KINGSTON UPON HULL WAR MEMORIAL 1914 - 1918
A brilliantly executed website, both a memorial and research site, dedicated to the 7,500 or so men from Hull who lost their lives in WW1. Searches can be by name, regiment and service, and most incredibly, even by street. Every Hull street that lost a resident is listed, and going down the list of streets and seeing the totals for each is sobering enough in itself. The amount of information to be found on individual casualties belies the amount of research and hard work in compiling the associated databases, let alone the skill and artistic accomplishment in bringing it to the web. Thanks Paul, this has all the hallmarks of a labour of love, and I noted the dedications at the bottom of the page. I imagine, many Hull families will have conveyed their thanks to you already, and many more will do so in the fullness of time.

ARMED FORCES COMMUNITY HUB - HULL
We are very pleased to make contact with this Veterans organisation, via Joanne Atkinson who came to see us, and look forward to some exchange visits and closer ties in the future. Quoting their own Facebook page: AFCCH is a one-stop shop created to provide advice and support for the Armed Forces Community in several areas of Hull, such as: Employability, Housing, Welfare, Financial Advice and Social Isolation. Clicking the link takes you straight to their Home Page, which will open in a new browser window.  Their members and ALL veterans are always welcome at our humble little museum.

THE HULL PEOPLE'S MEMORIAL has sadly closed.  It's very last pages were scanned and archived by The Wayback Machine (as was the 17Balloons site about RAF Sutton, listed below) so folks can view their last pages and see what they achieved, and read the dedications to all those who supported and helped them over a period of 15 years.
So we hope this link works for you ...
THE OLD PAGE of 29 June 2022 It will open in a new browser window so you can return to this page should the link break, or not work.  It's a bit slow to load (to be expected, it is from an archive of millions of past pages worldwide) but it also loads a 'bar chart' across the top of the page, giving you the choice of other dates. Try June 2017 and see.
It really was a remarkable site, raising the funds for our city centre memorial to Hull's 1,200 civilian war dead, now sited as always planned on the Prudential Corner site. All paid for by you, the public, and co-ordinated by this little shop in Whitefriargate. It was a treasure trove of information and artefacts of both world wars, but with special emphasis on Hull's long-neglected blitz in 1940-43. A story that had long needed telling, to our visitors and the wider nation in general, they told and showed it very well indeed, and all credit is due to all those who were involved. Sadly missed indeed.

THE YORKSHIRE REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION
. . . the successor to both the East and West Yorkshires, the Green Howards, and the Duke of Wellington's Regiment. Their website takes you to their regimental museum pages, with a comprehensive regimental history of not just both world wars, but many other conflicts too. There are a surprising number of records you can access online, though some WW2 records pertaining to men enlisted and discharged are not yet available online. Most WW1 records are.

HULL & EAST RIDING AT WAR note: THE SITE HAS CEASED OPERATION, but it was archived on THE WAY BACK MACHINE.  Give it a try, copy the URL in this link, and paste it into TWBM.  See the RAF Sutton link below to see how it works.
A local site run by a team of enthusiasts keen to see the part Hull and the East Riding played in both world wars more widely told. Whether the role of the Hull Pals battalions in the Great War, or Hull's untold suffering in the blitz in the second, this is a remarkable site, with a great wealth of interest to this area. It's particularly strong on other bodies and authorities as well as the regular military, so police and fire brigades, civil defence and Home Guard, and many other auxilliary units all have a place here. There's an extra-special focus on individual stories, as well as pages on eachof the RAF stations across East Yorkshire. It will grow and grow, and well worth a visit.

HULL BLITZ MAPS - maps plotting the fall of bombs - this links to a new window and a set of 16 scans of a large streetmap of Hull, dated 1945, onto which has been entered details of the fall of HE bombs and mines for the period 1940-44. Many more thousands of incendiary bombs are not shown, there simply were far to many to count, dozens falling in any few square yards. They were not high-explosive, but phospherous, and intended to cause deadly, serious fires.
Each section loads separately in a new window, and was roughly A4 in size.
Revised: Sept 2021 - a bit clearer, with colour added : previous scans were b&w.
note: The National Archive whole-Britain map of WW2 bombing, posted online in 2019, was withdrawn in 2020.  Which leaves these maps the only online resource for Hull once again.  Hence they were tidied up somewhat to make them clearer.

