Family history website Findmypast will offer free access to its military records to mark Remembrance Day on 11 November.
The free access will last from 7 to 13 November 2025.
Findmypast’s millions of military records date from 1656 to 1993. The website holds British Army records including regimental records, army lists and medal rolls, as well as records of the British Army in India. The free access also includes ‘Faces of the Fallen’, a collection of photographs of soldiers killed in the First and Second World Wars extracted from Findmypast’s historic newspaper collection.
Findmypast has also launched a campaign to create a memorial roll recording members of the Pals Battalions. At the start of the First World War, the British Army launched a recruitment drive where groups of ‘pals’, or young men from the same neighbourhood or workplace, were encouraged to join up together. Devastatingly, the initiative led to large numbers of these men being killed together.
Now, Findmypast wants to create the first online collection of Pals’ records.
You can carry out research into the Pals’ Battalions and submit information about a Pal in your family on Findmypast's website.
“This campaign is more than research - it’s an act of remembrance,” said Jen Baldwin, Findmypast’s research specialist. “The sad reality of recruiting ‘Pals’ was that many tight-knit communities suffered devastating consequences. By contributing to Findmypast's Pals project, genealogists can help ensure these men are remembered not just as soldiers, but as friends, brothers, and colleagues who answered their country’s call together and fell together.”
