Although this page was originally written as a brief guide to researching the service records of men from the Accrington, Sheffield and Barnsley Pals battalions, much of it is relevant to WW1 army service records in general.
Begin by finding out if any memories or possessions have survived. A conversation recalled could fix a serviceman to a specific time and place. Medals awarded for wartime service will generally have the recipient's name, army number and regiment engraved on the rim. His regiment might also be given away in a cap or shoulder badge seen in a photographic portrait. A list of officers and men who joined the Accrington Pals prior to 1st July 1916 is available here. The Absent Voters List for 1918 is a valuable yet under-used resource and is often available at public libraries. Anyone who was eligible to vote in 1918 but was absent because of wartime service can be found listed alongside his permanent address, army number, rank and battalion or regiment. The Accrington 1918 Absent Voters List is available here. The names and addresses of local men recently returned from prisoner-of-war camps in Germany were published in the Accrington Gazette on 11th January and 1st March 1919, and are available here. The Medal Rolls Index gives the army numbers and regiments of every soldier with a medal entitlement, and can now be searched through the National Archives website. For GBP3.50 (September 2006), a scan of the Medal Rolls Index Card can be downloaded, though this may give no additional information other than reference numbers to the corresponding entries in the Medal Rolls. Further details can be found here. To progress much further, a visit to The National Archives at Kew is called for. The Medal Rolls Index Cards can be accessed here free of charge, and the Medal Rolls can be consulted. For an infantryman, his entry in the Medal Rolls details each battalion with which he served overseas. Best of all would be to find the soldier's service record. Unfortunately, the majority of WW1 service records for ranks other than officers were destroyed during a 1940 air raid. Those that survived - less than 40% - are now available at Kew in microfilm form (WO 363, the so-called Burnt Documents). In an attempt to replace some of the records which were lost in 1940, the so-called Unburnt Documents (WO 364) were created from Ministry of Pensions records. Although these account for only around 8% of the original records, all are now accessible either at Kew, or online through Ancestry. The situation is different for officers, whose records have generally survived and can be inspected in their original form at Kew. (An exception seems to be the records of R.A.M.C. officers, which have been unaccountably lost.) Officers' records are in WO 374 (Territorial Army commissions) or WO 339 (indexed on microfilm in WO 338 and now searchable on-line through the National Archives catalogue). Further details on researching WW1 Army service records are available in the information leaflet Soldiers' Papers. The National Archives also provide a list of independent researchers. The on-line Debt of Honour database maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is searchable by name and gives date of death, army number, battalion, place of burial or commemoration, and possibly some family details as well. Soldiers Died in the Great War was originally published in 1921 in 80 volumes, but is now available on a single CD-ROM which also contains the accompanying Officers Died in the Great War. It is usually possible to tell from these volumes where a serviceman was born, lived and enlisted. The CD-ROM product is now available in many local libraries. For a small charge, the CD content can be accessed through the Military Genealogy website. Local newspapers of the time generally published biographical sketches of the local killed, missing and wounded, often together with a photograph. Microfilm copies of the Accrington Observer & Times and Accrington Gazette can be consulted at Accrington Library, the Sheffield & Rotherham Independent, Sheffield Daily Telegraph and The Star at Sheffield Library and the Barnsley Chronicle and Barnsley Times at Barnsley Library. Accrington Library also has on file personal details of the more than 850 Accrington Pals who died during the war. There is around a 25% chance that the service records of a soldier who died during the war can be located at The National Archives. It is also worth checking the sample (around 8%) of widows' and dependants' pension forms (PIN 82) which are searchable on-line through the National Archives catalogue. Regimental or Divisional histories can give detailed accounts of a battalion's activities, but can be difficult to locate. A copy of The History of the East Lancashire Regiment in the Great War 1914-1919 edited by Major General Sir N. Nicholson is held at Accrington Library and at the Queen's Lancashire Regiment Museum; click here for details of a recent reprint. Many of the Pals battalions have been the subject of recent books, published by Pen & Sword Books. Battalion, Brigade and Division war diaries vary in content, but often contain maps and detailed operational plans as well as a daily record of activities. These are best consulted at The National Archives (WO 95) which have recently made available on-line the war diary of the Accrington Pals. (Go to DocumentsOnline and type 11 battalion east lancashire into the search box. Click on Go. On the Search Results Summary page, select the category Military & Defence.) Accrington Public Library The library is home to the William Turner Pals Collection. Also available are the local 1918 Absent Voters List, details of the more than 850 Accrington Pals who died in the war, microfilm copies of the Accrington Observer & Times and Accrington Gazette, CD-ROM and printed versions of Soldiers Died in the Great War, the 75 volumes of The Official History of the Great War, and The History of the East Lancashire Regiment in the Great War 1914-1919. As an aid to anyone staging Peter Whelan's play "The Accrington Pals", the library is able to supply a facsimile of the Accrington Observer & Times for 1916. Sheffield Central Library The library holds microfilm copies of the Sheffield and Rotherham Independent, Sheffield Daily Telegraph and The Star. Barnsley Central Library The library holds copies of both the Barnsley Chronicle and Barnsley Times on microfilm. The National Archives Ministry of Defence The Queen's Lancashire Regiment Museum The museum holds some reference material not available at Accrington Library including Army Lists, Medal Rolls, and a copy of the war diary of the Accrington Pals in its original form. East Lancashire Regimental Museum York & Lancaster Regimental Museum Email author:
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