World War 2 Allies Collection

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    Do you have ancestors who were members of the Allied Forces during the Second World War? Explore this unique collection of World War 2 records, handpicked by our in-house military experts. It brings together over 15 million records from the Allied Forces. The collection includes service records, draft registrations, enlistment records, prisoners of war as well as casualty lists, cemetery indexes, and rolls of honour from those who served during World War II.

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    What can these records tell me?

    With each result, you will be provided with a transcript. The details revealed in each transcript will vary depending on the source material. Below are some of the facts you may discover about your ancestor:

    • First name(s)
    • Last name
    • Age
    • Birth year
    • Birth place
    • Service number
    • Rank
    • Regiment
    • Unit or regiment
    • Ship
    • Nationality
    • Year
    • Attestation year
    • Event date
    • Arrival date
    • Capture year
    • Capture date
    • Escape date
    • Death year
    • Death date
    • Event place
    • City
    • State
    • County
    • Country
    • Country of imprisonment
    • Military event
    • Event type
    • Residence
    • Source
    • View source record – this link will bring you through to the original source

    Discover more about these records

    Findmypast is excited to bring together this unique collection of World War 2 records handpicked by our in-house experts. World War 2 Allies Collection brings together more than 15 million records from across a wide variety of records from the British, United States and Canadian armed forces. This new collection gives family historians the chance to search for their ancestors who served in World War 2 all in one place. Findmypast pulled together records that include the following individuals:

    Individuals who signed up and served in the British, United States and Canadian armed services.

    Individuals who were buried in Commonwealth War Grave.

    Individuals who were buried in National Veterans Cemeteries

    World War 2 Allies Collection gives family historians the chance to trace their ancestors’ military service like never before.

    Available sources:

    Below is a full list of all the records available within this collection:

    British

    • Airmen Died in The Second World War, 1939-1946
    • Army Lists 1939-1945
    • Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945
    • Bomber Command losses 1939-1945
    • Britain, Campaign, Gallantry & Long Service Medals & Awards
    • British Army casualty lists 1939-1945
    • British Army, Honourable Artillery Company Journal 1923-2021
    • British Army, Honourable Artillery Company, Cardew-Rendle roll of members 1537-1908
    • British Army, Recommendations for military honours and awards 1935-1990
    • British Army, Royal Engineers Other Ranks: Casualty Cards 1939-1947
    • British Army, Royal Engineers 1900-1949
    • Civilian casualties in Britain 1940-1945
    • Coldstream Guards 1939-1945
    • CWGC 1939-1945
    • Durham Home Guard 1940-1945
    • Faces of the Fallen
    • Honourable Artillery Company 1939-1945
    • Prisoners of War 1939-1945
    • Royal Air Force combat reports
    • Royal Air Force operations record books 1939-1945
    • Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, Mentioned in Dispatches 1940-1945
    • Royal Artillery enlistments from 1910
    • Royal Tank Corps enlistments 1919-1934
    • Royal Welch Fusiliers 1920-1946
    • Scots Guards 1939-1945
    • Scotland, Forfarshire (Angus), Dundee, DC Thomson Staff War Album 1939-1945
    • Second World War civilian casualties in Britain 1939-1945

    American

    • US Servicemen in North Devon
    • Historical Society of Pennsylvania World War II Casualty Cards
    • National Veterans Cemetery Index
    • Louisiana Draft Cards, 1940-1959
    • Maine, Second World War Enlistment Record Index
    • Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Veteran Graves Index, 1775 - 2010 (pull just the relevant years)
    • Veterans with Federal Service Buried in Utah, Territorial to 1966 (pull just the relevant years)
    • World War II Army Enlistment Records
    • US National Archives World War II Army Enlistment Records, Reserve Corps Records Index, 1838-1946
    • Kansas, World War II Selective Service Index
    • Georgia, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940 - 1942
    • US National Archives World War II Prisoners of War Index, 1942-1947
    • Duty Locations, Naval Group China, World War II, 1942-1945
    • World War II Prisoners of War

    • Massachusetts Index of Casualties, World War II

    Canada

    • Faces of the Second World War
    • Canada, Military Honors and Awards Index

    Australia

    Australia, Military Commemorative Rolls & Rolls of Honour

    Rest of the World

    Indian Army Records of Service 1900-1947

    The Allied Forces

    In late August 1939, Adolf Hitler and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin signed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, which incited worry in London and Paris. Adolf Hitler had long planned an invasion of Poland, a nation to which Great Britain and France had guaranteed military support if it was attacked by Germany. The pact with Stalin meant that Hitler would not face a war on two fronts once he invaded Poland, and would have Soviet assistance in conquering and dividing the nation itself.

    The German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, was the start of World War II. Britain, France, Australia, and New Zealand all declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. Nepal, Newfoundland, Tonga, South Africa, and Canada followed suit within days.

    On September 17, 1939, the Soviets invaded Poland from the East. The following year, the U.S.S.R. annexed the Baltic States together with parts of Romania and attacked Finland.

    With Germany invading the U.S.S.R on June 22, 1941, the German-Soviet agreement was brought to an end.

    The United States joined the Allies following the attack on Pearl Harbour, on December 7, 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbour served to unify American public opinion in favour of entering World War II, and on December 8 Congress declared war on Japan with only one dissenting vote. Germany and the other Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria) promptly declared war on the United States.

    The Allies, who won, were also the architects of the United Nations, the United Nations is an international, inter-governmental organisation whose goal is to resolve conflicts peacefully and to establish a world of peace, freedom, and justice for all.

    The Declaration by the United Nations was signed on January 1, 1941, the declaration stated that a complete victory against their adversaries was necessary if "life, liberty, independence and religious freedom" were to be defended, human rights and justice preserved in "their own lands as well as in other lands, and that they (were) engaged in a common struggle against savage and brutal forces seeking to subjugate the world."

    Almost all the founding members of the United Nations had been anti-Axis during the war. Many of the Allies of World War II were also co-founders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949.