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.
Australian troops hold Garter Point in the awful Passchendaele battlefield of 1917
The Long, Long Trail has been revamped
It was time, after more than ten years of effort, to spring-clean the site. Freshen it up, fix errors found along the way and generally improve things. I hope you enjoy the new look and site navigation. You will find a few things missing or the spring-cleaning still in progress. I hope to complete these very soon. But you'll also find some brand new additions all aimed at making your research easier and more fruitful.
Please note that a short-term side-effect is that our Google-powered search pages may show links to pages that are no longer there, until their indexing spider catches up with our changes. I apologise for any difficulties this may cause.
More 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. I'm pleased to have played a small part in it. In the site relaunch, I've added more useful information for family historians.
Search 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
Latest book review
This is a joint review of two very similar works, both published in late 2008 by Pen & Sword Military.
"Famous" and "The greater game" both contain a set of mini-biographies of men who served in the British forces in 1914-1918. Ths first examines the lives of twenty one who went on to win fame after the war (although Winston Churchill is counted among them and had already achieved fame), while "The greater game" looks at eleven sporting individuals in detail and at some units or groups that were initially largely composed of sportsmen. Inevitably, to the modern reader the names of "Famous" will be more familiar and perhaps make this book of wider appeal.
More
The Dugout : the Long, Long Trail's bookstore
For all your WW1 books, browse the Long, Long Trail's own bookstore, The Dugout
Do you need help researching a soldier?
The Long, Long Trail is pleased to recommend fourteeneighteen|research
The BBC's "Who do you think you are?" magazine named the Long, Long Trail as best overall website for researching military ancestors in its May 2008 edition.
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