CITY ON FIRE
A remarkable book, published in 2017, giving a great deal of detail on the blitz on Hull in relation to individual raids, and their devastating effect on the city, plus the stories of some of the Civil Defence and rescue workers, and how the raids were censored in the media at the time and the use of deception measures to try and protect the city. Even some of the bare details available on Nick Cooper's website is of interest, though there are links to purchase the actual book online at three retailers, including Waterstones and W H Smiths. 

RAF SUTTON ON HULL
THIS LINK IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE in it's present form --- It was formerly online, at HullWebs, via the Peoples' Memorial Shop that was in Whitefriargate, but now also closed and listed above.  They hosted the HullWebs pages, and the site closed at the same time as the shop did. It really was an excellent website devoted entirely to RAF Sutton, and the Balloon and Firefighting Squadrons stationed there over the years. It contained photos, station plan and a full history, indeed, the full contents of the book by the late Leonard Bacon. With a foreword by Merrill Rhodes, it was as she said, an excellent read, full of humour and pathos as well as history. It was a fine memorial to both RAF Sutton and Len himself.    But, READ ON!
INCREDIBLY, those pages of Len's book can still be accessed, if you know how.
Go to THE WAY BACK MACHINE ... and the whole site will pop up, with Len's book from first pages to last, plans, lists, diaries, all of it.  Enjoy.   You can buy me a coffee later!

RAF / USAF GOXHILL  . . . links to an amazing vintage wartime aircraft museum in Virginia, USA.  Where they have now taken and re-assembled the old control tower from RAF Goxhill, as it first was.  That was one of the main RAF fighter stations to defend Hull in the early days, but in 1942, was handed over to the USAF to use as a bomber station.  Enthusiasts dismantled  the control tower brick-by-brick some years back, transported it to the eastern United States, and it now forms a magnificent visitor attraction.  The photos are amazing, so much period 'detail' inside, telling little touches that you will not fail to notice, some of which are amusing.  The link came to us via a director of the museum, who happened to correspond with us at Sutton after they had viewed the bomb maps of Hull, link above.  They also have a 'Webinar' link (also opens in a new window) that focuses on the Goxhill tower, and much more of interest re their preserved aircraft and displays.

THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
an updated link - 1940 added to the address. This site used to have a link to a page listing the details of Flight Lieutenant Paterson Clarence Hughes DFC, of 234 Squadron, who came from Cooma in New South Wales in Australia, and is buried in St James' churchyard, Sutton. If you explore the site, you'll also find links to several Hull and East Riding men who served and lost their lives in that battle. There's also more information about this pilot on our War Memorial page.

NORTH-EAST DIARY 1939 -1945 - by the late Roy Ripley & Brian Pears - another stupendous site that also documents much of the heartache that the North-East underwent during those dark years. RAF casualties and crash landings at numerous airfields, ships built on the Tyne, all sorts of incidents, some of which tie in with the civilian casualties in the list above, make this an incredible archive for those interested in the Home Front of WW2 and family historians alike. It includes details of shipping lost or attacked off the east coast. Many references to Hull and the East Riding area. Enough to keep you busy all evening.

THE CIVILIAN WAR DEAD INDEX of YORKSHIRE, NORTHUMBERLAND & DURHAM .. .. an incredible list of the war dead of those three counties. As you look down it, you'll see an amazing number of Hull names and families who lost their lives in the various air raid attacks on Hull during the blitz, nearly 1,300 killed. For people NOT from Hull, who ever doubted how bad Hull was hit during WW II, then take a look at this. The entries that read .. Hull, ERY .. seem endless. See the HULL BLITZ MAPS link above . . . . Of course, if you have an interest in Durham, Newcastle, Sunderland, Hartlepool too, their war dead are here too.

HOME SWEET HOME FRONT - a comprehensive site documenting life on the Home Front during WW2. Contains a good page on the Women's Land Army, telling how a force of 80,000 women by 1944 were working the land, literally, farming, forestry, every aspect of agriculture. Also contains pages on the WVS, Women's Voluntary Service, and Home Guard, LDV.

