British army officers pre-1920

Women served in all three services from WWI onwards. They also served in support roles, such as the Women’s Land Army (in both wars), the Fire Services, Motor Drivers, Voluntary Aid Detachments and so

The Royal Air Force was formed in the last year of the First World War. And by the time that the guns fell silent at the end of the Second World War, it had grown to almost one million serving personn

Digitised records for British soldiers before about the middle of the 19th century are relatively rare; the exceptions are surviving pension records, the musters from the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) a

The British merchant service was renamed the Merchant Navy after World War 1 to mark the vital role its sailors played in wartime. That role continued in World War 2 as merchant ships carried troops a

Dear Simon, The history of Pitman shorthand told by Angeline Wilcox in the July edition of Best of British (Write on Time) evoked so many memories. I was amazed to learn that Isaac Pitman actually cre

I am writing in connection with Sarah Williams’ article “What’s in a Name” in the July issue of the magazine. My great great grandmother, Ann Rogers Wardleworth née Bell, was widowed in 1860 at the ag