Researching British military ancestors

If you've researched ancestors who served with the British military you'll likely recognize the name Simon Fowler. Maybe you have one of his guides, Tracing Your First World War Ancestors, Tracing Your Second World War Ancestors, Tracing Your Army Ancestors.

You may also recognize him as the editor of Ancestors, the family history magazine of the National Archives which I frequently mention. He was an archivist at the Public Record Office for 20 years.

His most recent (2007) military book is A Guide to Military History on the Internet published by British military publisher Pen and Sword. They retail the book for £9.99. Amazon.co.uk have it on sale for £7.04.

Since the book's publication I've blogged British military-related items: TNA's Digital Microfilm Pilot, British WW1 Medal Cards on Ancestry, and New Gazettes Online in beta. With changes in internet resources occurring at a sprinter's pace any internet focused book has reached its before date before it appears.

The folks at Pharos Teaching & Tutoring Limited have a way around that, as announced in the following press release.

09 December 2008 – For Immediate Release
Military Historian Simon Fowler joins Pharos

Top military historian Simon Fowler joins Pharos’ roster of family history experts to lead a Pharos online course on researching military ancestors. Starting on 20 January 2009, the five-week course will look at the major resources available online and in record offices, such as The National Archives and the Imperial War Museum.

“I’m looking to forward to working with Pharos. Their courses and tutors are highly regarded,” said Simon, “Military genealogy is something which has really started to appear on the web over the past couple of years. And I think students on the course will be surprised by what they find.”

Simon has published many guides to researching military history, particularly on Army genealogy and the First World War, for The National Archives, Pen & Sword and Countryside Books: “In researching these books I have found many great resources which I have enjoyed sharing with readers.” He is also an experienced lecturer and tutor. “I’ve always enjoyed the interaction with students in lecture rooms, but it will be a fascinating challenge to recreate this buzz through chatrooms and forums.”