FORGOTTEN HEROES - The Wartime Memories Project
Subscription site to access their library - a remarkable website detailing the work of those who had to stay behind. Not everyone could go into the forces - age, or health, could be a factor, or even being in an already "reserved occupation", like mining. Some lads would loved to have joined up and had the chance to go overseas, with all its risks, but instead found themselves as Bevin Boys - sent down t'pit. Being over 40, and perhaps not classed as A1 fit didn't mean they couldn't "serve" - there was always firewatching. And many died doing it. Plus Ambulance Drivers, Firefighters and Firewatchers, Observer Corps, and any number of women's organisations. They all deserve our thanks too.

It's a fact that if some young folk were to go into most old folk's homes, residential homes, today, and spoke to the residents about their trades and jobs in that decade of war years, they would find nearly all were ex-servicemen and women, factory girls making parachutes or uniforms or shells or parts for tanks and lorries, miners, firewatchers (some had to do both !), and many more besides. Very few people, by 1943, got away with doing nothing to help the war effort. And those that did were ostracised by their communities and families. It was easier to do one's bit than skive off.

JOINT WAR ORGANISATION - another site dedicated to Hull
JWO, World War Reenactment / Living History Group : their FACEBOOK page
Originally set up as a living history, re-enactment group attending events nationally throughout the year also in our home city of Kingston upon Hull.
Primarily "Homefront" orientated and usually re-enacting the 1939 - 1945 period, we have progressively diversified to include World War One re-enactment. The activity of providing historical depiction of life is a more colourful and memorable way of ensuring people never forget the way we used to live.
All re-enactors provide uniformed or civilian characters wearing authentic or reproduction clothing with kit to the highest standard. We are also able to provide a managed display of other items related to the period and welcome donations of items to ensure our non profit making work continues. Many of our re-enacted characters are often unsung heros of the period and ensure the homefront struggle is remembered.

International BOMBER COMMAND Centre ... LOSSES DATABASE
A superb resource, listing the over 57,000 losses to Bomber Command over the whole period of the war. Every man, all ranks, a first-class searchable database, and a fitting memorial in its own right.  Also, see the very bottom of this page, re the former links to "FLIGHT Service Aviation" magazine ... now offline, but all may not be lost!

RAF HOLMPTON - the top-secret underground Cold War Bunker, open to the public since 2007, with guided tours. A fascinating look at a hitherto unsuspected fact of life on the East Yorkshire coast just south of Withernsea. It houses the only surviving Radar Projection Table in the UK. This is one of the Command Centres that would have run the British nuclear reaction had the 'four-minute warning' been sounded. Though what use four minutes would have done for most of us, I am at a loss to imagine. However, a very Informative website.

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVE .. wartime stuff from WW2
Yes, we all know about this site, from where our Birth, Marriage and Death records, census returns for each decade, and a great deal more is kept. In most cases of family history information, such as Soldier's Records, there is often a charge, commonly presently set at £3.50 per download.

But did you know so much is available for free? For instance, most wartime Cabinet Office records, Chiefs of Staff memos, telegrams from commanders and colonial governers abroard, as well as a good many regimental war diaries and movement orders. A good deal has been digitised, and you'd be surprised how many are available for free, zero charge in your basket. Just browsing through a huge archive of saved memos and typed operational orders gives an incredible insight to the complications of running a major war at a time when the nation's very survival was at stake. Click this quick picture link for one such item, and note the signature. Just one of the silly things that wartime throws up but has to be dealt with, this time by the highest authority in the land.

As new problems emerged, new enemy conquests, major warship losses and battle defeats mounted one on top of the other, the clarity of thought of those in charge is something to behold and tells a great deal about the quality and education of our military and civil service, the machinery of government, in those now far off and tragedy filled days. It is sobering to read day by day memos dealing with everything from the movement of stores to discussing how large liners should be used as troopships. You may not find your regiment's actual war diary, but you can often find documents that confirm or deny dates or events you already suspect. Many of the 'events' a lot of memos warn about never actually took place in the end, and a good job they didn't.

