New Dambusters website

On the night of May 16, 1943, the specially formed 617 Squadron flew 19 modified Lancaster bombers to Germany on a mission that was to become one of the most famous episodes of WWII, the Dambuster raids. To mark the 60th anniversary of these raids, and to help recount the story of this daring and technically complex mission, the National Archives shows highlights from its collection of Dambusters documents and images, online, for the very first time.

This dedicated website also offers you access to original film clips courtesy of the Imperial War Museum and Pathe News and the chance to fly on one of the 617 Squadron's original training routes for the dams raid in our exciting competition. No longer available.

Discover your house history with 1901 Census Online.

Wouldn't it be interesting to find out who lived in your house or street over one hundred years ago? With the 1901 Census Online Address search facility you can be your own house detective and discover the families that lived in your house, who they were and what they did for a living.  And you don't have to live in an old house - most modern developments are based on older streets and districts.  Find out more.

Photography permitted

A new service goes live at the National Archives, Kew. You can now photograph most original documents with your own camera. There are, of course, conditions designed to protect the records and to safeguard copyright. Follow this link for more details.

Edwin Hardy Amies

Personnel file detailing the Special Operations Executive career of the Queen's former dressmaker. Click here for details

Position of Asian UK citizens in Africa 1967-68

Foreign and Commonwealth Office file detailing the difficulties of protecting British subjects in Africa during times of unrest. For further information click here

Follow this link to see the complete list of documents released

Fly like the Dambusters

You can win a weekend break for two including a helicopter flight along one of the original training routes taken by the Dambusters. All you need to do is answer this question.

Which aircraft were used by 617 Squadron in the Dambuster raid?

a) Avro Lancasters
b) B52s
c) Tornados

To enter the competition go to our dedicated website:

No longer available

Closing date for entries has now been extended to Friday 13 June 2003.

Last month's winners: Congratulations go to M Byrnes who won the tickets to the Chelsea Flower Show with the competion answer 'Chelsea Pensioners'. Also to David Bowden who wins the tickets to the Duxford Air Show for correctly answering '1943' as the date of the Dambusters Raid.

DocumentsOnline Launched

DocumentsOnline (formerly PRO-Online) allows you online access to the National Archives' collection of digitised public records, including both academic and genealogical sources.

Searching the index is free, and it costs £3 to download a digital image of a document. Visit the site

Citizenship–a history of people, rights and power in Britain

Citizenship is often in the news. But what is it, and how has it changed over the centuries? Where did Parliament come from? How did ordinary people gain political and social rights?

Our new exhibition explores what it has meant to be a citizen throughout a millennium of British history. Visit the site

Lord Haw Haw – The English Voice of Nazi Germany

The true story of Britain's most notorious traitor is now revealed for the first time in this exciting new book.   It tells the story of William Joyce from a new angle; through the eyes of the British intelligence agents who pursued him from his teenage dalliance with fascism in the 1920s to his execution in 1946.   The resulting files were kept secret for many years but in 2000 were released to The National Archives.   It is from these unique sources that this account of Joyce's life and personality is constructed and the collection contextualised by an extended expert introduction and document commentary. See more details

Order these titles online and get a 10% discount plus free postage and packing in the UK.

Friends of the PRO

The Friends of the Public Record Office are people who care about the future of the nation's records. The Friends carry out many activities, but a vital part of their work takes the form of voluntary indexing projects. Follow this link to learn more.