Welcome to the Long, Long Trail
The Long, Long Trail is all about the British Army in the First World War:
aimed at the family and military researcher,
it is a tribute to the men and women
who fought and won - and to the million who died trying.
Men of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division, temporarily blinded by the effects of Mustard Gas during the
opening phase of the Battles of the Lys in April 1918
Focus on family
There's been an explosion of interest in family history and the part played by British men and women in the Great War since the Long, Long Trail began way back in 1996. You'll find the site packed with useful information for family historians.
Research a soldier:
the basics of what is available and how to find information
Soldier's life:
background information to help you understand the context
Insights:
in-depth information: army law, soldier's numbers, definitions, abbreviations...
Right: the memorial to 41st Division at Flers, Somme, France
Brothers died
The list of discoveries of brothers who died on the same day as each other just keeps on growing. We have now, with your help, identified 256 instances and have more to add. Among the latest additions are brothers who have been identified by DNA, their remains having been found in recently excavated burial pits at Fromelles, and the very first brothers to die.
Brothers died in the Great War
Do you need more help researching a soldier?
Connect
If you are just starting out in researching a member of your family; or perhaps something bigger like an entire war memorial, or are just deeply interested in this subject, you'll enjoy connecting up with others. Find out more; see what others are doing; ask those hard-to-answer questions. Our discussion forum Ask Away is developing from an embryonic Q&A area and is ready to greet you.
Join in and Ask Away
Latest book review
The fighting Padre : letters from the trenches 1915-1918 of Pat Leonard DSO
The Rt Rev Martin Patrick Grainge Leonard, DSO (Pat Leonard) was born in the village of Torpenhow in Cumberland on 5 July 1889. He was educated at the Grammar School in Appleby before going on to Rossall School and Oriel College, Oxford (on a mathematics scholarship). He then embarked on an ecclesiastical career and prior to the Great War was a curate in Manchester. Among his post-war jobs he spent fourteen years with the Toc H organisation. He subsequently became Rector of Hatfield, Rural Dean of Hertford, Provost of St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow and finally Bishop of Thetford. While at Oxford he demonstrated prowess in rowing and boxing and it is from the latter, rather from military action, that he got the nickname "The fighting Padre".
More
The Dugout : the Long, Long Trail's bookstore
For all your WW1 books, browse the Long, Long Trail's own bookstore, The Dugout
What's on
|
"The Battle for Flanders - German defeat on the Lys 1918 " |
Using the Long, Long Trail: a quick tutorial
You can do lots of things on this website. For example, if you know the regiment and unit that a soldier served with, you can see where he went and which battles he took part in. This is how:
[In this example, we are looking at a man who served in the 2nd Royal Irish Rifles]
First, read the page about his unit. To do that, click on Infantry regiments, then on Royal Irish Rifles. You will see a brief history of 2nd Battalion. Make a note of the Divisions with which they served, and when.
Now click on British Divisions. The battalion was in 3rd Division first, so click that. Read their history: it tells you which engagements they were involved in. Then repeat for 25th Division and 36th (Ulster) Division and you have the full picture!
Copyright
Please note that all content of this site is copyright. You are requested not to steal content for your own website. If you wish to use any of the content, please have the courtesy to ask (I will almost always say yes) and please give proper credit when you do use it.
The author of this site is also the founder of the Great War Forum
reddit 