One such was a huge batch of memos and telegrams warning of the dangers of Spain and Portugal throwing their lot in with the Axis Powers and allowing a German invasion of Gibraltar. For, it was on the cards, and with massive implications for the war in the Atlantic, including total loss of control of the Med. There would not have needed to be a battle for Malta, we would not have got near it. My word, there would have been no victory in 1945 if that had come to pass, that's for sure. Try this as a taster;
CLICK HERE .. it opens in a new tab.
It's a request for a large file, containing the details of the move to the Middle East, late in 1940, of a huge unit of Royal Marines for the defence of the Canal Zone in Egypt. But that is not the main interest for you, it's what it comes with, many other documents and memos such as I've described above are all bundled up with it, but in date order. Click the "Go To Record" box, and download it, first part is just under 40Mb of PDF pages. For those who already have a fairly detailed knowledge and grasp of the war, and would like a gentle browse to dip in and out of, this is fascinating stuff indeed. My wife's father was a 'Bootneck' himself, that's how I managed to learn so much about these two huge units of RM's to the Middle East, the first of which became heavily involved in Crete and lost a great many men.

Drug & Alcohol Rehab in Yorkshire and Near Yorkshire
 

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Back to the Sutton & Wawne Museum Page

 

Just a suggestion, before you start - have a look at this list of
"QUESTIONS FOR OLD SOLDIERS"
A Help Sheet specifically provided for young people.
It opens in a separate window, and you can print the questions leaving space for the answers you may get. If you can get answers to most of these, you'll be off to a magnificent start, as well as knowing your grandparent like never before.

MORE HELP SPECIFICALLY FOR YOUNG PERSONS . . . in understanding the vast numbers involved of people in the military during WW1. How many men were in a battalion, brigade, division, etc ? What was a Corps ?  This link is to a web page of explanation, written by the webmaster of this site, which hopefully will give you some basic help in understanding how many men were involved in what types of unit. It may help you to define just where and how your relative served. I've seen so many folks on the web asking these very same questions.

All these following links also open in a new browser window, leaving this Sutton page still open behind. Use ALT + Tab to alternate between them if you wish, or the Tab facility in Firefox.

WRENS - the Women's Royal Naval Service Benevolent Trust - the women's section of the Royal Navy. Now disbanded as a separate service, as with the WRACS and WAAFS above, the WRNS likewise performed sterling service supporting the administrative side of the navy, in bases all over the world. As well as basic office duties, they were also invaluable in manning war rooms, signals and transport sections, supporting work ashore of fighting ships in every imaginable way.

QARNNS - Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service Association - their Association was formed in 1970, and is open to all serving, reserves and retired members of QARNNS, as well as VADs of the Royal Navy. They have an annual re-union in various venues around the country. There are Regional Branches of varying sizes, to which members may belong having joined the main Association. These hold a number of social activities and meetings throughout the year.

WAAFS - links to the Women's Auxiliary Air Force Association, the women's section of the Royal Air Force. The women's branch of the RAF started with about 1,700 members in 1939, and were  approximately 180,000 by 1943.  Working in many trades and specialities that the RAF required, such as meteorology, transport, telephony and telegraphy, codes and ciphers, Intelligence, Security and Operation Rooms and many others besides.  Some 1,570 ground crew ladies lost their lives performing their vital support roles.  Gaining the epithet 'Royal', they reformed into the WRAF in 1949, and were fully integrated into the RAF in 1994.  This link takes you to their Association website, and further links for information, and a chance to view 'A WAAF Bibliography' online, and in particular to view a choice of excellent books by Sqn Ldr Beryl Escott.

WRACS - to the Women's Royal Army Corps Association, includes and incorporates the ATS, or Auxiliary Transport Services, who were the women pilots that delivered warplanes direct from the factories to the squadrons.  There is a further link to the ATA below. As with WAAFS and WRENS, the ladies here performed a great number of the administrative tasks the army required, as well as drivers, signallers, armourers and many other besides.

QARANC - Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps - The Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps has served the nursing and medical needs of the British army, their allies, prisoners of war and local civilians since 1854 and the Crimean War. Though back then, they were known as the Army Nursing Service, later becoming 'Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service' before finally becoming QA's and forming a 'corps' in their own right and then known as QARANCs in 1949.

