Results 1 to 10 of 10
  1. #1
    yena
    Guest

    Default Forces War Records

    Does anybody know if the information on the Forces War Records site is different to the information on Ancestry? Looking at getting a subscription, but, I don't want to waste the moeny if it's the same.

    Thank you

    Yena

  2. #2
    Name well known on Brit-Gen
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    South Australia
    Posts
    4,594

    Default

    Rather depends on which is the ' Forces War Records' site to which you refer.
    also which year. There are a few of them out there. Have you looked at Find my past?
    Happy Families
    Wendy
    Count your Blessings, they'll all add up in the end.

  3. #3
    yena
    Guest

    Default

    Thank you Wendy for your reply. The Forces War Records site I'm looking at:
    https://www.
    forces-war-records.co.uk/search/search_result.asp?surname=kirk&ref=jubilee_email_f riday&off=QE2
    I have used Find my Past a couple of time, but, don't really like the site. I have already got some records from the first world war and some POW records from Ancestry. Was hoping the Forces War Records site, might offer me more.

  4. #4
    TheoWhite
    Guest

    Default

    Well I was a member of Forces War Records for two months and found them to be very useful. !!!
    The £8.95 payment wasnt that expensive to have access to that many records from history and you can do a free search to see if they have the record you want, but you have to pay to view. I made good use of it by seaching my family, my wife's and a close friend. Quite impressed with what I found out and the service was good when I had an issue not finding a WWI record and a WWII record. They expalined (by email as no phone service) that many WWI files were destroyed in the Blitz and that many WWII records are not releasable to the General Public by the MoD and only the MoD will hold these records. Though they gave me the details to get them.
    Had good information on the unit history and medals. I also noticed they have free POW records which cost £70(ish) to get from the Red Cross.
    In all i was happy and would recommend.

  5. #5
    alexei f
    Guest

    Default

    I noticed Forces War Records now have "an online digital library of books, newspapers and magazines, some more than a hundred years old."
    https://www.
    forces-war-records.co.uk/Library/Search
    A quick search of areas I was interested in seems to show 1052 scanned old publications, journals, instruction manuals etc. Though perhaps not directly useful for genealogical research, they may be of interest to some people for general research purposes.
    Last edited by Jan1954; 31-12-2012 at 8:47 PM. Reason: Urls edited as the first one asks for donations and the second is a commercial website.

  6. #6
    exiled brummie
    Guest

    Default

    I have a subscription with Forces War Records and like Theo have found the site useful. There I found the record card for my uncle who served in the Royal Navy and was killed in action in 1944, plus another from the Boer War.

  7. #7
    jac65
    Guest

    Default

    When did his mother die? The additional family information on the CWGC website comes from forms that were sent to next of kin some years after the end of WW1, I've a similar situation were a parent who didn't die until 1921 was shown as deceased on the CWGC website, the CWGC confirmed that the forms weren't completed until some time in the 1920s

    Andy

  8. #8
    exiled brummie
    Guest

    Default

    Hi Andy

    My g g aunt died in 1928. This was only discovered as, then unaware of the CWGC information, I had made use of the recently introduced death reg search on FMP. The GRO reference was sent to my cousin who had spent ages trying to find her g grandmother's death registration prior to 1917.

    She was sceptical but obtained the death certificate. The informant was a son with an unusual 2nd name so we knew we definitely had the correct certificate. My cousin then contacted an aged aunt who, when asked if she knew that her mother had lived into the late 1920's replied, "Of course I did. I must have forgotten to tell you"!!

    I note it is possible to amend incorrect information on the CWGC site so am forwarding this information to my cousin as she holds what must surely qualify as acceptable evidence.

  9. #9
    A fountain of knowledge
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Trowbridge
    Posts
    479

    Default

    Hi guys.
    Just to update you on the Forces War Records site (that I work for BTW so feel free in future to ask or PM me with anything!):
    The sources of information can come from various sources generally, these are being added to a fairly comprehensive 'collections list' which you can see (even without registering or paying) on a link from the home page.
    There are unique data sets on here that FMP/Ancestry don't have, so please don't wrongly assume because they are bigger they have it all.
    That being said, we'd be the first to admit that because the 'same' information can come from various sources it can also be named differently also: i.e. we might name a document 'POW officers of WW1' and another site 'GB POW Officers 1914-1918' it may well be different and have different fields of information or it could be the same, hopefully the collections list will inform researchers of that, we have listed original sources too for this where we can.

    brummie: The death details will always have errors if they exist in the original source -the source for the record you saw on FWR was probably both the original IWGC register (as another poster has mentioned we have a pretty extensive library, some 50,000 pages so far and plenty more to add yet! - of many many documents including original IWGC/CWGC registers) and the SDITGW transcripts along with other sources possibly (we add around 100,000 new records every month by transcribing original sources).

    However we are always happy to alter records that may have been made or recorded in error, whether that be a source error or a transcription error, so we're happy to hear from you if you have noticed anything.
    As you say, The CWGC have also started to amend records where they receive new evidence, I know Jack Clegg has amended many of his RNVR/RND records recently for instance with the CWGC.

    Often records are transcribed originally from only one source, e.g. a casualty/death report, then medal information is sourced and added, mentions in despatches etc, so a record builds.

    I am always happy to be Pm'd through this site or our help desk can assist via the site itself with any issues people feel should be addressed.

  10. #10
    Dominic - FWR
    Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by timbo58 View Post
    Hi guys.
    Just to update you on the Forces War Records site (that I work for BTW so feel free in future to ask or PM me with anything!):
    The sources of information can come from various sources generally, these are being added to a fairly comprehensive 'collections list' which you can see (even without registering or paying) on a link from the home page.
    There are unique data sets on here that FMP/Ancestry don't have, so please don't wrongly assume because they are bigger they have it all.
    That being said, we'd be the first to admit that because the 'same' information can come from various sources it can also be named differently also: i.e. we might name a document 'POW officers of WW1' and another site 'GB POW Officers 1914-1918' it may well be different and have different fields of information or it could be the same, hopefully the collections list will inform researchers of that, we have listed original sources too for this where we can.

    brummie: The death details will always have errors if they exist in the original source -the source for the record you saw on FWR was probably both the original IWGC register (as another poster has mentioned we have a pretty extensive library, some 50,000 pages so far and plenty more to add yet! - of many many documents including original IWGC/CWGC registers) and the SDITGW transcripts along with other sources possibly (we add around 100,000 new records every month by transcribing original sources).

    However we are always happy to alter records that may have been made or recorded in error, whether that be a source error or a transcription error, so we're happy to hear from you if you have noticed anything.
    As you say, The CWGC have also started to amend records where they receive new evidence, I know Jack Clegg has amended many of his RNVR/RND records recently for instance with the CWGC.

    Often records are transcribed originally from only one source, e.g. a casualty/death report, then medal information is sourced and added, mentions in despatches etc, so a record builds.

    I am always happy to be Pm'd through this site or our help desk can assist via the site itself with any issues people feel should be addressed.
    ...

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Select a file: