It is generally much easier to find information about soldiers who lost their lives in the war than it is for those who survived. This is because there are some easily accessible extra sources of information.

The records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission

This remarkable organisation was originally formed as the Graves Registration Commission during the war. They meticulously recorded the details and burial place of every casualty, where conditions allowed. After the war came the immense job of clearing the battlefields. Many bodies were simply not in a condition to be identifiable, and many early graves had been destroyed by subsequent bombardment. The men and parts of men thus found were buried as 'unknown soldiers', or had special memorials erected saying that they had been formerly buried somewhere else but their graves had been lost. Memorials to the Missing were erected, listing those men known to be gone but whose body had not yet been identified. Today, the Commission maintains all British and Commonwealth war graves and such memorials.

This is Heilly Station cemetery, one of several cemeteries at sites of Casualty Clearing Stations behind the 1916 Somme battlefield. The rate of loss was so high at some periods that many graves in this cemetery contain two or more burials.

The commemoration of each soldier in the cemetery and memorial registers was a remarkable feat. The details vary considerably. Where the soldier is identified, the register will carry as a minimum his name, rank, regiment, unit and date of death. If his next of kin responded to an enquiry made of them when the registers were being compiled, it may also have his age, next of kin and their address and possibly other personal detail.

You can search for details of a casualty through the CWGC website.

What will you find there? This is an example of an entry found by searching at the CWGC site. I was looking for a relative of mine, Albert Baker:

Albert's entry gives lots of information about him, both military and personal. Many such entries do not include the age or next of kin details. This is because the CWGC relied on the family to provide that detail. They sent a Final Verification Form to the known next of kin, and asked them to confirm the private details. If the family did not get it, or did not fill it in or return it, the registry entry only carries the military details which came from regimental records. The entry also gives details of the place of burial or, if like Albert the soldier has no known grave, the memorial on which he is remembered.

"Soldiers Died in the Great War"

Published in 1921 with facsimile copies printed since, this is a listing in 80 volumes plus a separate volume for officers. Each volume deals with individual regiment or corps, and lists those who died based on regimental records. Each soldier is identified by name, number, rank, regiment, unit, date of death, theatre of war and cause of death (killed in action, died of wounds or died). Some entires also give extra information, such a a man's former regiment. It contains no personal information. "Soldiers Died" contains errors and omissions but overall is an excellent resource.

ISBN 1 871505 01 1 to 1 871505 80 1.

There is a full set of the volumes available to the public in Birmingham Central Library. Individual volumes are quite easy to find on the second hand book market.

This work is now also obtainable as a searchable CD-ROM from Naval & Military Press. The CD-ROM has the advantage that the casualties can be searched and sorted, which is a great benefit if you are researching a unit or what happened to Grandad's chums. Inevitably it does contain some transcription errors. It is an excellent resource but it is very expensive (currently £285).

Many branches of the Western Front Association have a copy of the CD-ROM, as do some libraries - including the one at the National Archives.

"Soldiers Died" information is also available to Ancestry subscribers.

Naval & Military Press has also made the information searchable online but there is a fee to download an entry.

What will it tell me?

"Soldiers Died" includes details from regimental records that the CWGC record does not. The "born", "enlisted" and "residence" information can be valuable, although as in Albert's case it is not always all complete. The "supplementary notes" often record when a man had served with a different regiment or unit prior to his death, which can also be helpful. The listing also tells you whether the man was "killed in action", "died of wounds" or "died" (accidentally, of natural causes or sickness). The Naval & Military CD version is known to contain some transcription errors.

The Naval & Military version of "Soldiers Died" is also accessible via Ancestry online but they have made a complete hash of it and the data is incorrectly presented. BEWARE. If your soldier is said by Ancestery to have died at that fanous WW1 battlefield known as Aldershot - no he did not, he was in France or Flanders.

Other paper sources

Rolls of honour were published in many forms: as war memorials in public places, in books, etc by regiments, businesses, schools, clubs. Once you know Grandad's units and service, it is worth checking to see if any of his connections published a such a roll. Obituaries, reports and letters in newspapers can also be an excellent source of information. The army's Operational records (war diaries) rarely mention an ordinary ranker by name, but it is worth checking as some do and some even include extensive casualty lists.

Reproduced with permission from the photographic archive of the Imperial War Museum: a stonemason engraving a headstone destined for the grave of a Canadian casualty of the First World War. All of the British and Commonwealth graves and memorials are under the care of the CWGC.

War memorials

The many war memorials around the UK and in other countries of the Commonwealth and former British Empire can be a useful source of information. They rarely carry more than the men's names, but some do have the regiment and even date of death.

There are more and more online listings of the men on war memorials. It is worth searching for a name and the town/village where the man lived.

The National Inventory of War Memorials, Channel 4's Lost generation and Roll of Honour are useful sites in this regard.

The Times Digital Archive

Many newspapers printed casualty lists but none are more extensive than those that appeared in The Times. This can be searched electronically. Trouble is actually finding a way to do so, for access is restricted. You can do this is most UK libraries and possibly via the ATHENS system operated by many universities.