AUXILLIARY TERRITORIAL SERVICE - a different ATS , those thousands of unsung women of all ages who did their bit towards the ultimate victory by doing what had previously been men's jobs in the forces, jobs that relieved more men of the armed forces to take the war to the enemy. Women that were drivers, clerks, cooks and orderlies, gunners and armourers, searchlight operators, wireless operators and telephonists, and not forgetting that legion of storewomen feared by rookie soldiers everywhere. We couldn't have won it without them. This is a tremendous site, and comes recommended by your Webmaster.

AIR TRANSPORT AUXILIARY - a link to their museum in Maidenhead (an appropriately considered location, do you think?) for all those pilots that served by delivering aircraft directly from the factories to RAF bases all over Britain. Particularly the ladies of the service, to which you will find more links to a great deal more information. A good place to start your family history research.

LAND ARMY & TIMBER CORPS - note: THE SITE HAS COME BACK INTO OPERATION ... after a brief time offline. They have a new address. Another massive group of unsung women, even more thousands, that worked the land and set free farmers and farm labourers free to join the armed forces. Another major organisation of womenfolk that made such a huge contribution, we couldn't have won it without them either. Between the ATS and the Land Army, this nation owes a huge debt of gratitude, and it's been far too long in the coming. Another recommended site for Grandmas everywhere. Grandkids should be saying, 'what did YOU do in the war, Grandma?". Some of their stories will astonish you.

AND NOW TO OUR VETERANS THAT SERVED :

HULL VETERANS SUPPORT CENTRE
THIS SITE HAS CLOSED, SORRY 
FORCES VETERANS .. Soldiers Sailors & Airmen .. .. .. of all types, all ages, a local help and support organisation. Based on Beverley Rd in Hull, HVSC offer help to any ex-Forces personnel who might require it. A place where ex-Forces can meet and enjoy each other's company and also find many contacts for help and assistance. They rely soley on donations and genererous gifts of cash and goods from companies and private individuals.

A UK GUIDE FOR VETERANS
The Hull link above is aimed at local, East Yorkshire veterans who are resident in the city and county.  This link is a national one, to a very large page of all sorts of help and advice, many of which local folk may never have seen before.  There is an astonishing range of help and advice sites out there, and it is worth a browse to see how they may help you.  It starts with housing advice, and goes on through jobs and training, scholarships for disabled veterans, financial matters, and then on to separate links for naval and air force veterans.  There is here more than you can shake as stick at, and surely most veterans would find something of real use and interest. 

WESTERN FRONT ASSOCIATION - was formed with the aim of furthering interest in the period 1914-1918, to perpetuate the memory, courage and comradeship of all those who served their countries in France and Flanders and their own countries during The Great War. It does not seek to justify or glorify war. It is not a re-enactment society, nor is it commercially motivated. It is entirely non-political. The object of The Association is to educate the public in the history of The Great War with particular reference to the Western Front. Applications for membership are welcomed from anyone with a like mind.
(this above was taken from their intro on their Home Page - a most worthwhile site indeed).

WORLD WAR I - TRENCHES ON THE WEB - a complete directory of maps of the main areas of operation in Europe, 1914-1918.

AN OUTLINE TO THE CAUSES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
AND HOW WE CAME TO HAVE A SECOND.
An amazingly prophetic article written in November 1938 by a naval officer, explaining how Britain became embroiled in the Great War in the first place, and why by 1938, a second war was, despite what your history teachers tell you, just about unavoidable.

LIVE AND LET LIVE - Before we leave links specific to the First War, I must recommend here a paperback book - a fascinating read and one that perhaps gives the best insight into the mindset of the ordinary British Tommies in that long-drawn-out conflict.
"TRENCH WARFARE 1914-1918: The Live and Let Live System" by Tony Ashworth and published in 1980. (ISBN 0330480685). It explains the root causes of the 1914 Christmas Truce, and how attitudes to the idea of giving the enemy 'constant attrition' varied from division to division, even battalion to battalion within the same regiments. It tells how there really were 'quiet sectors' of the front, and how unofficial dialogue between British and German soldiers within earshot of each other helped to keep a sector quiet for a while, and how the top brass on both sides strove to stamp the practice out with severe punishments for those caught collaborating with the enemy.

