Search British Army, Royal Engineers Other Ranks: Casualty Cards

Each record comprises a basic transcription and an image of the man's casualty card. The amount of information listed varies, but the records usually include the following information about your ancestor:

• Name
• Army number
• Rank
• Regiment or corps
• Name, address & relationship of next of kin
• Date card was generated
• Details of casualty. Some of these details may also include date of birth and date of enlistment

There are over 17,000 Royal Engineers casualty cards which often provide detailed information about the individual concerned. In some cases cards include date of birth and date of enlistment and give the nature of the casualty. As new information was received, so the casualty card was updated andf this can clearly be seen from the multiple dates and different inks that appear on these cards.

These cards are a little larger than A6 (postcard size) and some also inlcude information on the reverse. Run-on cards are also used in some cases.

Use these cards to find out more about your Royal Engineers' ancestors and read these cards in conjunction with the Royal Engineers tracer cards, prisoner of war records and records from the Comonwealth War Graves Commission which you will also find on Findmypast.

Sapper William Francis Smith has a casualty card which tells us that he was born on Christmas Day 1919 and enliusted in the Royal Engineers on the 30th December 1939. He served with 560 Field Company and was reported missing in Malaya on the 15th February 1942. His next of kin were duly notified and it later transpired that William had been captured by the Japanese and was subsequently held at No 4 PoW Camp, Thailand. Sadly, William did not survive the war, dying of acute enteritis on the 6th September 1943. He was 23 years old and is buried in Kanchanaburi War Cemetery in Thailand.

There are no fewer than 26 separate results for William Smith in military records on Findmypast, including multiple prisoner of war records.