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October 5, 2013

WW1 UK Soldiers' Wills Online Database

Thanks to Jean-Yves Baxter of GeneaNet for spotting this new database. 

Wills and personal messages written by tens of thousands of Britain’s First World War soldiers killed in action are being made public online for the first time through an innovative project set up by Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunal Service (HMCTS).

All soldiers had to write their wills before heading to the front lines, and a copy had to be carried with them. Personal messages to loved ones were often added by the soldiers.
 
This new database has 278,000 scanned and digitzed wills and messages. Scanned copies of The First World War wills can be ordered online for a small fee.

You can also view one Soldier’s last letter to his mother in 1914 or the Will of a WW1 soldier

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