More than a few of our Tommies did not shoot to kill, they often deliberately intended to miss, aiming just close enough to make the enemy keep their heads down. And the Germans did the same to us, reciprocating the gesture. At times it was almost ritualistic, they'd fire a shell, we'd fire one back, but not actually aimed directly at the other, but just for show to keep their respective officers' happy.

Folks today will not realise that junior officers in charge of sections of trench had to fill in daily returns of the totals of ammunition spent, mortar shells, machine gun rounds, individual rifle rounds. Woe betide the officer who could not show that his men were up with the best of them in 'constant attrition.' The pressures from above to keep the fight going was tremendous. It's almost unbelievable now, but on the odd occasion when a shell, designed to miss, did kill, they often shouted apologies to each other in order to stop it escalating into a full firefight. Neither they nor the Germans saw any point in wanton killing if no territorial advantage could be immediately gained, other than to fulfill their unit requirement of ordnance expended, figures laid down by 'brasshats,' the brigadiers and general above. Why rile the enemy and take his trenches when you knew there were no reinforcements to follow it up. You and your mates would be left high and dry and facing an immediate enemy counter-attack. It was just asking for trouble.  Don't start something you cannot finish was a common motto. 

But, sometimes, shooting to miss did go wrong. And then of course, in other sectors, all hell would let loose, and for long periods of time. This is not a comment on our soldiers' bravery; far from it. But most men could only keep up constant attrition for so long, and after a time, even the most battle-hardened sickened of it. It became an unofficial way for soldiers to keep a tiny measure of control over their own lives in a way they couldn't when involved in the bigger and more famous battles. At the very least, it enabled tired men to get a few nights sleep and have their breakfast in relative peace - for the enemy just a few yards away was doing exactly the same.

We can only speculate whether a decisive conclusion to the war one way or the other could have been brought about much quicker had all the men on BOTH SIDES been equally as keen to kill ALL THE TIME - or perhaps whether the final casualty list could have been even worse for no appreciable gain in time or effect. I certainly sympathise with the men on both sides who needed a break from the constant killing - and yet also can well understand Douglas Haig's attitude that such practices would not win the war and constant attrition was the only answer. You know, I've read the book, understand and weighed the arguments, and still I can't make my mind up.

World War II - Maps on the Web - more detailed maps, of World War II, many theatres of war, Europe, Far East, etc - eg. Places in Britain within range of German fighters.

ARMY ROLL of HONOUR at The National Archives - can be used to find a war grave or burial site. Use in conjunction with the Commonwealth War Graves site below.

COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION - the first place to look if you have name, service, which war, and knowing a rank will help enormously with the most common names. Includes the Merchant Navy.

ROYAL BRITISH LEGION - the quintessential ex-serviceman's organisation, famous for organising the annual Festival of Remembrance in the Royal Albert Hall, as well as the annual Poppy Day collections nationwide.

MOD Records and Contacts - for all service records, an overall site linking to records offices for all three armed services, and also information on how to apply for copies of medals and decorations awarded, etc.

World War 1 Medal Rolls . Over half of the army's records for men who served in WW1 were destroyed by enemy action when bombs fell on Whitehall in WW2. Years later, someone cleverly realised that if a man or woman served abroad in the First War, then they were almost certainly awarded a campaign medal. And those records survived the bombing. This is a database of those Medal Rolls, all 5.5 million men and women, including those who died, all on one site. It came on line in Jan 04, and should now be complete. To send for an image of one particular record, the cost is GBP3.50, payable by credit card online. A wonderful resource, found at the National Archives, ie, Kew Records Centre in London. Of course, you can also come to us in here in the Sutton & Wawne Museum, where we have access to those same archives. Bring a memory stick and take an image of your relative's medal card away with you.

The Long, Long Trail - a massive site giving many Regimental, Corps and Battalion locations, specifically for the 1914-1918 War. Invaluable if you know the unit your forefather was in, but don't know where he went. Gives some very useful starting clues. For instance, if you know your man was in the East Yorkshires, and there was family talk of Salonika and fighting the Turks, then you have a lead on his being in either the 2nd or 6th Battalions - both of which served in the disastrous Dardanelles campaign.

