WW1 Service Records Missing from Ancestry.co.uk?

[talktonite]

Hi,

I would be grateful is some had a minute to double check something for me:)

I have found my Great Grandfather's discharge documents on Ancestry.co.uk but I can't find his other service documents.

His name was Abraham Rubenstein but he joined the army as Alfred Richards (his decided to use his real name in 1918 according to the discharge doc). His Regtl number was 31293 and he was in the RAMC. His home address was 57 Hare Street at the time. He enlisted 1st December 1914.

Thanks in advance

Marc

[CaroleW]

Hi

This extract is from  http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/stories/150.htm

'Burnt documents'
Although five million soldiers from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales fought in World War One, around 60 per cent of the service records for these soldiers were destroyed during a German bombing raid on the War Office in London in September 1940.

The originals for all surviving records, many badly damaged during the bombing raid, have been conserved by The National Archives and comprise the two collections to be made available online for the first time by Ancestry.co.uk, fully indexed and including original images.

[talktonite]

Thanks:)

[km1971]

Hi Marc

His service documents include his discharge documents. They were all kept together. The NA information of 40% survival is wrong. In the official report of what was destroyed - available for download from the NA for £3.50 - they quote 1.25 million saved out of 6.5 million, which is less than 20%. A few extra % come from other files (the so-called 'pension' files on Ancestry) but nowhere near another 20%. So you should be grateful for what you have.

And there is always PIN 26 if you are feeling really lucky.

Ken

[corisande]

The 20% figure is what I got in looking up just over 50 soldiers recently

The thing is not help by the truly dreadful indexing of the "burnt" documents by ancestry.

With better indexing what remains could be made much more useful. Whoever indexed them seems to have been ignorant of regiments, places, etc. Often the data is not on the first page but on inside pages that were never looked at for indexing.

They really need a "feedback page" as on the Irish 1911 Census, where users can feedback corrections to the indexing. With that they might become more useful!

[BettyofKent]

I found my great-uncle's service records on the National Archives, but they are not on Ancestry.
I've trawled through the scans in case the name has been mistranscribed, but there's no sign of them, so it doesn't look as if Ancestry records are complete.


Betty

[corisande]

I found my great-uncle's service records on the National Archive

Was he an officer? Officers are stored in a different way.

[BettyofKent]

I didn't know that, that could explain it.
He was a 2nd Lieutenant.

Betty

I found my great-uncle's service records on the National Archive

Was he an officer? Officers are stored in a different way.

[corisande]

Yes, If you read ancestry's small print

About British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920
Approximately 5 million men served in the British Army in World War One (WWI). This database contains the surviving service records of non-commissioned officers and other ranks who served in WWI and did not re-enlist in the Army prior to World War II. With the final release, this database now contains the entire service records collection.

So they do not have officers service records,nor indeed any other soldier who re-enlisted (you can get the re-enlisted other ranks from MOD for £30, they all exist as they were stored elsewhere when WW1 records were destroyed by bombing many years later