- Home
- Articles
- World Records
- Full list of United Kingdom records
- Armed Forces & Conflict
- British Army Service Records WO 96 & WO 97
Records in this collection
- 1st Sportsman's Battalion, Royal Fusiliers 1914-1918
- 1861 Worldwide Army Index
- Afghan War, Fallen Officers & Victoria Cross Recipients 1878-1880
- Airmen Died in the Great War, 1914-1919
- Anglo-Boer War Records 1899-1902
- Army Deserters 1828-1840
- Army List August 1878
- Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945
- Birmingham City Battalions 1914-1918
- Birmingham Employers Roll of Honour 1914-1918
- Bradford Pals 1914-1918
- Britain, Gestapo Invasion Arrest List 1940
- British Armed Forces Soldiers' Wills 1850-1986
- British Armed Forces, First World War Soldiers' Medical Records
- British Armed Forces, First World War Widows' Pensions Forms
- British Armed Forces, Roman Catholic Registers Baptisms
- British Army Casualty Lists 1939-1945
- British Army Discharges, 60th Foot 1854-1880
- British Army Officers' Widows' Pension Forms 1755-1908
- British Army Service Records - WO 363 & WO 364
- British Army Service Records WO 22 & WO 23
- British Army Service Records WO 96 & WO 97
- British Army, Bond Of Sacrifice: Officers Died In The Great War 1914-1916
- British Army, British Red Cross Society volunteers 1914-1918
- British Army, East Surrey Regiment 1899-1919
- British Army, East Surrey Regiment 1899-1919
- British Army, East Surrey Regiment 1899-1919
- British Army, Honourable Artillery Company
- British Army, Imperial War Museum Bond of Sacrifice 1914-1918
- British Army, Indian Volunteer Force Medal Awards 1915-1939
- British Army, Irish regimental enlistment registers 1877-1924
- British Army, List Of Half-Pay Officers 1714
- British Army, Lloyds Of London Memorial Roll 1914-1919
- British Army, Northumberland Fusiliers 1881-1920
- British Army, Queen's Royal West Regiment 1901-1918
- British Army, Queen's Royal West Regiment 1901-1918
- British Army, Queen's Royal West Regiment 1901-1918
- British Army, Railwaymen Died in the Great War
- British Army, Royal Artillery Officer Deaths 1850-2011
- British Army, Royal Artillery Officers 1716-1899
- British Army, Royal Artillery War Commemoration Book, 1914-1918
- British Army, Royal Artillery, 80th Field Regiment, WW2
- British Army, Royal Welch Fusiliers
- British Army, War of 1812 Casualties
- British Army, Women's Army Auxiliary Corps 1917-1920
- British Army, worldwide index 1851
- British Casualties, Aden 1955-1967
- British Casualties, Indian Mutiny 1857-1859
- British Casualties, Korean War 1950 – 1953
- British Casualties, Spanish Civil War 1936 - 1939
- British in Argentina 1914-1919
- British India Office Army & Navy pensions
- British Officers Taken Prisoner of War 1914-1918
- British Red Cross & Order Of St John Enquiry List, Wounded & Missing, 1914-1919
- British Red Cross Register of Overseas Volunteers, 1914-1918
- British Royal Air Force, Airmen's Service Records 1912-1939
- British Royal Air Force, Gallantry Awards 1914-1919
- British Royal Air Force, Officers’ Service Records 1912 - 1920
- British Royal Naval Reserve 1899-1930 ADM240
- British Royal Naval Reserve 1899-1930 ADM337
- British Royal Navy & Royal Marines service and pension records, 1704-1919
- British Royal Navy & Royal Marines service and pension records, 1704-1919
- British Royal Navy & Royal Marines, Battle of Jutland 1916 servicemen
- British Royal Navy Allotment Declarations 1795-1852
- British Royal Navy personnel 1831
- British Royal Navy Seamen 1899-1924
- British Royal Navy, Foreign Awards To Officers Index 1914-1922
- British Royal Navy, Ships' Musters
- British subjects who died in the service of the Indian Empire
- British Women's Royal Air Force Service Records 1918-1920
- Chelsea: documents of soldiers awarded deferred pensions 1838-1896 - WO 131
- Chelsea: pensioners' discharge documents 1760-1887 - WO 121
- Chelsea: pensioners' discharge documents, foreign regiments 1816-1817 - WO 122
- City of York militia & muster rolls 1509-1829
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt of Honour, 1914-1921
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt of Honour, 1938-1947
- Crimean War casualties 1853-1856
- Cyprus Emergency Deaths 1955-1960
- De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour 1914-1918
- Edinburgh Pals 1914-1918
- Essex, Clacton Roll Of Honour 1914-1918
- Glasgow Pals 1914-1918
- Hampshire, Portsmouth Military Tribunals 1916-1919
- Harold Gillles Plastic Surgery Archives from WWI
- Harts Army List 1840
- Harts Army List 1888
- Honourable Women of the Great War, 1914-1918
- Imperial Yeomanry, soldiers' documents, South African War 1899-1902 - WO 128
- Irish Officers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919
- Jersey, 1815 Militia Survey
- Kempston Servicemen 1914-1920
- Kilmainham Pensioners British Army service records, 1771-1821
- Leicestershire and Rutland, Soldiers Died 1914-1920
- Lincolnshire, Kesteven Militia Ballot List 1824
- Liverpool Pals 1914-1918
- London County Council Record Of War Service 1914-1918
- London Stock Exchange Memorial Roll 1914-1918
- London volunteer soldiers, 1859-1955
- Manchester Employers' Roll Of Honour 1914-1916
- Manchester Regiment city battalions 1914-1916
- Middlesex War Memorials
- Middlesex, Poplar, Military Tribunals 1916-1918
- Military Nurses (Royal Red Cross)
- Military Nurses 1856-1994