WW2 - NAVY, ARMY & AIR FORCE LISTS - all officers
Previously only available at the National Archives at Kew, for a price - being the cost of a personal visit - now here online for free via the National Library of Scotland! The Navy List, Army List and Air Force List, for all of WW1 and most of WW2. I couldn't believe it. Be warned, they can be a faddle to search through, though you can do a 'name search'. In effect, every man or woman commisioned into HM armed forces for the war years are listed here, as are every ship of the navy and the officers who commanded them. There are no 'ordinary ranks' for any three of the armed forces. On some ships, maybe the Master at Arms is listed, sometimes in an army camp, a senior sergeant-major, but usually when that particular man is in an administrative role rather than a combat one. But by and large, there are no NCOs. As an example, the Navy List starts with HM The King, and goes down the lowliest temporary sub-lieutenant commissioned in that quarter of that year, with his seniority date. Every officer in the Royal Marines takes a space of 27 pages.

The full navy list is over 2 books, each with some 1,500 pages. I had a brief look at some ships, and found Prince Philip as a midshipman on the VALIANT and a lieutenant on the WHELP. They are not full crew lists, just listing commissioned officers. A brief look at the Air Force List found author Roahl Dahl as a Pilot Officer in 1940. The lists also have military hospitals, even down to the senior pharmacist in each hospital, senior ward sisters, etc. It is an interesting scroll through a fascinating time in our history.

As a sample, this page shows HMS CALCUTTA, a light cruiser from 1918 and here attached to the Royal Naval Reserve Humber Division based in Albert Dock, Hull. She is shown on this extract of page 478 (523 in the digital search) of The Navy List for September 1939. This volume lists every vessel in the Royal Navy at the start of the war, with their complement of officers. Being reserves, most of these men with HMS CALCUTTA would have lived locally, and I'm sure some folks today will recognise them as relatives. The monthly updating of these lists must have been an administrative tour-de-force, particularly in wartime. In September, HMS Royal Oak has it's listing, along with her sisters of the same class. In November, there is no mention of her. Incredible.

THE NOT FORGOTTEN ASSOCIATION . . . a Tri-Service Charity, "which provides entertainment, leisure and recreation for the serving wounded, injured or sick and for ex-service men and women with disabilities," to quote directly from their website. Incredibly, they were founded around the same time as the Royal British Legion, being founded in 1922. Today's patron, since 2000, is HRH The Princess Royal, and the charity is also supported by 'Help for Heroes.' They help around 12,000 people a year. Naturally, their emblem is an elephant. Elephants never forget, do they. A good choice.

NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM - in Greenwich holds records for casualty lists of merchant shipping losses. This goes to the Collections page, because the Home Page didn't seem to be working when I tried it, showing an error (29/01/05).

NAVAL HISTORY NET ... a truly incredible and valuable resource, and growing. Devised and provided by Gordon Smith as a tribute to his father, killed at sea in WW2, and also his grandfather, who served in both world wars. It lists EVERY naval casualty of the RN and Dominion Navies - including Royal Marines - who were killed or died, by enemy action or by accident, whilst in service at sea, or on a shore station, including between the wars. For instance, it is incredible how many men, and women, we lost just to road accidents in foreign ports. Also lists all our warships, where they served, what happened to them, in fact, just about all you want to know about our Royal Navy history. It's sobering to see lists of dead, day by day as we go through the months of war, and see listed the whole ship's company of sometimes hundreds of men, often designated as MPK - missing presumed killed - but the exact fate of that ship is still unknown, just that she was sunk or bombed and was lost without trace with all hands - very, very moving.

CONVOY WEB ... the link to Naval History above does also link to this, but this link takes you directly to this superb site. WW2 naval historians will be beside themselves with joy here. Every convoy of WW2, all their code letters, dates and ports of departure and arrival, names of ships within the convoys, sometimes numbers of troops aboard troopships. When researching, the site makes one good point to remember, will save a lot of time later to emphasise it here; troops were frequently embarked aboard their troopships some days before the actual date of sailing shown in the archives , typically three or four days. Similarly, on arrival, troops may be another day or so before actual disembarkation. Generally, a Magnificent Site, and should be far better known.

