"Grandad never spoke about his time in the war." Let our archive fill that gap in your family history.

Welcome to the Naval & Military Archive, packed with invaluable resources to help you engage with your ancestors' military past. 

Almost all British families had relations or friends who served in the armed forces during the two World Wars. Sadly, many perished or were wounded in the course of their military duty. Our extensive records will help provide information about the time your ancestor spent when serving King and Country, whether he or she returned home or made the ultimate sacrifice.

By bringing together vast tracts of essential information, the Naval & Military Archive provides crucial tools to help you research those who fought for their country during times of crisis. Our 8.8 million records are collated from official books, rolls and documents formerly buried in national libraries and archives. They are then carefully keyed into databases; images of pages and maps are also presented to you in an easily searched format.

Alongside our groundbreaking digitisation of Soldiers Died in the Great War and the Army Roll of Honour for the Second World War, we now present the Campaign Medal Rolls of the Great War. Almost 3,000 original volumes, containing well over 6.5 million records of campaign medal awards, have been meticulously transcribed and digitised. The rolls contain many gems of information that were previously hidden away, and rarely accessed, in the labyrinth of those unfathomable tomes housed at the National Archives, Kew.

For the first time, it is now often possible to ascertain not just the regiment but, importantly, the battalion a soldier fought with during the Great War. This vital information will allow you to view the war diaries of the units within the divisions of the British Army where so many brave men served. We offer you the chance to read those war diaries, specially indexed by the Naval & Military Archive, and discover, from the comfort of your own home, so much more about your ancestor's time in the trenches.

We now have over 8.8 million records within this website for you to peruse and enjoy. With this amount of data it is appropriate that we offer a simple and easy-to-understand subscription package giving full access to the entire website with no restrictions or recurring payments, starting at just £10.

We wish you every success in engaging with your ancestors' military past.