In recent years, there has been a great deal of reconstruction work undertaken and now about 40% of papers for ordinary soldiers whose service ended before 1921 are available for research at TNA. These are in two series generally known as the ‘burnt’ and ‘unburnt’.
Royal Navy officers (to 1920) and ordinary seamen (to 1928) also have a virtually completes series of service records. The Royal Air Force was founded on 1 April 1918, before which records of airmen will be found in either army (Royal Flying Corps) or naval records (Royal Naval Air Service). All those officers and airmen whose service included a period in the RAF (to 1920) have records held at TNA.
Campaign or war medals were awarded to members of the armed services for taking part in a campaign or for service in time of war. For the First World War, all servicemen of all services, some women, and some civilians, were eligible for one or more campaign medals if they served abroad. In addition to campaign medals, many other servicemen and women were awarded medals for gallantry or were mentioned in despatches. Again, all the records are held by TNA.
The War Diaries date from 1914 to 1922 and therefore cover the hostilities, and also the post-war armies of occupation. Some diaries record little more than daily losses, map references, etc.: others are much more descriptive. It is unusual for diaries to mention the names of ordinary soldiers, but you can sometimes find details in the diaries about awards of the Military Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal.
Discovering what somebody actually did, if they were in one of the Services, during the Great War (1914–1918) can be remarkably difficult. Service records, where they survive, give relatively little detail. Published and manuscript histories and diaries rarely give names, especially of those who were not officers. What is left is general information from which specific inferences have to be drawn.