Tag: WW2 records

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Free Military Records Released to Commemorate D-Day

Disclosure: Please note this post contains affiliate links.*

NEWS:  Press release from TheGenealogist

To mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, The Genealogist adds Enlistment Records to their Free Record Collections

In time to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day on 6th June, TheGenealogist has added United States WWII Army Enlistment Records (1938-1946) to its ever-growing Free Records Collection. In these records, we can find the names and particulars of American soldiers who joined up to serve their country and fight for freedom.

These records provide detailed information about enlistment dates, service branches, ranks, and more about US soldiers from this time.

While Operation Overlord, the code name for the Battle of Normandy, was an Allied operation consisting of British, Canadian and other Allied nations’ troops, the Americans provided the bulk of the soldiers for the Liberation of Europe on 6 June 1945, and so this new record set will have many of the young men who fought in D-Day listed.

American assault troops in a landing craft approaching Omaha Beach, Normandy, France
American assault troops in a landing craft approaching Omaha Beach, Normandy, France

This new addition brings the total number of Free Records you can access on The Genealogist to over 10.9 Million. There’s a rich collection for researchers to sink their teeth into, with records dating back to 1086!

Simply register for free at The Genealogist to access:

      • The 1086 Domesday Records
      • The Image Archive – Thousands of historic photos and illustrations
      • US WW2 Enlistment Records
      • UK Rolls of Honour
      • Dam Busters Records
      • War Memorials
      • Tree View – A free family tree builder

You can research even further by registering for a free First Steps Subscription, giving you 3 months’ access to Births, Marriages, Deaths and the 1891 to 1911 census for England and Wales. Find out more at https://thegenealogist.co.uk/firststeps 

 

Read TheGenealogist’s feature article where we explore the fate of four brothers whose enlistments can be found in these newly released records: D-Day – Operation Neptune 6 June 1944 and the real Private Ryan https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2024/d-day–operation-neptune-6-june-1944

Lifetime Discount Offer!

 For a limited time, you can claim a Diamond Subscription to The Genealogist for just £99.95, a saving of £40! Plus, you’ll also get a free year’s subscription to Discover Your Ancestors Online Magazine (Worth £24.99)

To find out more and claim the offer, visit https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/MGBDDY624

This offer comes with a Lifetime Discount, meaning you’ll pay the same discounted price every time your subscription renews.

 This offer expires on 31st July 2024.

About TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist is an award-winning online family history website, who put a wealth of information at the fingertips of family historians. Their approach is to bring hard to use physical records to life online with easy to use interfaces such as their Tithe and newly released Lloyd George Domesday collections. 

TheGenealogist’s innovative SmartSearch technology links records together to help you find your ancestors more easily. TheGenealogist is one of the leading providers of online family history records. Along with the standard Birth, Marriage, Death and Census records, they also have significant collections of Parish and Nonconformist records, PCC Will Records, Irish Records, Military records, Occupations, Newspaper record collections amongst many others.

TheGenealogist uses the latest technology to help you bring your family history to life. Use TheGenealogist to find your ancestors today!

 

*Disclosure: Please note, this post contains affiliate links. This does not mean that you pay more, just that I make a percentage on the sales from my links. The payments help me pay for the cost of running the site. You may like to read this explanation here:

http://paidforadvertising.co.uk/

 

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RAF Air Force Lists and thousands of extra names on War Memorials released

Disclosure: Please note this post contains affiliate links.*

 

NEWS:  Press Release from TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist has released 71 new Air Force Lists with over 2 million names, as well as 385 extra War Memorials listing over 31,000 names.

Commonwealth_Air_Aces_of_the_Second_World_War_CH3757 via wikipedia commons
Wing Commander Brendan Eamonn Fergus Finucane, DSO, DFC & Two Bars.  Public Domain

Air Force Lists

The launch of this major resource gives access to 71 new Air Force Lists from 1919 to 1945 with over 2 million searchable names.

Air Force Lists are useful for family history researchers to see when an officer joined the RAF. They can also tell you what the airman’s rank was in different years and, by looking at the letters written after his name in the list, they can tell you what medals your ancestor had been awarded. These join a large run of similar Army and Navy Lists and other military records on TheGenealogist.

Use these records to: 

      • Find ancestors who became officers in the Royal Air Force 
      • Discover their ranks, service numbers and medals awarded
      • See which branch they served in and their dates of posting

 

War Memorials

With 3,400 new photos in this release, these new records include a number of schools and colleges including the Sevenoaks School where WW1 former pupils who served are recorded as well as casualties and medals awarded to them. Other schools and colleges included in this release are: The University College School, Hampstead; Merthyr Tydfil County School; Lord Weymouth Grammar School in Warminster, Wiltshire; Leeds, St Anne’s RC School; and West Leeds High School. 

