Do You Have an Unsung Anzac Hero in Your Family?
Do You Have an Unsung Anzac Hero in Your
Family?
Military Records Free to Search
Online
Over 46 million military records
free to search on Ancestry.com.au from 25 to 29 April
2012
Auckland, New Zealand, 24 April,
2012 – In celebration of the brave men and women
who have served their country,
Ancestry.com.au, Australia’s largest
online family history resource[i], today announced it will make
46 millionNew Zealand, Australian and UK
WWI military records[ii] free to search this ANZAC Day
weekend to encourage more Kiwis to uncover their family’s
military history.
The collections, which include the ANZAC Memorial, 1914 – 1918, the UK Military Campaign Medal and Award Rolls and New Zealand Army WWI and WWII Nominal Rolls will be free to search from 25 to 29 April, 2012.
Ancestry.com.au’s extensive online collection of military databases from New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Canada and the US can help you to discover a variety of information about your ancestors who served. The collections include records of enlistment dates, battles fought, performance on the field, medals awarded and for the many who never returned, locations of final resting places.
Personal stories about the ANZACs continue to fascinate New Zealanders who unearth their own ANZAC tale.
Original All
Black Captain remembered – Paraparaumu resident
Kay Carter has researched her Great Uncle Dave Gallaher
extensively over the years and was thrilled with how easy
she found it to navigate the records available on
Ancestry.com.au. “The site makes it simple to see
connections, organise information and view everything
together in one place,” says Ms
Carter.
“Dave Gallaher has a very
interesting story – he was a big part of the early New
Zealand rugby landscape,” says Ms Carter. “Our
connection to Dave definitely brings ANZAC day a little
closer to home for our family,” she added.
Wimbledon champion not forgotten –
Anthony Wilding, New Zealand’s own Wimbledon
Champion, will be fondly remembered by the Wilding family in
Christchurch this ANZAC Day. Records on this well celebrated
Kiwi character include a passenger list from the Delphic
ship on which Anthony travelled between Wellington and
London.
“Anthony Wilding led a very interesting life
and it is good to have the research to make sure his memory
is preserved,” says Frank Wilding, nephew to Anthony
Wilding.
To start searching, all you need to do is enter
the name of an ancestor and register for free. You can then
view original military records dating back to 1793.
The
military collections that are free to explore in
Ancestry.com.au’s ANZAC Day weekend promotion
include:
• ANZAC Memorial
1914-1918
• NZEF Nominal Rolls
1939-48
• NZEF WWI Nominal
Rolls
• NZEF WWI Reserve
Rolls
• NZEF Casualty Lists
WWI
• NZEF WWI Roll of
Honour
• New Zealand Army Medal
Rolls
• NZEF WWI Military
Defaulters
• Defenders of New
Zealand
• Chronicles of the NZEF
1916-19
• UK, Silver War Badge
Records, 1914-1920
• UK, Naval Medal
and Award Rolls, 1793-1972
• UK,
Military Campaign Medal and Award Rolls,
1793-1949
• UK, Citations of the
Distinguished Conduct Medal,
1914-1920
• British WWI Medal Rolls
Index Cards 1914-1920
• British WWI
Service records 1914-1920
• British
WWI Pension records
1914-1920
• British Commonwealth War
Graves Register 1914-1918
• The
National Roll of the Great War
1914-1920
• Canadian Soldiers of World
War I 1914-1918
• US WWI Draft
Registration Cards 1917-1918
• US WWII
Army Enlistment Records 1938-1946
Ancestry.com.au Content Director, Brad Argent,
comments: “ANZAC day is about remembering the
sacrifices that our countrymen and women made so that we
could be safe and enjoy our liberty. While many soldiers
passed away on the battlefield, many others returned home
and have passed on their legacy to future
generations.
The free databases
provide New Zealanders with the opportunity to learn about
their family history and discover their military
past.”
To access the free collections, please
visit www.ancestry.com.au/anzac2012
NOTE TO
EDITORS:
Additional information and
updates can be found at the below
links:
• Follow
us on Twitter:
@AncestryComAu
•
Follow us on Facebook here
•
Read the Ancestry.com.au Blog here
ABOUT
ANCESTRY.COM.AU
New Zealand’s leading
family history website, Ancestry.com.au contains more than
930 million records in its Australian, New Zealand and UK
collections, including New Zealand Naturalisations,
1843-1981, New Zealand City & Area Directories, 1866-1955,
New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981, New Zealand Maori
Voter and Electoral Rolls, 1908 & 1919, New Zealand
Canterbury Provincial Rolls, 1868-1874, New Zealand Jury
Lists, 1842-1862, New Zealand, Maori Land Claims, 1858-1980,
the Australia Birth, Marriage and Death
Index, Australian Convict Transportation Registers,
Australian Free Settlers, Australian Electoral Rolls, New
South Wales SANDS Directories, as well as the most complete
online collection of England, Wales and Scotland Censuses
and the England and Wales Birth, Marriage and Death
Indexes.
Ancestry.com Inc is the world's
largest online family history resource, with more than 1.7
million paying subscribers. More than eight billion records
have been added to the site in the past 15 years. Ancestry
users have created more than 33 million family trees
containing approximately four billion profiles.
In addition to its flagship site
www.ancestry.com, Ancestry.com offers several localised web
sites, including Ancestry.com.au which was launched in May
2006, designed to empower people to discover, preserve and
share their family history.
For further
stories and updates related to family history research, you
can also follow Ancestry.com on Facebook and
Twitter.
________________________________________
[i]
comScore, 2010, based on genealogy related websites selected
from the Family and Parenting sub-category under the
Community category
[ii] The records available free to
search include the British WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards
1914-1920, British WWI Service records 1914-1920, British
WWI Pension records 1914-1920, ANZAC Memorial, 1914-1918,
New South Wales, Australia, Cowra Military Camps Personnel
Photo Index, 1905-1970, Australia's Fighting Sons of The
Empire: Portraits and Biographies of Australians in the
Great War, The Defenders of New Zealand, New Zealand Army
WWI Casualty Lists, 1914-1919, New Zealand Army WWI Roll of
Honour, 1914-1919, Chronicles of the N.Z.E.F., 1916-1919,
New Zealand Army WWII Nominal Rolls, 1939-1948, New Zealand
Army WWI Reserve Rolls, 1916-1917,New Zealand Army WWI
Nominal Rolls, 1914-1918, New Zealand Army Medal Rolls,
1860-1919, New Zealand WWI Military Defaulters,
1919-1921