MAST - Royal Navy loss list .... from the beginning of time. A huge archive of over 5,000 Royal Navy vessel losses, whether by enemy action, or storms, foundered, a collision, etc, over a period of some 300-400 yrs. Compiled by the Maritime Archaeological Sea Trust, dedicated to mapping and recording all of the UK's naval heritage.  This is  a direct link to their huge database, though if you scroll through their top menu you will access a great deal of their wider maritime research interests. This database is really good for more obscure information on RN vessels pre-1914, in other wars.  Whereas the NavalHistory link above gives a great deal more detail on WW1 & WW2 RN losses, the two sites can be used for cross-reference.  If a ship in your family history is not listed here, then it was not 'lost' in RN service, it survived somehow to be later sold or scrapped.  A very useful resource .... and it's FREE!

ROYAL NAVAL MUSEUM - at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth. Lots of info on HMS Victory, HMS M.33, plus a features on the Dardanelles Campaign of 1915 marking the centenary, plus much more. Includes links to history and records for Royal Marines. Also see next entry below.

FLEET AIR ARM MUSEUM - at RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset, will change your perception of aircraft Museums. The Museum has the largest collection of Naval aircraft anywhere in Europe, together with the first British built Concorde which you can go aboard and visit the cockpit. Find out more by exploring this Web Site and then see us for yourself. Connections to our area of the East Riding are through 'Blackburns' at Brough, who of course built many seaplanes and naval aircraft, including the Buccaneer.

ROYAL MARINES MUSEUM - the RM Museum used to be at Eastney Barracks, Southsea. They are in the process of moving to a new museum site within the historic Portsmouth Dockyard. To help fund that, an application was made to the National Lottery Fund for funding to facilitate the move. Would you believe this, but they were TURNED DOWN! So they now have to appeal to the public on their new website for donations to raise '5M by themselves. In the meantime, there is no Royal Marines Museum to visit. I still can't credit that. What has our nation come to? A sad shadow of its former self.  Families of former 'Bootnecks' will be disgusted, no doubt.

ROYAL NAVAL PATROL SERVICE ASSOCIATION - shown here because so many men from Hull and the Humber ports volunteered, often as whole crews together in much the same fashion as the Pals Battalions in the army of the Great War, that I thought it proper to have a direct link. There's a picture of the RNPS Memorial at Lowestoft, as well as their museum and HQ in what was HMS Europa in Sparrow's Nest Gardens in Lowestoft. The memorial overlooks both the gardens and the sea.
This is for all those who served in "Harry Tate's Navy" - brave men, and hitherto their contribution, no less vital than say the pilots of the Battle of Britain, has so often been unrecognised. Minesweeping, anti-submarine patrols, air-sea rescue, and a lot of 'dangerous and dirty' jobs no one else would willingly undertake, all fell to the men of this unique if unglamorous outfit. Taking on a submarine in only a fishing trawler armed with a 12-pdr gun, doing both Atlantic and Arctic Convoy escort duty, landing Special Forces and reconnaissance units on enemy shores, were all no mean feats. There casualty rate was horrendous, on a par to the Merchant Navy and Bomber Command. And for those that survived, when the war was over, it was simply back to the fishing and earning a living in one of the most dangerous occupations on this earth - or sea. We're proud to honour them here.

AIRCREW REMEMBRANCE SOCIETY - speaks for itself, a very worthy site to be added here. It runs on donations from members of the public and indeed is reliant upon the public for increasing their total library of information. It's a non-political site dedicated to perpetuating the memory of aircrew lost mainly during the Second World War. YOU WERE PREVIOUSLY ABLE TO SEE  ... the very bottom of this page for links to wartime issues of "FLIGHT - Service Aviation" issued to RAF and FAA personnel.  It was very useful for lists of casualties, honours and awards, etc.
NOW GONE OFFLINE .... cannot be accessed, not even by the WAYBACK MACHINE.

International BOMBER COMMAND Centre ... LOSSES DATABASE
A superb resource, listing the over 57,000 losses to Bomber Command over the whole period of the war. Every man, all ranks, a first-class searchable database, and a fitting memorial in its own right.

RAF Records Office - for links for addresses for service records of all personnel.

The National Army Museum - in Royal Hospital Road, London.

The Veterans' Agency - an MOD site with lots more links and information.