War Memorials for workplaces and sporting organisations can help flesh out an ancestor’s life in revealing their occupation or recreational pursuits. Examples include the Gloucester Rugby Club; Gloucestershire County Hall staff for WW1 WW2; the Travellers Club in Pall Mall; Leeds Council employees WW1; Leeds, Kirkstall Brewery; Leeds Stock Exchange members and clerks; London; Army & Navy Stores WW1 – memorials for two of their department stores; and London, Union Discount Co.

Rolls of Service

Included in this week’s release are also a number of Rolls of Service for the Boer War, WW1 and WW2, as well as some for civilian casualties in the Second World War such as Salcombe in Devon and Portsmouth.

This release brings the total number of War Memorials on TheGenealogist to over 597,000.

Use these records to: 

      • Find ancestors who fought for their country in various conflicts
      • Discover workplaces or organisations that some ancestors were associated with

This release expands TheGenealogist’s extensive Military records collection and when used with connected resources, such as the RAF Operations Record Books (ORBs), Aircraft Identification book from 1939, Military Death records, War Memorials and others on TheGenealogist, it can be possible to really build an ancestors story.

To see an example of this, read TheGenealogist’s article: Paddy Finucane the Spitfire Ace

These records and many more are available to Diamond subscribers of TheGenealogist.co.uk

 

About TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist is an award-winning online family history website, who put a wealth of information at the fingertips of family historians. Their approach is to bring hard to use physical records to life online with easy to use interfaces such as their Tithe and newly released Lloyd George Domesday collections. 

TheGenealogist’s innovative SmartSearch technology links records together to help you find your ancestors more easily. TheGenealogist is one of the leading providers of online family history records. Along with the standard Birth, Marriage, Death and Census records, they also have significant collections of Parish and Nonconformist records, PCC Will Records, Irish Records, Military records, Occupations, Newspaper record collections amongst many others.

TheGenealogist uses the latest technology to help you bring your family history to life. Use TheGenealogist to find your ancestors today!

These records and many more are available to Diamond subscribers of TheGenealogist.co.uk

 

 

*Disclosure: Please note this post contains affiliate links. This does not mean that you pay more just that I make a percentage on the sales from my links. The payments help me pay for the cost of running the site. You may like to read this explanation here:

http://paidforadvertising.co.uk

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Over One Million RAF Operations Record Books released on TheGenealogist

Disclosure: Please note this post contains affiliate links.*

NEWS:

TheGenealogist has expanded its unique collection of searchable RAF Operations Record Books with the addition of 1.2 Million new records for aircrew operations.

WW2 airmen planning their next mission

Airmen – planning their next mission. Public domain

Operations Record Books (ORBs) are official air force documents chronicling an air force unit from the time of its formation. They were intended to be an accurate daily record of the operations that the squadron carried out in peace and at war. The ORBs are for squadrons primarily after the First World War, but there are a few early squadron records from 1911 to 1918. TheGenealogist uniquely has made the Operations Record Books fully searchable by name, year and keywords.

This collection also includes some record books for Dominion Air Forces (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) as well as Allied Air Force squadrons under British Command and can be used to find the stories of brave aircrew, giving insights into the operations that they carried out. The ORBs follow a daily diary format giving summaries of events and can reveal the death of aircrews, crashes, as well as less disquieting entries such as the weather for flying, promotions and the decorations men of the squadron received. ORBs also detail the areas that the fighter planes patrolled, or the bombers targeted, as well as where the squadrons were based as the war wore on. These duties and assignments include bombing the enemy, patrolling the skies, convoy escorts, submarine hunts, attacking docks & shipping, dive bombing raids, and more.

As aircrew personnel are named in these reports, those wanting to follow where an ancestor had been posted to and what may have happened to them will find these records extremely informative. 

Use these records to: 

    • Add details to an aircrewman’s story 
    • Study the war movements of personnel in air force units
    • Discover if a pilot, navigator, radio operator or gunner is mentioned in the action
    • Note dates airman received promotions, medals, or other honours
    • See the names of squadron members wounded, killed, or who did not return
    • Easily search the transcribed records and images licensed from The National Archives

This latest release expands TheGenealogist’s extensive Military records collection and is available to all Diamond subscribers.

You can read my article about a famous fighter ace and a bomber pilot who flew more than 120 operations: Searching for a famous fighter ace and a Pathfinder from Bomber Command

 

 

*Disclosure: Please note this post contains affiliate links. This does not mean that you pay more just that I make a percentage on the sales from my links. The payments help me pay for the cost of running the site. You may like to read this explanation here:

http://paidforadvertising.co.uk

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