Useful resources for First World War researchers
If you're researching the First World War, the following museums, archives, websites and databases may be helpful.
General
Imperial War Museum
Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ
The Museum of the Order of St John
St John’s Gate, St John’s Lane, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 4DA
The National Archives
Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey TW9 4DU
enquiry@nationalarchives.gov.uk
National Army Museum
Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HT
Wellcome Collection
183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE
Leeds University Library Liddle Collection
library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections/collection/723
University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT
specialcollections@library.leeds.ac.uk
Prisoners of war
Archives Division and Research Service of the International Committee of the Red Cross
19 Avenue de la Paix, Geneva CH-1202, Switzerland
Nursing
The Museum of Military Medicine
museumofmilitarymedicine.org.uk
Keogh Barracks, Ash Vale, Aldershot, GU12 5RQ
armymedicalmuseum@btinternet.com
Royal College of Nursing Archives
20 Cavendish Square, London, W1G ORN
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
2 Marlow Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 7DX
Hospitals
Hospital Records Database (Wellcome Trust/National Archives)
nationalarchives.gov.uk/hospitalrecords
This database provides information on the existence and location of the records of UK hospitals. There are currently over 2,800 entries, compiled by the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. However, please be aware that British Red Cross hospitals are very sparsely represented, as they were temporary establishments and not part of the existing hospital system.
English Heritage Archive Services
The Engine House, Fire Fly Avenue, Swindon SN2 2EH
archive@english-heritage.org.uk
National Trust properties
Contact the relevant property for information about their collections. Contact details can be found on the National Trust website: nationaltrust.org.uk or telephone 0844 800 1895.
London Metropolitan Archives
40 Northampton Road, Clerkenwell, EC1R 0HB
Local archive services
The National Archives Directory contains contact details for record repositories across the United Kingdom: discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/find-an-archive.
Useful websites
- The National Archives guide to First World War records
- First World War Centenary Partnership
- The Long, Long Trail - a website detailing the order of battle for the British army in the First World War, including sections on how to research a soldier and the battles and battlefields of the war.
- The Great War Forum
Books
‘Tracing your Prisoner of War Ancestors, The First World War: A guide for family historians’ by Sarah Paterson (London: Imperial War Museum, 2012).
