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As thoughts turn to
remembrance on this year’s hugely significant Armistice Day, leading genealogy
and family history site, FamilyRelatives, is urging people to discover more
about their military past, using their incredible archive of over 20 million
military records. This week marks 100 years since the beginning of the First World
War, and FamilyRelatives has more than a million records from this specific
time period alone, allowing users more insight than ever before, into their own
military lineage.
FamilyRelatives will be commemorating
the occasion with the release of a booklet made up of 26 infographics, a totally free download for all visitors to the site. Packed full of
fascinating facts about the war and the people who fought in it, the
infographics are sure to satisfy the appetite of anyone who has ever wondered
whether their relatives played a part in one of the most infamous battles that
ever took place.
A spokesman for the site,
which has millions of records dating back centuries, says, “This week will mark
an incredibly significant milestone in human history – the centenary of the
beginning of the First World War. At FamilyRelatives,
we always notice an upswing in people searching our site around the time of
Remembrance Day, as their thoughts turn to the sacrifices their ancestors made
– and we anticipate that this year will see more visitors than ever to the
site.”
He adds, “Many people will
realise that they have no idea whether their own relatives were involved in the
Great War, or if they were, what part they played in the war effort. The
centenary is the ideal opportunity for them to discover more about their
ancestry and their lineage, as the world remembers the noble sacrifice made by
so many.”
The infographics is available
to download for free to encourage more people to think about their family
history in the context of the Great War. The graphics are packed with
interesting snippets of information that bring home the reality of the war for
so many – for instance, the youngest British soldier to die in World War I is
thought to have been just fourteen years old, while the oldest man to die as a
result of war wounds was a Lieutenant at the age of sixty-eight. ‘Smith’,
‘Jones’ and ‘Brown’ were the most common surnames of men to die in the war, and
628 of the 1,357 Victoria Crosses that have been awarded throughout history
came from World War I.
The spokesman for
FamilyRelatives adds, “As time passes, many people can feel detached from the
shocking events – but finding out they had a relative fighting in the war, or
helping the war effort in the UK,
can bring it all home for many individuals. In order to mark 100 years since
the war began, we’d like to encourage more people to sign up for access to our
unique archive of military records. We can’t think of a more fitting way to
remember those who passed than by acknowledging their contribution in this way.
As the famous poem goes – ‘At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we
will remember them’.
For more information about Familyrelatives' extensive military records, or to search the database, visit the website:
or visit
to download the free infographic or to use it for your own website.
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