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General => Armed Forces => Armed Forces Resources => Topic started by: Suzy W on Monday 17 February 14 19:23 GMT (UK)
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http://www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org/frequent-questions.php
Not sure where to post this as it may concern many people world wide.
Ideal site if you are wanting to add your relations who fought in WW1
Suzy W
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Hi
Just wondering if anyone else is doing any of the testing on this site?
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I am! It goes live next week.
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Hi Margarett
Thanks for your reply. Yes I know it is going live, on the 12th I think. I really have not found it easy at all to add information and have stopped for the time being.
What about you? Have you found it easy to add information?
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Hi california dreamin!
I'm glad it's not just me that's finding it a bit of a chore! I don't know who they think is going to add all this info, but if it is mostly going to be Family Historians, like me, who have already done the research on these people, then I am not prepared to do the research again from their records, which is going to mean a payment after the first 3 months. Also, the e-mails I have received back from them when I've sent queries haven't made much sense.I will persevere for now, because I think it's a great idea, and I have info and facts to add from my own family which I think should be on there. My Great-uncle, who survived the war, and I knew, left a detailed diary of his action and injuries. I'll see how it goes, but I won't be buying their credits!
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I agree wholeheartedly. I could supply reference number of certificates or census material etc, but to make us find them again is just a waste of time. There should be a simpler way to add material to a given person. Any queries have not been answered either.
I certainly am not happy to add my personal photos or letters etc.
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I had a go at the testing too but gave up.
The idea is great but the execution is poor to say the least. I really don't understand the concept of paying to add information we already know, and as you say, having to 'find' it again first using the dreadful NewFMP search engine!
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Looks like it is available online now
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27369169
First post with site is not available now so use this link https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org
Suzy W
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I had a go! but it wasnt really ready for use ....
hopefully it will be good.
xin
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I have added quite a bit of information (I paid the sub) but it was really hard and my great uncle's war service record couldn't be found - even tho' I had just been looking at it on Ancestry. I want to add a couple more things; I have a picture, mentions in a couple of newspapers at the time and a story.
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The main group doing this are not IWM but DC Thompson publishers of Dundee and that is one company I will not support.
Buzancy18
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The main group doing this are not IWM but DC Thompson publishers of Dundee and that is one company I will not support.
Buzancy18
Yes, this is the same company that have 'improved' FindmyPast. One would hope that this has been better tested, but their feedback forum would suggest that it may not be that intuitive and not yet complete with suggestions (errors?) already over 200. Although it is very understandable that information is only to be added when a proper source is cited, so they hopefully don't end up like many of the unsourced trees on various ancestry sites.
Those names added so far are from the medal card index. If a man has two entries in the medal card index (one of my granddad's brother has a separate entry for his Military Medal) then they are entered twice. There is no way to combine them at the moment.
Simon
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I am so glad I have found all your comments as I was begining to think that I am rather stupid. I do not need to look up anything as I have most info already. Have not even been able to upload photographs.
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I signed up as a tester, but could not get on with the site at all. I kept thinking I must be missing something, as I could not even get started. My grandfather (unusual name) did not seem to be there at all, and a couple of other relatives had common names. The information on the medal cards is so sparse that I could see no way of finding the right men. I think I found grandfather on the Nat. Archives site, mis-spelled, paid to see the original, also mis-spelled, so I could see no way forward and gave up.
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I joined but changed my mind and tried to unsubscribe by using a link at the bottom of their email. It didn't work. What does this tell you?
Judy
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Judy I have the same problem the unsubscribe does not work have you had any luck??
I tried emailing told them the problem but still receiving emails about the site.
R
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Hi Rich
I tried using the link at the bottom of their emails but no success. However, I did contact them using the "Contact" section in their website. I received an email and eventually I was able to unsubscribe. I'll look at the time span it took for the whole procedure.
Keep trying. :)
Judy
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Hi Judy,
They had to delete the account for me - hopefully no more emails!!
Richview
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Great news. :)
Judy
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I agree with previous comments that it's heavy going to add info, and it's not immediately obvious how to get past the "pay wall", where it seems impossible to get any further without paying (again!) for records which you can access elsewhere... However, I think the basic idea is really worthwhile, and with the help of an excellent blog, I've now managed to record details of various rellies who served in the British Army and CEF. (I'm waiting for them to add Royal Navy/Marines now...)
If (like me) you're finding it hard to get started, I thoroughly recommend checking out this blog and the links mentioned: http://barnsleyhistorian.blogspot.fr/2014/05/lives-of-first-world-war-helpful-hints.html
Rambler
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Have just received an email from FindMyPast with a link to get free access to Lives of the First World War through my FindMyPast site, so looked at the site for the first time.
The email tells me that 1 year's access is usually £50.
So have I got this right. Subscribers to Lives of the First World War pay £50 per year to add information to a site using source records which they have already paid for from FindMyPast or commercial genealogy sites or National archive, GRO etc.
I may have missed the point of the site.
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If you already have access to military records elsewhere (eg via Ancestry, etc), there's no need to pay the LWW1 subscription - you just add the details you have as "external references".
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But as far as I can see, there are no records on LWW1 apart from what subscribers have added to it. If I search for either of my grandfathers or my great uncles who served in the first world war, all I get is name regiment and service number which I already know. One of my husband's great uncles changed regiments during the war and only one of the regiments is shown, so not even this information is totally complete. If I had subscribed to the site at £50 per annum, I would be very disappointed as it would have given even less information than we already have through records kept by our families let alone any purchased through other subscription sites
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I got the impression that the Imperial War Museum are after us helping them to complete this web site as some sort of 'tribute' rather than it being a family history look up site which I don't have a problem with even if it is tied in with the FindMyPast group. I just hope it does not get filled up with lots of incorrect information like online trees.
I just need Royal Marine records on there ::)
I have taken advantage of FindMyPast's free 12 month offer to the site though
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As rosie says, it's not intended as a lookup site - the idea is to build a "permanent digital memorial" to all who served.
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/about
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I just hope it does not get filled up with lots of incorrect information like online trees.
Just checked one of my great uncles. The "official source" listed for his DOB is his attestation papers (viewable on line). Yes - they have correctly transcribed the dob on those papers - but not crosschecked them with his birth registration where they would discover that the year of birth was different.
So first bit of incorrect information I have found and from an "official source"!.
Since it was well known many men too young to officially join up lied about their age to get into the forces, I don't expect this will be an isolated incident.
For both my grandfathers the only official record available is a transcript of their medal cards. No service records available on the site, although I have the records of one of them through Ancestry.
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As rosie says, it's not intended as a lookup site - the idea is to build a "permanent digital memorial" to all who served.
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/about
So if it's not a look up site, what would I get for my £50 per year sub (if I hadn't got 12 months free through FindMyPast).?
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It looks very easy for someone to add information to the wrong individual. My grandfather hasn't got a particularly common name, but there is another Arthur Derham (with no middle name) also a Private in the Army Service Corps and with the same entries on the medal card. The only difference is the service number of course. But if the other Arthur's descendants did not have that information, there seems to be nothing to stop them accidentally adding information to my Arthur's life story.