WW1 SOLDIERS' FAMILIES CAN ACCESS RECORDS ONLINE

Family members and servicemen can read details of full military careers from 1914 to 1920 in a new collection on Ancestry.co.uk.

There are around 16 pages dedicated to each soldier, which includes medical and service histories.

Records of famous names such as Basil Rathbone - the actor who played Sherlock Holmes in 14 films and playwright Noel Coward are also included.

The collection today helped solve a family mystery that had spanned 90 years, as details of a soldier who enrolled under a false name to avoid being traced by his mother were uncovered.

Dan Jones, international content director of the site, said: “The service records will provide millions of people with information to help them better understand what their heroic ancestors were like as soldiers, including their performance in battle, their health and details of their general appearance."

William Spencer, military records specialist at The National Archives, added: “It is fitting that the digitisation of surviving First World War soldiers’ records of service should be completed at this time.

“With Harry Patch’s death last July, any direct living connection to these records has finally been severed and marks the passing of this significant period in British military activity into history.

“Digitising these records makes them accessible to people around the world, many of whom had ancestors who served in the ”war to end all wars“, and who will now be able to discover so much more about them.”

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