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Sources used in The War Memorials Project

In assembling the material on this website we have drawn almost entirely on sources which are publicly available.  

Our principal sources have been 

• old Board of Trade files now at the National Archives 
• the Debt of Honour Register at the Commonwealth Wargraves Commission  (CWGC) 
• Census Records from National Archives 

These have been supplemented by information from the Soldiers Died in the Great War database and, in a few cases, from other rolls of honour available from

For staff who died in WW2, we have so far found very few sources.  (Possible reasons for absence of information about WW2 are discussed on the WW2 project page).  

• For the Board of Trade in WW2, we have so far relied on what retired members of staff have been able to tell us about their colleagues who died.  
• For the Ministry of Fuel and Power,  we have taken the 12 names from a plaque of officers of that Department who died in 1939-1945, now hanging in DTI Headquarters at 1 Victoria Street, London SW1 and, in a few cases, have been able to identify the names with entries on the CWGC Debt of Honour Register.  
• The National Physical Laboratory has supplied information about some of their staff who died in both wars.    

Sources for WW1

Board of Trade files

The files consulted were: BT 13/59 (E26596A); BT 13/103 (E40504); BT 13/107/16 (E41852); BT 13/111 (E42620); BT 13/120/8 (E44545).

Detailed records survive of the deliberations of the Board of Trade war memorial committee. It is clear from the files that the Board checked each name with the relevant regiment or other service unit in order to verify the date and manner of death before putting the name forward for inclusion on the Roll of Honour. The files therefore provided a robust starting point for a research project, based on the following details for each of the 305:

In some cases it was possible to gain a little more information (eg civilian rank, pension details) from contemporary Board of Trade staff lists.

CWGC Debt of Honour Register

The combination of name, regiment and death date from the Board of Trade records meant that it was possible in all but one or two cases from WW1 to identify the man from the CWGC Debt of Honour Register.  This Register also provided a means of cross-checking details from the Board of Trade files (eg date of death, battalion, etc). In a few cases where the two sources conflicted, the difference was either resolved or is noted in the man's entry on this website.  From the CWGC Register came the following additional details:

Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-19

This very useful database (available from 

Other sources

In a small number of individual cases, we have consulted other sources, including some listed below. Where these have yielded information, the source is acknowledged as appropriate in the text.  But please note there remains much scope for exploiting these sources further (particularly the individual service records at the NA).

• London Gazette
• Medal index cards and medal rolls at the NA (WO 372 and WO329)
• Army List, Navy List
• Published regimental and unit histories and rolls of honour
• Individual service records at the NA and Fleet Air Arm Museum 
• Birth registrations and census returns
• Murphy's Register
• Extracts from battalion war diaries at the NA and/or published accounts of the actions in which individual Board of Trade men are known to have died
• Personal letters and memorabilia
• Local newspapers
• Family reminiscences