Faces Of The Fallen 1914-1918
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Did your ancestor serve in the First World War? Dive into this unique dataset created by the staff at Findmypast from our newspaper collection. During the war, newspapers across Britain published photographs of those who had fought, died, were missing, or wounded in action, offering a deeply personal record of the human cost of the conflict. These images provide a moving and powerful snapshot of how the First World War touched communities across the UK, every face telling its own story of courage, loss, and resilience. This record set will be updated regularly as more pages are uncovered, ensuring that new names and stories continue to come to light.
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You will find information including -
- First name
- Last name
- Rank
By following the link included in the transcription, you will be able to view the newspaper in which your ancestor was featured. We will continue to update this record set with stories from across the UK.
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When war broke out in August 1914, few could imagine the scale of the conflict that would follow. Over four long years, millions of men from Britain and across the Empire served on land, at sea, and in the air. The First World War was fought in muddy trenches and on distant battlefields, from the Somme to Gallipoli, leaving behind unimaginable loss and devastation. Entire communities felt its impact, from the “Pals Battalions” made up of friends, neighbours, and workmates who enlisted together, to families who waved off multiple sons, brothers, or fathers and never saw them return. By the time the guns fell silent on 11 November 1918, nearly a million British lives had been lost, and almost every town and village bore the scars of that sacrifice.
In the midst of this national tragedy, newspapers became an essential means of remembrance and communication. Across Britain, local papers published photographs and short tributes to men who had fought, died, were missing, or wounded in action. These poignant images and words brought the realities of war into people’s homes, putting faces to the names behind casualty lists and honour rolls. Families often sent in portraits or studio photographs of their loved ones, creating a mosaic of courage, grief, and pride.
Many communities saw page after page filled with familiar faces, fathers, sons, brothers, and friends, sometimes from the same street or even the same household. The Pals Battalions, formed so that men could serve alongside those they knew, meant that when tragedy struck, it struck entire neighbourhoods at once. Some families endured the unimaginable heartbreak of losing several relatives within months, their stories now immortalised in the pages of these newspapers.
Together, these records offer a deeply moving and human insight into the impact of the First World War on communities across the UK, a collective portrait of loss, love, and remembrance that continues to resonate more than a century later.
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