- Napoleonic War Records
- Napoleonic War Records
- Napoleonic War Records 1775 - 1817
- National Roll of the Great War 1914-1918
- Northamptonshire Military Tribunals 1916-1918
- Northamptonshire militia lists 1771
- Officers' services, First World War - WO 339 & WO 374
- Oldham Pals 1914-1920
- Oldham Pals Roll of Honour
- Palestine Conflict British Deaths 1945-1948
- Peninsular Medal Roll 1793-1814
- Plymouth Militia records 1625-1831
- Plymouth Rolls Of Honour 1914-1919
- Plymouth Second World War records 1939-1945
- Plymouth Subscribers For Redemption Of Captives In Turkey and Algiers 1680
- Prisoners of War - Second World War (1939-1945) - Europe
- Prisoners of War - Second World War (1939-1945) - Far East
- Prisoners Of War 1715-1945 - Napoleonic
- Prisoners of war 1745-1945: Crimean War to Boer Wars
- Prisoners Of War 1914-1920
- Regimental records of officers' services 1775-1914 - WO 76
- Royal Air Force Muster Roll 1918
- Royal Artillery Attestations 1883-1942
- Royal Artillery Honors & Awards
- Royal Artillery Military Medal Awards
- Royal Artillery Other Ranks: casualty cards 1939-1947
- Royal Fusiliers Collection 1863-1905
- Royal Fusiliers, Stockbrokers' Battalion 1914-1918
- Royal Marine Medal Roll
- Royal Marines 1899-1919
- Royal Naval Division Casualties, 1914-1919
- Royal Naval Division Service Records, 1914-1920
- Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve medal roll
- Royal Navy Officers 1899-1919
- Royal Navy Officers Medal Roll, 1914-1920
- Royal Sussex Regiment Southdown Battalions 1914-1918
- Royal Tank Corps enlistment records, 1919-1934
- Salford Pals 1914-1918
- Silver War Badge roll 1914-1920
- Soldiers died in the Great War 1914-1919
- South Africa Roll Of Honour 1914-1918
- South Lancashire Regiment Prisoners of War 1914-1918
- Surrey Recruitment Records
- Surrey, Military Tribunals 1915-1918
- Swansea Pals (14th Welsh Regt)
- The Household Cavalry 1801-1919 - WO 400
- Waterloo Roll Call 1815
- Welsh Guards 1915-1918
- World War One British Army Medal Index Cards
- WW1 Ships Lost at Sea, 1914-1919
- WWI Distinguished Conduct Medal Citations
- WWII Escapers and Evaders
What can British Army military records tell me about my ancestors?
These British record collections provide rich information about your ancestors to a level that is difficult to find elsewhere. It's common to find several pages of records per soldier – some soldiers have hundreds of pages of records!
The British Army kept description books before the days of photography. The army had to have a means of recognizing soldiers, not least in the case of desertion or to prevent pension fraud. Description books provided detailed physical descriptions of each solider and details of birthplace, trade service and enlistment.

The information listed varies, but the records tend to be very detailed and will usually include a combination of the following:
Biographical information
*Name
*Date and place of birth
*Age
*Occupation
*Name and address of next of kin
*Marriage details
*Children's names and dates of birth
Appearance
*Height and chest size
*Complexion
*Hair and eye color
*Distinguishing features, including tattoos and scars
Service history
*Date of attestation
*Regiment
*Rank, including a record of any promotions
*Where stationed
*Campaigns fought in
*Medals awarded
*Date of discharge and reason for it
Medical history
*Conduct and character observations
WO 96 - Militia service records 1806-1915
Many of our ancestors will have served in the Militia, often as a precursor to serving in the British Army, so these records provide a useful addition to Findmypast's British Army service records.
A Militia is a voluntary part-time force for home defense. The Militia Act of 1757 established Militia regiments in all counties of England and Wales. The yeomanry cavalry (see below) and the volunteers were introduced later. In 1907, the yeomanry and the volunteers combined as the Territorial Force, and in 1908 the Militia was revived as the "Special Reserve."
All pre-20th century men were obliged to serve in the Militia, so you are likely to find information about your ancestors in this sweeping family history collection. It's also possible to find details about the men's employment, often recorded in the British Militia records, that service men performed as regular work during their service.
In these military records collection you can search around 500,000 Militia service records for the period of 1806-1915, organized as WO96 in the National Records.
WO 97 – Chelsea: pensioners British Army service records 1760-1913
These records were collected and recorded to determine a person’s eligibility for a pension from the Royal Chelsea Hospital. They recorded an individual’s rank and regiment, service number, birth place, occupation, attestation date and service history. Some will include a statement about the person’s character and proceedings of the regimental board.
The Royal Chelsea Hospital first opened in 1682 for retired soldiers. A pensioner is either an ‘in-pensioner’, meaning that he or she resides at Royal Chelsea Hospital, or an ‘out-pensioner’ if he or she lives in a private residence. Women were first admitted to the Royal Chelsea Hospital in 2009. In-pensioners must surrender their pension to the hospital, be aged 65 or older (this was raised from 55), be able to live independently, and not have any dependents such as a spouse or children.