The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month: Researching your World War I Ancestors.
The Armistice signed at the Eleventh hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh month in 1918 officially brought an end to the hostilities of the First World War. One year later, President Wilson commemorated the anniversary of this date as Armistice Day, a precursor to the holiday which would be officially sanctioned in 1938 and renamed “Veteran’s Day” in 1954.[1]
Because we have the benefit of history on our side, we know that World War I was sadly not “The War to end all Wars” as it had been called. For this reason, we may fail to see the impact left by this first of all modern wars on a generation of people -- the horrific scars left by the introduction of new weapons, the absolute waste and futility of trench warfare and the widespread loss of life.
Many of our ancestors were of course a part of this conflict. No doubt the results of their experiences reverberated for generations.
Do you have an interest in researching your World War I Ancestors? Here are a few tips to help you start your research:
1. Investigate Home Sources
As always, home sources are the best place to start. You may be surprised to see photographs and memorabilia held in your family archive dating back the First World War. The details found in these types of sources can help guide your next steps.
2. Send Away for your Ancestors’ Official Military Personnel File
Example of a Final Pay Voucher from the First World War
War Department Form No., 370, Final Statement for Edward Krause, no. 3278804; Privately held by author (lmscalz@gmail.com); citing National Archives, St Louis.
Though many military personnel records were lost in the 1973 fire at the National Archives Saint Louis, I still recommend requesting this file. First, you may get lucky and find that your World War I Ancestor’s file was among those that survived. But second, even if the entire file no longer exists, you can often still obtain a final pay voucher. The final pay voucher will likely identify the unit with which your ancestor served. Once you learn this information, you can consult Internet Archive, books and other sources to find out more.
3. Consider taking a course specific to World War I genealogy.
I highly recommend the National Genealogical Society Course, “Researching Your World War I Ancestors,” by Craig Scott, one of the most well-known and respected military history genealogists. The course will point you to the best books and records to consult, and will help explain unit organizations and the records that were created at this time.
In 2019, I had the honor of running the Flanders Fields marathon in Flanders, Belgium, a run dedicated to the memory of the soldiers of the First World War. In Ypres, I watched the Last Post ceremony that has taken place nightly at the Menin Gate nearly every evening since 1927. Here the names of 54,395 soldiers whose remains were never identified are inscribed. And every evening the “Last Post,” has been sounded in remembrance. The experience made me consider like never before the way our world changed as a result of this war and how nearly one hundred years later we still remember.
Today, we thank all veterans and so we should. But as for me, when I think of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, I reserve a special thought for those who lives were forever changed by “The War to End all Wars.”
[1] “History of Veterans Day, US Department of Veterans Affairs (https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp : accessed 11 November 2020)