The War to End All Wars

In 1914, Germany arose and began a concentrated effort to conquer Europe. This had far reaching affects on genealogy! Numerous records were destroyed and thousands of individuals fled across the continent to find safety. Refugees flooded borders everywhere trying to find new homes and ways of life. A site with many links and resources can be found at http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us/EMS/WWI/...

There are still a few living veterans of this conflict and this makes it a bit more difficult to obtain information. Privacy laws must be complied with. If you are a descendant, and the the death has been documented, you shouldn't have any difficulties in obtaining them, but be aware that you may be asked to prove your relationship.

My experience has been that veterans of more recent wars, anything in this century, are less likely to talk about their service. Probably the best time to find out what they did and where they were is to get them together with other service members, particularly those that served with them. Reunions and veterans' organizations are good. If you have ever had the privelage of 'eavesdropping' on one of these conversations, I hope you take the time to document it. One of the few times I remember my grandfather talking about his experience was late at night, on a car ride over the Pennsylvania mountains. I was about 8 or 10 and laying on the back seat. Both my grandfathers were in the front, telling each other stories about growing up. Truly memorable!

As always, don't forget to look at the family picture album. The advances in photography made it even more common for pictures to be taken. And those uniforms look great!

Find a medal that looks like this in the family junk drawer? The World War I Victory medal, awarded to all members of the American Military. And perhaps you found an oval disk such as this, scratched and worn. This is the origin of the dogtags we are more familiar with.

World War I was truly a global war, raging across Europe and pulling in troops from countries throughout the British Empire and America. Many countries have web sites with histories, photographs and documents. World War I Document Archive contains many documents associated with the war. It also is an excellant starting point for useful links across the world. It includes a Biographical section and remembrances of key persons involved. http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/

New fraternal organizations were formed by the returning veterans. Several continue to exist and their publications can be excellent sources of overall historical information, though they may not go into individual information.

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