Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has released five new UK themed World War 2 databases:
UK, World War II Photographs, 1939-1945
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62210/
Source: WWII Images. London, England: Mirrorpix.
About UK, World War II Photographs, 1939-1945
The World War II collection includes photos of the Second Great Fire of London and the destruction following the Blitz air raid bombings.
The images in this collection come from Mirrorpix, a division of Reach PLC, a publishing company.
Mirrorpix is a comprehensive archive of photographic press images. The collection includes works from the Daily Mirror newspaper, the Daily Express, and hundreds more leading regional newspapers.
UK, British Army World War II Medal Cards, 1939-1945
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62862/
Source: WW2 C.S.20 Army Medal Cards (WO 460). Kew, Surrey, England.
About UK, British Army World War II Medal Cards, 1939-1945
This collection contains an index of cards with information about medals awarded by the British Army for service during the Second World War. Records include a link to the image available on Forces War Records and Fold3.
The cards served as applications for war service medals, including the Defence Medal, the War Medal 1939-45, and campaign stars that were awarded for service in specific theatres of the war. Veterans or their family members were required to submit an application to claim the appropriate medals, and many veterans didn’t file applications to receive their military honours.
It is believed that the medal index cards do not survive for members of the following regiments:
- Royal Engineers
- Royal Army Veterinary Corps
- Royal Army Medical Corps
- Royal Army Ordnance Corps
- Auxiliary Territorial Service
- Scots Guards
- Leicestershire Regiment
- Royal Warwickshire Regiment
- Lincolnshire Regiment
- West Yorkshire Regiment
- East Yorkshire Regiment
- Green Howards
- Duke of Wellington's Regiment
- Sherwood Foresters
- York and Lancashire Regiment
- Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
- Royal Ulster Rifles
- Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
- Royal Irish Fusiliers
- King's Own Regiment
- Lancashire Fusiliers
- East Lancashire Regiment
- Border Regiment
- South Lancashire Regiment
- Loyal Regiment
- Manchester Regiment
- Welch Regiment
- Cheshire Regiment
- Worcester Regiment
- South Staffordshire Regiment
- North Staffordshire Regiment
- South Wales Borderers
- Royal Welch Fusiliers
- Liverpool Regiment
The Second World War medals for civilian personnel in the Political Warfare Directorate are not included in this series.
UK, Selected Smaller Units Service Records, 1921-1959
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62683/
Source: WO 421: War Office: Selected Smaller Corps Other Ranks: Service Records. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives.
About UK, Selected Smaller Units Service Records, 1921-1959
This collection contains military service records for members of the British armed forces created between 1921 and 1959. A majority of the records are related to the discharge of over-age personnel who served during the Second World War between 1939 and 1945.
This collection includes service records from the following Corps:
Army Air Corps Royal
Army Veterinary Corps
Royal Military Police (or Corps of Military Police)
Royal Army Pay Corps
Royal Army Physical Training Corps
Military Provost Staff Corps
Royal Corps of Army Music
Royal Army Education Corps
Royal Pioneer Corps
Intelligence Corps
Officer Training Corps
Non-Combatant Corps
UK, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Service Records, 1942-1959
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62682/
Source: WO 420: War Office: The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Other Ranks: Service Records (WO 420). Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives.
About the UK, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Service Records, 1942-1959
This collection contains records of service members who served in the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (officers excluded) between the years 1942 and 1959. In this collection you’ll find service members who served during and after the Second World War, as well as those who were discharged for “aging out” of service (over 45). Only records of service members born over 100 years ago have been published, with more released annually as they exceed 100 years since birth.
Using this collection
Records in this collection may include the following information:
Name
Birth date and place
Age
Service number
Rank
Regiment
Residence place
Parents’ names
Parents’ birth dates and places
Spouse’s name
Spouse's birth date and place
Marriage date and place
Religion
Physical attributes
Enlistment date and place
Discharge date and place
Occupation
Death date and place
Each service member has a packet containing multiple records. When viewing this collection be sure to use the image viewer to view all the records available in the packet. Service record packets may include the following:
- Attestation forms: documents created upon initial recruitment or transfer between units
- Statement of service: a list of the soldier’s postings whilst in service
- B102 Tracer cards: used to trace the soldier’s movements and promotions in the military
- B103 Service and casualty forms: an expanded version of the military service providing more in-depth details
The first page of each packet will include the piece number, which is used for cataloguing the records and will prove useful when creating source citations.
Poland and Great Britain, Polish Air Force in Great Britain, 1940-1947
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/63126/
Source: personelu Polskich Sił Powietrznych w Wielkiej Brytanii, 1940-1947. Polska: Krzystek’s List. https://listakrzystka.pl/en/ Accessed: July 2024.
About Poland and Great Britain, Polish Air Force in Great Britain, 1940-1947
This index-only collection captures over 16,000 Polish aviators who served in Great Britain during the Second World War. The index also includes service members who worked in other divisions of the Polish Air Force (PAF) in Britain—such as the Aviation Inspectorate—as well as Polish volunteers for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF).
The index may include the following information:
- Name
- Service number
- Rank and specialty
- Date and place of birth
- Date of death
- Place of burial
- Last known assignment/post
- Military decorations
- Last known residence
The names of Polish personnel were processed by British officers, so misspellings may have occurred. Consider different first name/surname variations during your search. If you locate a service number, you can use it to order service records from the Ministry of Defence. Such records can offer more details about a service member’s military career. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/royal-air-force-personnel/ and https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records offer guidance on how to order and procure RAF service records.
* Further details for al the collections via the links given.
Chris
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