New Second World War records on Ancestry

[kiterunner]

British Army World War II Medal Cards (approx 1.7 million records)
This collection contains an index of cards with information about medals awarded by the British Army for service during the Second World War. Records include a link to the image available on Forces War Records and Fold3. Some of these records are closed or redacted to protect the privacy of living people.

REME Service Records 1942-1959 (approx 130,000 records)
Only records of service members born over 100 years ago have been published, with more released annually as they exceed 100 years since birth.

Selected Smaller Units Service Records 1921-1959 (approx 230,000 records)
This collection contains military service records for members of the British armed forces created between 1921 and 1959. A majority of the records are related to the discharge of over-age personnel who served during the Second World War between 1939 and 1945.
This collection includes service records from the following Corps:
Army Air Corps Royal
Army Veterinary Corps
Royal Military Police (or Corps of Military Police)
Royal Army Pay Corps
Royal Army Physical Training Corps
Military Provost Staff Corps
Royal Corps of Army Music
Royal Army Education Corps
Royal Pioneer Corps
Intelligence Corps
Officer Training Corps
Non-Combatant Corps

If you get an error message when accessing these records, refresh the page and it should load eventually.

[kiterunner]

I found my great-uncle's medal card, clicked through to view the image on Fold3, and it suggested I use Forces War Records instead because I am in the UK. I clicked to accept that, and it took me to Forces War Records and gave me the option to log in via Ancestry, which I did, and it let me view the full image although I don't have the extra sub. So maybe they are giving free access at the moment?

[Margaret in Burton]

Originally Posted by kiterunner

I found my great-uncle's medal card, clicked through to view the image on Fold3, and it suggested I use Forces War Records instead because I am in the UK. I clicked to accept that, and it took me to Forces War Records and gave me the option to log in via Ancestry, which I did, and it let me view the full image although I don't have the extra sub. So maybe they are giving free access at the moment?

I viewed a record on my iPad and expanded the image. Is there anything on the reverse that I can’t see?

[ElizabethHerts]

I can't find anything for my father. It was the Royal Army Veterinary Corps - they missed off the word Royal.

[kiterunner]

Originally Posted by Margaret in Burton

I viewed a record on my iPad and expanded the image. Is there anything on the reverse that I can’t see?

Not as far as I know. You just get the full size image on Forces War Records.

[Margaret in Burton]

Originally Posted by kiterunner

Not as far as I know. You just get the full size image on Forces War Records.

I screen grabbed the one of my uncle from my iPad. Just used the two finger spread like you do on your phone.

My father in law and his brother aren’t showing yet.

[Sue from Southend]

I found my Dad's!
We've got his medals of course, and he conveniently kept a lot of paperwork from his service years so I knew all this before. But the card is what he filled in to claim his medals, so to see his handwriting and signature on Ancestry was quite moving. It was interesting to see how little his writing had changed over the years!

[Merry]

Originally Posted by Sue from Southend

I found my Dad's!
We've got his medals of course, and he conveniently kept a lot of paperwork from his service years so I knew all this before. But the card is what he filled in to claim his medals, so to see his handwriting and signature on Ancestry was quite moving. It was interesting to see how little his writing had changed over the years!

That was the same shock/surprise I got when I looked to see if there was anything for my grandfather - I wasn't expecting to see his handwriting. He served in both wars. By the time he completed the application for these medals he was 60 years of age!

[Jill]

Father in law's is there, the first address is that of his inlaws then the second is temporary housing in huts built by the Canadians in WW2,

Also found great uncle's (I have his medal in a little handmade box with his cap badge attached to the lid) which shows he was discharged from the Royal Signals aged 36 in 1942.