Unit war diaries: You will need to know which unit a soldier served with to effectively search these records in most diaries only officers are mentioned by name.Most soldiers were issued with campaign medals some were also awarded medals for gallantry and meritorious service. Medal records: Low on detail but far more likely to have survived than a service record and a reliable way to identify a soldier’s service number and unit.Service record: If it survives it is likely to be the most detailed record for an individual soldier that you will find but most service records for First World War soldiers were destroyed following bomb and fire damage at the record office.To uncover details of a soldier’s service in the First World War you should begin by searching for the following three types of records:
