First printed in 1998, this title has been out of print for some time now ... but due to demand it has now been reprinted. The only book of its kind, this ambitious effort to catalogue service records and related sources is international in scope, covering the soldiers of all countries participating in the war, from Britain, Germany, and France, to Russia, Canada, and the US, as well as those from India, Australia, Japan, South Africa and Brazil!
This is a key to a motherlode of genealogical data and should grow in value as our need for WWI-era information increases. Right now it represents a whole new path in genealogical research, with fresh possibilities and discoveries at every turn.
The first part of the book is designed to provide background on the organization of the military in 1914, the order of battle, how to use the records, and a general time-line of events, focusing on 1914 to 1918. The second part concentrates on the combatants, describing each country's armed forces, conscription history, and its military and naval records, and, to the greatest extent possible, their location. (Records that have been microfilmed and are available worldwide through the Family History Library System of the LDS Church are identified by roll number.) The third part of the book describes casualty lists and POW records, and provides a table showing changes in place names, while the final section of the book, an appendix, contains a glossary of abbreviations, Internet addresses, and a select bibliography of books in English.
A particularly useful section of the book, 'Research Tips', describes the general organization of military records, the organization of those records in specific countries, and the condition and comprehensiveness of the records. The author has managed to compile a guide to WWI service records that is not only unique but totally comprehensive. She has taken a mountain of material and cut it down to size, transforming an unwieldy body of sources into a streamlined archive. Her pioneering efforts will save researchers untold hours of toil, adding limbs to family trees and providing opportunities for further research.
Contents:
Table of Maps and Illustrations
Preface
1. The History
- Research trips
- Timeline
2. The Countries
- Australia and New Zealand
- Austria-Hungary
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Canada and Newfoundland
- France
- Germany
- Great Britain
- Greece
- India
- Italy
- Japan
- Luxembourg
- The Ottoman Empire
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- The Russian Empire
- Serbia and Montenegro
- South Africa
- The United States
- The Neutral Countries
3. Aftermath
- Casualties and prisoners of war
- New countries
4. Appendix
- Information on the Internet
- Glossary and abbreviations
- Selected bibliography
Index
