Tracing Ancestors in the Military – 5 Things You Need to Know

If you’re looking for a way to learn more about your ancestors, military records are a great way to do it. In fact, they are the perfect starting point! That’s because – no matter what country you’re dealing with – military records are a wealth of information. They contain a person’s birthplace, age at the time they enlisted, occupation, and even the names of their immediate family members.

And, chances are, several people in your family tree have military backgrounds. After all, practically every generation has lived through a war. In the U.S. alone, there are records of 24 million men who registered for the World War I draft. Another 8 million signed up to fight in World War II. With numbers like that, it’s likely that you have ancestors who were members of the military!

But, because military records are so vast, you need to go into them with a plan. These 5 facts can help you figure out how to start – and how to narrow down your search:

1. There are a variety of military records to choose from. Soldiers are listed in everything from draft records, to death lists, to registration cards, to service records, to specific unit rosters.

2. When researching British Ancestors, soldiers started being listed alphabetically in 1873. Before that, every soldier was filed alphabetically, and categorized in the part of the Army in which they served.

3. Soldiers who completed a full term are usually the easiest to find because they also have pension records. War pension records are a great source of information, and, as an added benefit, they are not as vast as military records. Plus, after 1836, the wives of deceased soldiers could start applying for war pensions. So, even if your ancestor died during the war, there will likely be a record of his wife.

4. In most cases – and in most countries – military records are kept by the federal government. The only exception is the Civil War. If you think you had an ancestor who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War, state records will likely be more helpful than federal records. That’s because Confederate soldiers’ war pensions came from individual states – instead of the federal government that they were fighting against.

5. Census records in both the U.S. and Australia will show which members of the household were enlisted in the military. In fact, Australia’s census, probate, and church records all have columns to indicate military status.

Kirsty LaVier is editor for Family Tree Search, an Australia Genealogy resource site.

[lavalinx code=”5|8|76266″]