WW1 Servicemen Records (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Monday, November 05, 2018, 13:48 (2217 days ago) @ MPGriffiths

Thanks very much MPG for saving me the effort today !.

Last night I did try searching for his Army Medal Card, as that section of Ancestry is currently free to access without a subscription, but no luck - there were an awful lot of Archie Harpers to browse thro, never mind all the A. Harpers etc etc.

If past years are anything to go by I'm sure that Ancestry will be offering free access to all their other WW1 records during this coming Remembrance Weekend, altho as you so rightly say these are available free-of-charge at all times at most UK public libraries.

It's especially pleasing his detailed service Records are there - as you know these are sometimes known as the Burnt Records. As the result of a fire caused by an incendiary bomb at the London War Office Record Store during the 1940 Blitz, about two thirds of 6.5 million WW1 soldiers' documents were destroyed, the rest were often damaged around the edges due to the fire and especially subsequent water damage while the fire was extinguished.
Luckily the Medal Cards survived this fire.

Thanks again, J