Saturday 10 October 2015

Exploring family military history (part 2)

This guide provides a listing of some of the online resources for researching military history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries . It was prepared for the session, Exploring Family Military History, at Nunawading Library. See part one of this guide for a select list of organisations with resources.

Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) 
The National Archives has a guide - Napoleonic Wars - providing a brief outline of resources. 
Other guides that may be useful include British army soldiers up to 1913British army officers up to 1913, British army officers up to 1913: further research, and British army operations up to 1913. Check the general listing for the heading Military and Maritime for other guides that may be useful.
The National Archives also have an online exhibition - Nelson, Trafalgar and those who served. This site includes a database of British involved in the Battle of Trafalgar.
BBC History website has a series of timelines providing guides to researching military family history for a series of battles.
General search on the Internet for names of battles, key figures, names of army and other military units that took part, ships etc.
See also the link for Napoleonic Wars in this blog for posts about some of the monuments erected to commemorate battles and people who served during this period.

Crimean War (1853-1856)
The National Archives (UK) guides are useful. Crimean War records would be a good starting point.
Also check some of the other guides mentioned in the Napoleonic Wars entry above.
The British Battles online exhibition, Crimean War, provides background information.
Searching the Internet provides a number of articles on the Crimean War including  Crimean War and Australian involvement.
This blog contains a number of posts on the Crimean War including some research I did to locate information on a family member who served in the British Army in Crimea.

Sudan (1855)
Sudan (New South Wales Contingent) March to June 1855 is an article on the Australian War Memorial website. Another article is Researching Australian military service: Sudan

Indian Mutiny (1857
The National Archives (UK) has a research guide on Indian Army personnel. Most of the records are held at the British Library. India Office Family History Search and Families in British India are the main resources for information about specific British people in India.
My Family Connections blog has a post on researching family history information relating to the Raj in India as well as a post on one event during the Indian Mutiny

Boer War (1899-1902) 
The National Archives (UK) has a guide Boer War records. Also check some of the other guides mentioned in the Napoleonic Wars entry above.
National Archives of Australia provides information about service records for those who served during the Boer War. As Australia did not exist as a federated country at the beginning of the war information is also provided about the records of contingents from the different states who participated. The Boer War: Australians and the war in South Africa by Craig Wilcox is a useful publication available on the National Archives website.
On Australian War Memorial website - Australia and the Boer War - and Researching Australian Military Service South African War are two useful articles.
There are a number of posts on this blog relating to research undertaken to discover stories about family members who served during the Boer War.

Boxer Rebellion (1900-1901)
China (Boxer Rebellion) is an article on the Australian War Memorial website.

World War I (1914-1918) 
There are lots of resources to assist with World War I family history research.
The Australian War Memorial has articles and research guides starting with First World War 1914-1918. You can search embarkation rolls, nominal rolls, commemorative roll, roll of honour, plus Red Cross files via the Search for a Person page. Use the War history page to access digitised copies of publications such as official histories and unit war diaries.
The National Archives of Australia website has a Name Search in the Record Search where you can search for information about those who served during the First World War. Choose World War I in the Category of records box. However digitised copies of the First World War service records of Australian and New Zealand service personnel can be accessed on the Discovering Anzacs website. Repatriation records for some soldiers are gradually being added.
The AIF Project database provides summary information for all those serving during World War I.
A number of digital books can be downloaded from the Department of Veterans Affairs website.
Investigate the Military history and publications link on the Department of Veterans Affairs website.
The 100 Years of Anzac website provides a range of material relating to the story of Australia's military history.
The National Archives (UK) has a search guide First World War. Also check the related research guides. The online exhibition provides background information. Some British service records can be accessed via the Discovery site while others can be accessed via Ancestry.com.
The Long, Long Trail website provides information about the British Army during the First World War.
The State Library of Victoria is making available digital copies of World War I unit histories. Use the World War I label in this blog for posts relating to information about researching people and events in this war.

World War II (1939-1945)
The Australian War Memorial has articles and research guides starting with Second World War - 1939-1945. You can search commemorative roll, roll of honour, honours and awards plus World War II POW files via the Search for a Person page. Use the War history page to access digitised copies of publications such as official histories and unit war diaries.
The National Archives of Australia website has a Name Search in the Record Search where you can search for information about those who served during the Second World War. Choose World War II in the Category of records box. Records for an individual can be ordered.
The World War II Nominal Roll can be accessed on the Department of Veterans Affairs website in the Commemorations, memorials and war graves section.
A number of digital books can be downloaded from the Department of Veterans Affairs website.
Investigate the Military history and publications link on the Department of Veterans Affairs website. 
The 100 Years of Anzac website provides a range of material relating to the story of Australia's military history.
Imperial War Museums has a series of articles on the Cold War which occurred immediately at the end of World War II.
National Archives (UK) has a search guide Second World War. Also check the related research guides. 
For Second World War British service records after 1920 visit the Veterans UK website. For an interactive history of the war use this link.
Use the World War II label in this blog for posts relating to information about researching people and events in this war.

Korean War (1950-1953) 
The War history section of the Australian War Memorial website includes an article on Korean War.
Nominal Roll of the Korean War can be accessed on the Department of Veterans Affairs website in the Commemorations, memorials and war graves section.
The Department of Veterans Affairs also has a History section that includes Australia's involvement in the Korean War.
National Archives (UK) has an online exhibition providing background information on the Korean War.
Imperial War Museums website includes an article - A Short History of the Korean War

Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) 
The War history section of the Australian War Memorial website includes an article on the Malayan Emergency.

Vietnam War (1955-1975) 
The War history section of the Australian War Memorial website includes an article on the Vietnam War.
Vietnam Veterans Nominal Roll can be accessed on the Department of Veterans Affairs website in the Commemorations, memorials and war graves section.
The Department of Veterans Affairs also has a History section that includes Australia and the Vietnam War.

Gulf War (1990-1991)
The War history section of the Australian War Memorial website includes an article on the First Gulf War.
The Preliminary Gulf War Nominal Roll can be accessed on the Department of Veterans Affairs website in the Commemorations, memorials and war graves section.

Case studies used in talk
The posts for the Case Studies (Ken Moses and Norman McCallum Smith) referred to in the Exploring Family Military History talk can be found using this link. The posts referring to Clive Condor Weston are also available on this blog.

Other resources
There are many books written on all of these battles. Some can be found in public libraries, otherwise explore the collections in major research libraries such as the State Library of Victoria.

Don't forget to investigate articles in newspapers published at the time of the battles remembering, especially in the nineteenth century, that  articles often appeared several months after the event.

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