Commonwealth War Graves Commission

This is one of the best sites on the web and is invaluable in tracking down the records of those who died in both world wars



The various items in the Contents column down the left of the page include About the CWGC and a good new educational feature entitled 'Remember Me'. On the right of the page, meanwhile, is the search facility for the Debt of Honour Register, which is probably where you want to be.


SPECIAL FEATURES


Debt of Honour Register has an explanatory front page and a Search the Register link in purple at the foot of it. In the search boxes that this produces, a search will be triggered almost regardless of how limited the information you give, particularly if the surname you are searching for is not too common. Note, though, that using an initial in the second box may cause problems unless you are absolutely certain of it, because the computer selects only those names for whom the given initial comes first. If the person you are seeking was commonly known by a second name and you enter that initial, you will not find the right connection.


Each time a record is found, it gives details of rank, number, force, date of death and age. It also gives details of parents (if known) and approximate address (town and county), spouse if married, and may give a little more by way of education or profession. Finally, it gives details of the cemetery where the casualty is buried and basic directions for finding it.At the bottom of this page the Display Record of Commemmoration link takes you to the actual grave inscription.


At this point, it may be worth going back to Services and Links in the Contents column to see what further information may be available from the Commission, now that you have better details of the casualty you are seeking. For instance, the exact location of individual graves is normally available, and you may wish to click on the link to The Royal British Legion, for example, which helps arrange visits to war graves. Other links on the same page include The Imperial War Museum, The German War Graves Commission, Australian War Memorial and many others.